Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces his decision to resign

Canada’s Justin Trudeau said on Monday he will step down from the ruling Liberal Party but will remain as prime minister until a new leader is chosen ahead of a general election due in late October.

“I intend to step down as party leader, as prime minister, after the party chooses its next leader through a credible nationwide competitive process,” he said during a press conference on Monday. “Last night I asked the president of the Liberal Party to start this process. This country deserves a real choice at the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I have to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best choice in the lead in this election.”

He added that Canada’s parliament will be prorogued — suspending its activities — until March 24, when a confidence vote will be held.

“Parliament has been completely engulfed in obstruction and filibustering and total lack of productivity over the past few months. We are now the longest-serving minority government in history, and it’s time for a reboot,” Trudeau said.

Domestic press reported that he was expected to announce his resignation before a key national meeting on Wednesday. Canadian stocks rose slightly on the news. The S&P TSX rose 0.1%, while the Canadian dollar rose 0.5% to 1.4373 against its US counterpart. The iShares MSCI Canada ETF (EWC) rose 0.5%.

Canada’s latest political crisis was sparked by the sudden departure of former Trudeau ally and deputy finance minister Chrystia Freeland, who resigned in December citing disagreements over Ottawa’s response to possible US trade nationalism over the next four years under the president-elect. Donald Trumpincoming administration.

Since then, Dominique LeBlanc was appointed as her successor and headed the Finance Minister’s portfolio.

Trudeau, 53, who took office in 2015 and has been re-elected twice, has suffered a sharp drop in voter approval to just 19% since leaving Freeland, Abacus Data pollster found on December 17. The Angus Reid Institute on December 30 declared a “tough year for the federal Liberals” and assessed only 16% of popular support for the party — the weakest level since the institute began tracking in 2014. Trudeau’s resignation leaves his successor no more than a few months to prepare an election campaign.

The opposition Conservative Party now holds a more than 20% lead in the polls ahead of the general election, with its firebrand leader Pierre Poilievre winning praise from a Trump ally Elon Muskwhich recently praised his “big interview”.

Despite growing calls for him to resign, Trudeau has refused to do so since mid-December, and the Liberal Party lacks a mechanism to oust its leader without consent.

In a new blow to Trudeau, Jagmeet Singh, leader of the left-wing coalition New Democratic Party, announced on December 20 in an open letter intent to introduce a movement to oust the Trudeau government, paving the way for an election.

“Justin Trudeau has failed in the most important task of a prime minister: to work for the people, not for those in power,” Singh said, according to a translation by CNBC. “Justin Trudeau’s Liberals made a lot of nice promises. But they fail people again and again.’

Trudeau recently presided over a Canadian economy that just dropped inflation below its 2% target in Novemberbut still suffers from household debt, the growth of unemployment, worse performance indicators in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2023 and a panoptic effect on the US – where Trump has already teased the possibility of both tariffs 25%. and annexation.

Differences over Canada’s response to Trump’s “aggressive economic nationalism” finally separated Freeland from Trudeau last month.

“We must take this threat very seriously,” she warned in his resignation letterunderscoring the “serious challenges the United States poses” and calling for “America First” economic nationalism to be countered with a determined effort to fight for capital and the investment and jobs it brings.”

— CNBC’s Fred Imbert contributed to this report.