Q24N — Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has resigned after being in office for almost a decade. The announcement was made by Trudeau himself at a press conference,
But why is this happening?
The resignation comes amid political tensions within the country where the opposition is gaining more and more strength.
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“I am going to resign as party leader and as prime minister,” Trudeau told reporters, amidst his party being at its lowest point in the polls.
Trudeau lost popularity in recent months in the middle of an election year.
This responds to situations such as the attempt to remove the Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, one of his closest allies, after she opposed his proposals to increase spending.
Since 2015, Trudeau arrived with an agenda full of progressive proposals that promoted women’s rights and the promise to fight climate change.
With Trudeau out of office, there are likely to be calls from the opposition for an early election to put in place a stable government capable of dealing with the Donald Trump administration in the United States for the next four years.
“This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election,” Trudeau conceded on Monday, announcing his resignation in front of Rideau Cottage, his official residence for most of the last decade.
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Trudeau will stay on as prime minister until a new Liberal Party leader is chosen, at a date yet to be set by the party, and asked for parliament to be suspended until 24 March to give time for the party to find a new leader.
In the years since his ascent to the global stage, and over two general elections, Trudeau and his brand have become a drag on the Liberal party’s fortunes.
Paul Wells, a Canadian political journalist and the author of Justin Trudeau on the Ropes, recently told the BBC he believes Trudeau will be remembered “as a consequential” prime minister, notably for providing genuine leadership on issues like indigenous reconciliation and, to some extent, climate policy. But he is also one who felt increasingly out of touch with public opinion and was increasingly unable to adjust to changing times”.
After more than nine years in power, the 23rd Prime Minister is among Canada’s longest-serving prime ministers.
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Trudeau is the son of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who dominated the country’s politics in the 1970s and ’80s and Canada’s third-longest-serving prime minister (15 years and 164 days), behind John A. Macdonald (in office for a total of 18 years, 359 days) and William Lyon Mackenzie King (with a total of 21 years and 154 days in office).
The end of an era.
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