According to The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star, sources within the Liberal party expect Mr. Trudeau to step down ahead of a national meeting of his party scheduled for Wednesday.
The announcement could be made in the next 24 hours, these sources told the two newspapers in articles published on Sunday. Questioned by AFP, the Prime Minister’s office refused to comment on this information.
Such an announcement would come a few months before the next legislative elections in Canada, which must be held by the end of October. But it is unclear whether Mr. Trudeau, 53, will remain his party’s interim leader or whether he will immediately leave the post if he resigns as prime minister.
So far Justin Trudeau, who had announced his intention to run again, is credited in the polls with more than 20 points behind his conservative rival, Pierre Poilievre. A minority in Parliament, he is weakened by the withdrawal of his left-wing ally and the growing discontent within his own party.
At the origins of Quebec: the epic of New France
Justin Trudeau: plummeting popularity
Mr. Trudeau’s popularity has waned in recent months as his government narrowly survived a series of votes of no confidence and his critics called for his resignation.
Chaos has reigned in the capital Ottawa since the surprise resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who disagreed with Justin Trudeau over how to manage the looming economic war with the United States.
Donald Trump’s statements in recent weeks have aggravated the Canadian political crisis and caused a shock wave. The country is seeking a response to the threats of the US president-elect, who has promised to impose 25% customs duties on Canada and Mexico upon his return to power in January.
Mr. Trudeau traveled to Florida in November to meet him at his Mar-a-Lago property to avoid a trade war.
But since then, Donald Trump, who will take office as president of the United States on January 20, has dealt humiliating blows to Mr. Trudeau on social networks, calling him several times “governor” you Canada.
After nearly a decade in power, Justin Trudeau today suffers from low popularity ratings, being seen as responsible for the high inflation hitting the country as well as the housing and public services crisis.
A decade in power and real successes
Upon his arrival in 2015, the whole world observed with interest, even admiration, the first steps in power of the young multilateralist leader who proclaimed that “Canada is back” on the international scene.
Eldest son of the charismatic Pierre Elliott Trudeau, former Prime Minister who died in 2000, Justin Trudeau has long searched for his path: amateur boxer, snowboard instructor, English and French teacher…
He finally followed in his father’s footsteps and entered politics late in 2007, being elected deputy for Montreal in 2008 then leader of a liberal party in tatters in 2013.
Prime Minister, he made Canada the second country in the world to legalize cannabis, introduced medical assistance in dying, a carbon tax, launched a public inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and will sign a modernized version of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
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