Justin Trudeau has confirmed that he will step down as Liberal Party leader and prime minister, bringing an end to almost a decade at the helm and sparking a leadership contest to take his place.
Trudeau told reporters on Monday morning that he would continue to lead the country until his party had chosen a successor, with parliament to be prorogued until March 24.
Contenders to replace Trudeau reportedly include Chrystia Freeland – his former finance minister whose bombshell resignation letter last month rocked the cabinet – and Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada mulling a political run.
Speculation about the prime minister’s future had mounted after Freeland criticized his administration’s stance on Canada-US relations in that letter, in which she said she found herself “at odds” with Trudeau on the best path forward for Canada and warned against “political gimmicks” as the country gears up for the looming threat of new tariffs from incoming US president-elect Donald Trump.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is in crisis after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned, criticizing his fiscal policies and increasing the likelihood of an early 2025 election.https://t.co/Vlf8xFa4d4
— Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine (@CMPmagazine) December 18, 2024
New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh, whose support the minority Liberal government requires to stay in power, confirmed shortly after Freeland’s resignation that his party would vote to bring down the government when parliament resumes.
Trudeau has also faced public calls by more than 20 Liberal MPs to step aside with the party’s popularity plummeting in the polls. An Angus Reid survey at the end of the year showed support for the Liberals had plunged to 16%, its lowest share since the institute began tracking in 2014, while Trudeau’s popularity slid to 22%.
The Canadian dollar rallied on Monday morning after a Globe and Mail report suggested Trudeau was likely to resign this week, having dipped in the wake of Trump’s vow to slap a blanket 25% tariff on all Canadian goods crossing into the US unless progress was made on border security.
Trudeau has led the Liberals since 2013 and guided the party to a majority government in the 2015 federal election. He eked out narrow wins in the 2019 and 2021 elections, both of which saw his party form minority governments, but with another election looming this year prospects of a fourth mandate have faded rapidly in the face of a resurgent Conservative Party under Pierre Poilievre.
