Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces his resignation at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Jan. 6, 2025.Photo:Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP
Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP
Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeauannounced on Monday, Jan. 6, that he intends to resign as leader of the nation’s Liberal Party after nearly 12 years at the helm, also marking the end of his premiership.
In a speech delivered outside Rideau Cottage on Monday morning, he said that he will wait to vacate his position until a successor has been selected.
Trudeau, 53, has faced growing calls to resign before Canada’s 2025 election — which has not yet been scheduled — as polling suggests that the Liberals will badly lose to the Conservatives.
He was elected to lead the struggling center-left party in 2013 and two years later, he became the prime minister when he helped the Liberals return to power.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump meet in the Oval Office on Feb. 13, 2017.Kevin Dietsch/Pool via Bloomberg
One of Trudeau’s most loyal Cabinet members, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, resigned in December with a warning to the public: that Trudeau was not prepared to save the country from economic turmoil if Trump imposes high tariffs on Canada when he becomes president.
“Our country is facing a grave challenge,” Freeland said in her resignation letter. “That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war.”
Freeland’s dramatic departure and criticism of Trudeau’s spending sent shockwaves through Parliament, leading Liberal lawmakers to push for the prime minister’s resignation in hopes that they could build a stronger government to counter Trump’s policies.
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Trudeau, whodid not always see eye to eyewith the White House during Trump’s first presidency, met with the U.S. president-elect at Mar-a-Lago in November to discuss the Republican’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian goods.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau arrives in Los Angeles for the IX Summit of the Americas on June 8, 2022.Anna Moneymaker/Getty
Trudeau has been a member of Parliament since 2008 and served as prime minister for three terms alongside three U.S. presidents. No Canadian prime minister has earned a fourth consecutive term in more than a century.
Trudeau was born into a prominent political family. His father,Pierre Trudeau, was serving as the Canadian prime minister when he was born.
source: people.com
