Justin Trudeau Resigns As Canadian Prime Minister
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Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation on Monday, saying he will leave office as soon as the ruling Liberal party chooses a new leader after months of slumping polls and internal division.
It was not immediately clear how long Trudeau will remain in office as a caretaker premier.
He said the Liberal leadership race will be “a robust, nationwide competitive process.”
That means Trudeau will continue to lead Canada when incoming US president Donald Trump takes office this month and will be tasked with leading the country’s initial response to the new US administration, including a possible trade war.
Trudeau’s support within the Liberal party had been teetering through much of last year but plunged to new depths following the surprise resignation in December of his former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland.
In a scathing resignation letter, Freeland accused Trudeau of focusing on political gimmicks to appease voters, including a costly Christmas tax holiday, instead of steadying Canada’s finances ahead of Trump’s promised tariffs.
Canadian media have tipped Freeland as a possible contender to taker over the Liberal Party along with the former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, a Canadian who also previously led the Bank of Canada.
“If they don’t have a new leader for the next election, then there’s no point,” she told AFP.
Trudeau’s Liberals are trailing badly in the polls to the opposition Conservatives and narrowly survived three non-confidence votes in parliament late last year.
His minority government had been held up by a deal with the left-wing New Democratic Party but in December the NDP said they would vote to topple Trudeau at the next opportunity.
That could could give the Liberals time to choose a new leader while restricting the opposition chances to bring a vote of non-confidence.
AFP
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