Justin Trudeau - latest: Canadian prime minister says he has ‘regrets’ as he announces resignation
Pressure grew on Canada’s leader from within his Liberal Party over his handling of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed trade tariffs
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Your support makes all the difference.Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation as Liberal Party leader. He will remain as Canadian prime minister until the party has chosen a successor.
It’s the end of a nine-year stint in office, as pressure grew from within his Liberal Party which is trailing significantly behind the opposition Conservatives in the polls.
Trudeau made the announcement from his Rideau Cottage residence.
“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process,” Trudeau said Monday. “Last night, I asked the president of the Liberal Party to begin that process. This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I am having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.”
The outgoing prime minister said he regretted not being able to change Canada’s electoral system.
A row broke out inside Trudeau’s party after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced a proposal to introduce 25 percent tariffs on the country.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland unexpectedly stepped down in mid-December, citing differences with Trudeau on how to approach Trump’s presidency and tariff proposals.
But pressure had already been growing on Trudeau from within the party as its popularity collapsed in the polls.
Canada is already due to hold a general election by the end of October this year.
In pictures: Trudeau’s recent activity
Full report: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expected to resign in the next few days: report
Justin Trudeau is expected to announce his resignation this week, according to reports.
The Canadian Prime Minister, 53, may step down as early as Monday vacating the position of the head of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party after nine years in office, a source told Reuters and the Globe and Mail.
His departure would leave the party without a leader at a time when polls show the Liberals trailing the official opposition party. If he vacates, an election in Canada must be held by late October.
Sources told the Globe and Mail that they did not know definitely when Trudeau would announce his plans to leave but said they expect it would happen before an emergency meeting of Liberal legislators on Wednesday.
Read the full report from Mike Bedigan:
Canada PM Justin Trudeau expected to resign in the next few days: report
The Canadian Prime Minister, 53, may step down as early as Monday, according to sources
The rise and fall of Justin Trudeau as Canadian prime minister on the brink of resigning
After nearly 10 years at the country’s helm, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing growing calls from his own party to resign.
Mr Trudeau’s latest crisis has been sparked by the sudden resignation of his finance minister Chrystia Freeland, amid a row over how best to handle US President-elect Donald Trump’s threatened trade tariffs.
Once the poster-boy for liberal politics, his popularity has waned and his approval rating has dipped below 30 per cent several times this year.
So what went wrong?
Rachel Clun takes a look at how the former poster boy for liberalism lost so much popularity:
The rise and fall of Justin Trudeau as Canadian prime minister on brink of quitting
The leader was once a poster boy for liberalism but is now said to be ready to resign
How could Trudeau avoid being forced out?
With a vote of no confidence looming - if Justin Trudeau doesn’t himself resign - would the Canadian prime minister be able to avoid being ousted?
Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party which previously supported Mr Trudeau’s Liberal minority government, said in December he would table a formal no-confidence motion in the government.
But if Mr Trudeau wanted to avoid losing his job, he could in theory prorogue parliament. This would see the current parliamentary session formally end and give him some breathing space.
The return of the House would therefore be delayed by several weeks, and the government would have time to bring forward a new plan for Canada.
While it would delay a no-confidence motion, it may only serve to further anger a disgruntled set of Liberal legislators.
Trudeau: Trump’s tariffs would mean ‘real hardship for Americans'
After US president-elect Donald Trump announced he would impose a 25 per cent tariff regime on Canada, Justin Trudeau said this would make life much more expensive for Americas.
Here’s what he said in early December, speaking at an event held by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce:
“Trump got elected on a commitment to make life better and more affordable for Americans, and I think people south of the border are beginning to wake up to the real reality that tariffs on everything from Canada would make life a lot more expensive.
“Let’s not kid ourselves in any way, shape or form, 25% tariffs on everything going to the United States would be devastating for the Canadian economy.
“It would also, however, mean real hardship for Americans as well. Americans import 65% of their crude oil from Canada, significant amounts of electricity. Just about all the natural gas exported from Canada goes to the United States. They rely on us for steel and aluminum. They rely on us for a range of agriculture imports. All of those things would get more expensive.”
Mr Trump responded by describing Canada as a state and Mr Trudeau as its governor.
Trudeau’s political career in dates
Oct ‘13: Mr Trudeau, son of former Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau, becomes leader of Liberal party when it was at an all-time low.
Oct ‘15: With a message of hope, the Liberals win a majority in the federal election, defeating the Conservatives.
Dec ‘17: Mr Trudeau becomes first PM to be found guilty of conflict of interest by ethics commissioner after accepting a holiday, flights and gifts from the Aga Khan.
