Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigns

Under mounting pressure from his own party, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced he will step down and end his nine-year tenure as leader.

Trudeau said he would remain in office until his Liberal Party could choose a new leader and that parliament would be prorogued – or suspended – until March 24.

“This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it became clear to me that if I have to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in this election,” he said during a news conference on Monday.

Trudeau’s personal unpopularity with Canadians has become a growing obstacle to his party’s fortunes ahead of a federal election later this year.

“Last night, over dinner, I told my children about the decision I’m sharing with you today,” he said at the news conference in Ottawa.

“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party chooses its next leader through a strong national competitive process,” he said.

Liberal Party president Sachith Mehra said a meeting of the party’s board of directors would be held this week to begin the process of electing a new leader.

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In a statement, he added: “Liberals across the country are extremely grateful to Justin Trudeau for more than a decade of leadership of our party and country.”

“As prime minister, his vision has made transformational progress for Canadians,” he said, citing programs his government has implemented such as the Canada Child Benefit and the creation of dental care and pharmaceutical coverage for some drugs.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said “nothing has changed” since Trudeau’s resignation.

“Every Liberal MP and leadership contender supported EVERYTHING Trudeau did for 9 years and now they want to cheat the voters by replacing another Liberal face to continue cheating Canadians for another 4 years just like Justin,” he wrote X’s Poilievre.

Trudeau, 53, has faced growing calls to quit his Liberal Party, which intensified in December when Deputy Prime Minister and longtime ally Chrystia Freeland suddenly resigned.

In a public resignation letter, Freeland cited US President-elect Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs on Canadian goodsand accused Trudeau of not doing enough to address the “serious challenge” posed by Trump’s proposals.

Trump has vowed to impose a 25% tax on imported Canadian goods – which economists have warned would significantly hurt Canada’s economy – unless the country takes steps to increase security at its shared border.

Trudeau said Monday that he had hoped Freeland would continue as deputy prime minister “but she chose otherwise.”

Canada then announced it would implement new security measures along the country’s border with the US in response to the threat.

In an online post, Trump said the pressure on tariffs led to Trudeau’s resignation and repeated his taunt that Canada should become the “51st state.”

“If Canada merged with the US, there would be no tariffs, taxes would drop significantly, and they would be COMPLETELY SAFE from the threat of Russian and Chinese ships constantly circling them,” he wrote.

From 2019 The Liberal Party governs as a minority party.

After Freeland’s resignation, Trudeau lost the support of the parties that had previously helped the Liberals stay in power – the left-leaning New Democrats, who had a support agreement with the Liberals, and Quebec’s nationalist party, the Bloc Quebecois.

The main opposition party, the Conservatives, have held a significant double-digit lead over the Liberals in the polls for months – suggesting that if a general election were held today, the Liberals could be in danger of a significant defeat.

The Liberals will now elect a new leader to lead the party into the next election, due to be held on or before October 20.

A senior civil servant told the BBC that the race was an open contest and that the Prime Minister’s Office would stay out of the process entirely, leaving Liberal Party members to decide their future.

Speaking to reporters, Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet suggested calling a snap election after the Liberals choose their new leader.

Trudeau is the son of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who dominated the country’s politics in the 1970s and 1980s.

The younger Trudeau became prime minister after the Liberal Party won a landslide majority in 2015. amid the promise of ushering in a new, progressive era of “Solar Roads”.

His record includes a commitment to gender equality in his cabinet, which continues to be 50% female; progress in reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada; introducing a national carbon tax; implementation of tax-free child benefits for families; and legalizing recreational cannabis.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak praised Trudeau’s record on Indigenous issues since his resignation, saying in a statement that he “has taken significant steps to address issues that matter to First Nations.”

“While much work remains, these actions have laid the groundwork for future governments to build on.”

Clouds have begun to hang over the Trudeau government in recent years, which has weathered a series of often self-inflicted scandals, including controversy over a deal with a Canadian firm facing corruption allegations and photos that emerged of the prime minister wearing brown makeup.

Vaccine mandates and other restrictions have also been met with fierce backlash from some Canadians, leading to truckload protests of the Freedom Convoy in early 2022. In the end, Trudeau used unprecedented emergency powers to remove the protesters.

As Canada began to emerge from the pandemic, housing and food prices skyrocketed and its government backed away from ambitious immigration targets as public services began to show strain.

By the end of 2024 Trudeau’s approval rating was the lowest, with only 22% of Canadians saying they thought he was doing a good job. according to one survey tracker.

In Ottawa, a small group of protesters danced outside Parliament Hill to mark his resignation.

However, one bystander said he thought things were fine under Trudeau’s watch.

“I’m a carpenter,” Hames Gamara, who is from British Columbia, told the BBC. “I take care of my job, I get my wages, I pay my bills. It’s good.”

Another Canadian, Marise Cassivy, said it felt like the end of an era. Asked if she felt any hints of sadness, she said, “No.”

“It’s the right thing to do.”