Justin Trudeau: he resigns as Prime Minister of Canada after almost 10 years in power

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that he is leaving the post he has held since 2015.

At a news conference in Ottawa, Trudeau announced his resignation as leader of the ruling Liberal Party and said he would remain as head of government until his party chooses a new leader.

Mr. Trudeau said that after speaking with his family, he concluded that if he had to fight “internal battles,” he was not the best candidate for the Canadian election later this year .

The prime minister has seen his popularity plummet in recent years and has come under pressure, both within and outside his party, to step down.

“The country deserves a real choice in this year’s elections,” said Mr. Trudeau, who, although he describes himself as a “fighter,” indicated that internal differences over his leadership prevented him from being the Liberal candidate in the next election.

For him, his resignation is an opportunity to lower the political temperature in the country.

Mr. Trudeau lamented that the Canadian Parliament had been paralyzed for months by “obstruction” and a “total lack of productivity in recent months.”

He said it was time to “reset” Canadian politics and “reduce the level of polarization” that has taken hold of late.

Mr. Trudeau made a special mention of his long-time ally, Chrystia Freeland, who resigned suddenly in mid-December, thus increasing pressure on the Prime Minister’s leadership.

“I’m not in the habit of sharing private conversations,” Mr. Trudeau said of what happened with Ms. Freeland, while acknowledging that he had hoped she would remain finance minister and deputy prime minister.

With the Canadian Prime Minister’s decision, Parliament will be prorogued until March 24, allowing the ruling Liberal Party to avoid a motion of no confidence and elect a replacement for Mr. Trudeau.

The leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, reacted to the announcement of Mr. Trudeau’s resignation by declaring that “nothing has changed.”

“All Liberal MPs and leadership candidates supported EVERYTHING Trudeau did for 9 years, and now they want to deceive voters by changing another Liberal face to continue scamming Canadians for another 4 years, just like Justin “, wrote Mr. Poilievre in X.

“The only way to fix what the Liberals broke is to hold a carbon tax election to elect common-sense Conservatives who will make Canada’s promise a reality,” he continued.

Canada has a carbon pricing system intended to combat climate change, sometimes called a carbon tax.

Conservatives say this system has driven up the prices of everyday products and are calling for a vote on it.

In a video attached to the press release, Mr. Poilievre criticizes what he calls Mr. Trudeau’s “uncontrolled spending, debt and immigration” and says that all Liberal MPs supported him.

As a reminder, Mr. Trudeau declared during his speech that Pierre Poilievre’s vision “does not suit Canadians”.

Jessica Murphy, BBC News, depuis Toronto

For several months, the question that has haunted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, faced with a frustrated electorate, a political rival who is gaining ground in the polls and, above all, a growing rejection on the part of voters, is the following: “ Will he resign?

So far, he has held firm, promising that he will lead the party in the next election.

But the surprise resignation of his main vice-president, former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, in mid-December was the trigger for Monday’s announcement.

Mr. Trudeau came to power almost a decade ago, presented as the new face of progressive politics.

In 2015, seduced by his youthful charisma and hopeful political message, voters catapulted the Liberals from third place to a majority, which is unprecedented in Canadian political history.

He remains the only leader remaining among his peers when he took office, from Barack Obama to Angela Merkel, Shinzo Abe and David Cameron, and is currently the longest-serving G7 leader.

But in the years since, and after two general elections, Mr. Trudeau and his brand have become a drag on the party’s fortunes.

A series of ethics scandals began to tarnish the image of the new government. He was found guilty of violating federal conflict of interest rules in connection with a corruption investigation (the SNC-Lavalin affair) and for luxury trips to the Bahamas.

In 2020, he faced scrutiny for choosing a charity with ties to his family to administer a major government program.

More recently, Mr. Trudeau has faced headwinds regarding the cost of living and inflation, two factors that helped surprise incumbent leaders around the world in elections.

Furthermore, after more than nine years in power, he is one of Canada’s longest-serving prime ministers, and there is a general sense of weariness and frustration with his government.

Ultimately, pressure from his own MPs, who made it clear during the holidays that they no longer supported his leadership, made his continuation in power almost impossible.

Mr. Trudeau’s departure opens a period of uncertainty in Canada, which will have to decide this year on the direction to take in the federal elections.

Mr. Trudeau has been in power for nearly a decade, a long period during which he has distinguished himself on the world stage as a champion of moderation and liberal policies in years when other countries saw triumph of hard-right candidates, such as Donald Trump in the United States.

But in recent years his popularity has fallen among a section of the population angered by the rising cost of living and opposed to the friendly immigration policy the country has maintained for years.

Mr. Trudeau’s declining popularity has led critics inside and outside his party to call on him to make way for a new leader.

The Liberal party must now choose one who will have the difficult task of seeking victory in an election where, according to polls, the Liberals are at a disadvantage compared to the conservative opposition.

Chrystia Freeland, former deputy prime minister, Mark Carney, former president of the Central Bank, and the current transport minister, Anita Anand, are some of the names being considered.