Feb ‘19: Jody Wilson-Raybould, former justice minister, accuses government officials of pressuring her to help construction company SNC-Lavalin avoid a corruption trial. In August, the ethics commissioner rules Mr Trudeau and his officials breached ethics rules.
Sept ‘19: Photos emerge of Mr Trudeau wearing blackface when he was younger, shortly before the 2019 election starts. Mr Trudeau apologises for his “blind spot”.
Oct ‘19: Liberals reduced to minority in House of Commons in election.
Sept ‘21: Trudeau triggers national vote in hope the electorate would reward his government’s pandemic handling - but fails to win a majority in the house.
July ‘23: Polls show Liberals steadily losing popularity amid growing signs of voter fatigue. The gap suddenly widens in summer and a 2025 defeat seems likely.
June ‘24: Defeat for Liberals in a special election, in one of its safest seats in Toronto.
Sept ‘24: Former key ally New Democratic Party (NDP) withdraws automatic support, forcing Mr Trudeau to attempt to forge new alliances.
Nov ‘24: Trump pledges 25 per cent tariff on all products imported to US from Canada, a threat to an export-dependent economy.
Dec ‘24: Finance minister Chrystia Freeland resigns over handling of Trump tariffs and Mr Trudea’s support continues to collapse. NDP promises no confidence motion in the new year.
‘Let’s go’ - fighting talk from Trudeau in latest X post
Justin Trudeau’s latest X post gives no indication of a willingness to step down soon, despite reports that he is likely to announce his resignation this week.
“A big win from 2024: Nearly a million Canadian families saw their child care fees come down. Parents saved thousands of dollars, thanks to our national child care program,” Mr Trudeau wrote on Sunday.
“In 2025, we’re going to keep bringing those costs down. Let’s go.”
December report: Canadian cabinet ministers meet Trump team amid threat of tariffs
Two Canadian Cabinet ministers met with President-elect Donald Trump‘s nominee for commerce secretary at Mar-a-Lago on Friday as Canada tries to avoid sweeping tariffs when Trump takes office.
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly met with Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, as well as North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department.
Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian products if Canada does not stem what he calls a flow of migrants and fentanyl into the United States — even though far fewer of each cross into the U.S. from Canada than from Mexico, which Trump has also threatened.
“Minister LeBlanc and Minister Joly had a positive, productive meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Howard Lutnick and Doug Burgum, as a follow-up to the dinner between the Prime Minister and President Trump last month,” said Jean-Sébastien Comeau, a spokesman for LeBlanc.
Read the full report:
Canadian cabinet ministers meet Trump team amid threat of tariffs
Finance minister Dominic LeBlanc and foreign minister Mélanie Joly made the trip to Mar-a-Lago as the incoming president continues to make ominous noises about relations between their two countries
Trudeau’s popularity collapse laid bare by poll tracker
With an election looming in October at the latest, the polls aren’t positive reading for Justin Trudeau’s governing Liberals.
A poll average tracker carried out by Canada’s CBC shows the Liberals trailing by more than 23 per cent, with support for his party having taken another hit after finance minister Chrystia Freedland’s resignation in December.
Mr Trudeau’s party is currently on 20.9 per cent in the tracker, which would be a 12.2 per cent drop from its voteshare in the 2021 election.
The left-leaning New Democrat party, led by Jagmeet Singh, is under two points behind the Liberals in the tracker.
The tracker, created by Canadian political analyst Éric Grenier of TheWrit.ca, finds there is a 99 per cent probability of the Conservatives winning a majority, and a less than 1 per cent chance of the Liberals winning the most seats.
Justin Trudeau loses caucus support in latest blow
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under immense pressure to resign with more members of his own party reportedly joining the effort to force Trudeau out after his deputy prime minister resigned and concerns about Donald Trump’s tariffs increase.
Signs are mounting that members of the Liberal Party, which Trudeau has led since 2013, are losing confidence in the prime minister.
In mid-December, Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister and head of finance, unexpectedly resigned citing disagreements over the handling of Trump’s proposed 25 percent tariffs on the country – an issue that could damage the economy.
Already, Trudeau was facing low approval ratings due to the country’s cost of living crisis.
But since then, dozens of Liberal MPs have called on Trudeau to resign. Less than two weeks ago, a majority of Liberal MPs in the province of Ontario agreed, on a call, that Trudeau should step down, according to CBC.
Read Ariana Baio’s report from five days ago:
Justin Trudeau on his way out? Canada’s leader loses caucus support in latest blow
Trudeau has faced record-low approval ratings over the last few months
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