Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that he is resigning as leader of the Liberal Party after nearly a decade in power.
Support for Mr Trudeau has plummeted in recent months and the longtime leader has come under increasing scrutiny from former allies as Canada struggles with soaring living costs and high levels of immigration. He said he would stay on until a successor Prime Minister is picked.
“I intend to resign as party leader and Prime Minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust nationwide competitive process,” Mr Trudeau said in a press conference. “This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I'm having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.”
Mr Trudeau, 53, came to power in 2015 after 10 years of Conservative Party rule. He enjoyed early popularity and was credited for putting Canada on a more liberal track.
He proudly championed women’s rights and helped re-establish Canada’s image on the world’s stage, including by welcoming Syrian refugees, but Mr Trudeau's popularity collapsed in recent years. In December, his longtime deputy, Chrystia Freeland, broke ranks and resigned from his cabinet.
Ms Freeland said the two allies were at “odds about the best path forward for Canada” in her resignation letter and cited a need to stand up to president-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened 25 per cent tariffs against Canada.
“Our country today faces a grave challenge. The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25 per cent tariffs. We need to take that threat extremely seriously,” Ms Freeland said.
Shortly after, Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party, who's alliance with the Liberals helped prop up Mr Trudeau's government, announced that he planned to introduce a motion in parliament to oust the besieged Prime Minister.
All of this came as support for the Conservatives and leader Pierre Poilievre increased, creating a sense that Mr Trudeau's days were numbered.
Speaking outside Rideau Cottage, his makeshift home for much of the last decade, as the Prime Minister's official residence is in need of renovations, Mr Trudeau took aim at the Conservative leader's vision for Canada.
“Pierre Poilievre's vision for this country is not the right one for Canadians,” Mr Trudeau said. “Stopping the fight against climate change doesn't make sense. Backing off on the values and strength and diversity that Canada has always, always worked to pull itself together on is not the right path for the country.”
Mr Trudeau added that he believed whoever succeeds him as leader of the Liberal Party can defeat the Conservatives despite the right's surging popularity. “We need an ambitious optimistic view of the future, and Pierre Poilievre is not offering that.”
US President Joe Biden paid tribute to Mr Trudeau, saying he had led Canada with "commitment, optimism and strategic vision."
"The US-Canada alliance is stronger because of him. The American and Canadian people are safer because of him. And the world is better off because of him," Mr Biden said in a statement.
The scion of a wealthy political family, Mr Trudeau grew up in the halls of Parliament, while his father Pierre Elliott Trudeau served as Prime Minister from 1968 to 1979 and again from 1980-1984.
Mr Trudeau first rose to prominence in Canada in 2000 after he gave a moving eulogy at his father's funeral in Montreal. In 2008, he was election a member of parliament for Papineau, a multicultural riding that in no way was a liberal strong hold, perhaps the first real sign of his political chops.
In 2013, he was elected leader of the Liberal party and in 2015, he defeated incumbent conservative leader Stephen Harper and won a surprise majority government. It would be his first and last. In 2019, he managed only a narrow minority and again in 2021. The next federal election was set for fall 2025, but that will likely be expedited now.
He said he was most proud of how his government fought for the middle class and how it helped “reduce poverty” in Canada. But in the end, political infighting made it clear that he was no longer the right person to lead the party.
“Recognising that removing me from the equation as the leader who will fight the next election for the Liberal Party should also decrease the level of polarisation that we're seeing right now in the house and in Canadian politics and allow people to actually focus on serving Canadians in this house, and with their work, the way Canadians deserve,” he said.
