Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces he will resign

The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced during a speech on Monday, January 6, his “intent to resign from (her) position of Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party (of Canada).” This resignation will be effective “once the party has chosen its next leader following a rigorous and competitive process”he added.

Pressure was intense around Mr. Trudeau and more and more voices were being raised in Canada for him to resign, including within his own party, since the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on 16 December 2024.

Mr. Trudeau had been in difficulty for months, but the crisis has deepened since the re-election of Donald Trump in November 2024.

Mr. Trump, who takes office on January 20, has promised to impose 25% tariffs on Canada upon his return to office. However, Ottawa’s primary partner is the United States, where 75% of its exports go.

Mr. Trudeau traveled to Florida in November to meet the future US president at his Mar-a-Lago property to avoid a trade war. But since then, Donald Trump has dealt humiliating blows to Mr. Trudeau on social networks, calling him several times “governor” of Canada.

Disagreements over how to respond to these threats led to Chrystia Freeland’s resignation in mid-December.

High inflation

Arriving in power in the fall of 2015, Justin Trudeau also suffered from a low popularity rating, being seen as responsible for the high inflation hitting the country as well as the housing and public services crisis. His government narrowly survived a series of votes of no confidence and calls for his critics to resign.

Eldest son of the charismatic Pierre Elliott Trudeau, former prime minister who died in 2000, Justin Trudeau entered politics late, in 2007. He was elected MP for Montreal in 2008 then became leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in 2013.

Prime Minister, he made Canada the second country in the world to legalize cannabis, introduced medical assistance in dying, a carbon tax, launched a public inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women, and signed a modernized version of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).