Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that he will resign as Liberal Party leader and prime minister once a new party leader is chosen.
“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process,” he said on Monday from Rideau Cottage in Ottawa.
Trudeau will serve as Prime Minister until March 24. He will be succeeded by a new Liberal Party leader.
The Canadian Parliament was scheduled to begin its new session on January 27, 2025, but Trudeau said Monday that he has asked the governor general to extend the session until March 24.
During his remarks, Trudeau spoke in both English and French, stating that he had told his children about the news the night before.
“I am a fighter. Every bone in my body has always urged me to fight because I care deeply about Canadians. “I care deeply about this country, and I will always be motivated by what is best for Canadians,” the prime minister said.
Trudeau stated that he hopes his resignation will “bring the temperature down” and allow Parliament to reset and return to work “for Canadians.”
“Parliament needs a reset, I think, needs to calm down a bit and get to work for Canadians,” Trudeau said in response to reporters’ questions following his announcement.
“Removing me as the leader who will fight the next election for the party should decrease the polarization that we have right now,” he told reporters.
On Monday, Pierre Poilievre, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, referred to Trudeau’s resignation as a “political maneuver” and a “trick.”
“Nothing has changed,” Poilievre said in a video statement posted to X.
Poilievre argued that the entire Liberal Party is equally responsible for the series of poor decisions made during Trudeau’s tenure, emphasizing that the problems go beyond the outgoing prime minister. Poilievre is running for prime minister.
The development comes a month after Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s deputy prime minister and finance minister, resigned from Trudeau’s cabinet, indicating apparent turmoil in his administration. Trudeau, the 53-year-old Liberal Party leader, became Canada’s 23rd prime minister in 2015.
In her resignation letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Freeland cited disagreements with Trudeau over how to deal with President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
“Our country today faces a grave challenge,” Freeland wrote in the letter, which she posted on social media. “The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25 percent tariffs.”
“We need to take that threat extremely seriously,” she continued, emphasizing the importance of Canada pushing back and resisting “costly political gimmicks” while also “building a true Team Canada response.”
Trump has proposed new tariffs on imports from Canada, the US’s third-largest agricultural supplier, according to the Department of Agriculture, as well as China and Mexico.
Last month, Trudeau visited Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida, to meet with the president-elect. Trudeau told reporters at the time that his conversation with Trump was “excellent,” but declined to answer any further questions.
Trump said on Monday that Trudeau resigned in part due to tariffs.
“Many people in Canada enjoy being the 51st state. The United States can no longer bear the massive trade deficits and subsidies that Canada requires to remain afloat. “Justin Trudeau knew this and resigned,” Trump wrote on social media.
The White House said Monday that President Joe Biden is “grateful” for “stalwart friend” Trudeau’s collaboration.
“Prime Minister Trudeau has been a loyal friend of the United States. During his decade as Prime Minister of Canada, we have collaborated closely on a wide range of issues confronting our countries and the world as close allies, neighbors, and G7 members,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One.
“The president is grateful for the prime minister’s partnership on all of that and for his commitment to defending North America from the geopolitical threats of the 21st century and the work we have done together to sustain North America’s status as the world’s most economically competitive region.”
“As fellow democracies, we stand with the prime minister and the Canadian people as they select a new Liberal Party leader and organize a new government,” Jean-Pierre told the crowd.
In her letter last month, Freeland stated that Trudeau informed her that he no longer wanted her to serve as finance minister and offered her another position in Cabinet.
“Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the Cabinet,” she wrote in the letter, adding that she looks forward to continuing to work with her colleagues as a Liberal member of Parliament and intends to run for her seat in Toronto in the next federal election.
Following Freeland’s resignation, Dominic LeBlanc, the minister of intergovernmental affairs, will take over as finance minister.
Her resignation comes as Sean Fraser, Trudeau’s housing minister, has announced that he will not seek reelection for personal reasons, citing a desire to spend more time with his family.
The next federal election must be held before October 20.
According to CBC News, support for Trudeau’s party has steadily declined in recent months, with the Liberals now at their lowest level of support in years. According to CBC News, the Conservative Party leads the Liberals by 21 points heading into the federal election.
Trudeau’s father, former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was Canada’s prime minister from 1968 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1984, before retiring before the next election.
