Justin Trudeau intends to resign as Prime Minister of Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he will step down in the coming months, bowing to angry voters at a time of uncertain economic prospects and political infighting.

The announcement, which came amid gridlock in Parliament, left Canada in a state of political flux just as the incoming Trump administration pledged to impose punitive tariffs on Canadian imports.

“It’s time to reset,” Trudeau told reporters outside his residence on a cold morning in Ottawa, the capital. Mr. Trudeau said he has suspended Parliament until March 24, and that he will remain as Liberal Party leader and prime minister until his replacement is chosen through a nationwide party election.

“I really feel that removing the controversy over my continued leadership is an opportunity to lower the temperature,” he said.

Mr. Trudeau, 53, who rose to power nearly a decade ago and quickly became seen as a progressive icon, is the latest leader in the West to be pushed aside by an anti-incumbency mood, an anti-immigration backlash and anger over immigration. Residual effects of higher inflation during the coronavirus pandemic. Although inflation in Canada has fallen to less than 2%, unemployment remains high, exceeding 6%.

The general election must be held by October, a timeline Mr. Trudeau indicated on Monday.

“It has become clear to me in light of the internal battles that I cannot be the person who holds the liberal standard in the next election,” he said.

Mr. Trudeau has faced weeks of mounting pressure from within his party’s ranks.

In December, Mr. Trudeau’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, He resigned suddenlyHe issued a stinging rebuke of his leadership and management of the country. Ms. Freeland, who was a close ally of the prime minister, accused Mr. Trudeau of engaging in “costly political tricks” and being unprepared to meet the challenge posed by Mr. Trump.

Her resignation has sparked a growing chorus of voices from Liberal parliamentarians calling for him to step down for the party, and allow someone else to lead the party in the general election.

Mr. Trudeau has also come under pressure from the resurgent Conservative Party, which in recent polls has held a significant lead over the Liberal Party. Conservative Party leader, Pierre Poilievre, published a video took to social media on Monday to promote an alternative vision of governance: “repeal the tax,” a reference to Trudeau’s unpopular policy. Carbon taxand “Build homes” and “Fix the budget” and “Stop crime.”

This unrest comes as Canada debates how best to deal with Trump’s pledge to impose tariffs that would upend the trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico. (Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico, and says he wants both countries to address the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants into the United States.)

The tariffs would potentially be devastating to the Canadian economy, which relies heavily on exports, especially oil and cars. The United States and Canada are each other’s largest trading partners.

Mr. Trudeau visited Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Florida, in late November, and his government has been holding talks to address the president-elect’s concerns about border security in the hope that he will reconsider his policy. Definitional threat.

The talks do not appear to have been fruitful. In early December, Mr. Trump mocked Mr. Trudeau in a social media post, calling the Canadian prime minister “Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada.”

On Monday, Trump responded to Trudeau’s resignation by again suggesting that Canada should become America’s “51st state,” saying on social media that if Canada merged with the United States taxes would be lower and there would be no tariffs.

Possible replacements for Mr. Trudeau include Ms. Freeland, the former deputy prime minister and finance minister; dominique leblanc, who became Minister of Finance when Mrs. Freeland resigned; Melanie Jolie, Canada’s top diplomat since 2021; And Mark Carney, Former Governor of the Bank of Canada, who also headed the Bank of England.

Mr Trudeau, whose government has been hampered by its lack of a majority in Parliament, said on Monday that the legislature had been “completely obstructed, obstructed and completely unproductive”.

In his comments in French, he painted a clearer picture of a parliament that “no longer works.”

Suspending Parliament, a process known as adjournment, would give his party time to choose a new leader, which Mr. Trudeau said would be through a “vigorously competitive, nationwide process.” The emergence of a new – and perhaps more popular – leader could put the Liberals on a firmer footing in the next national election.

Suspending Parliament repeals all pending legislation but does not affect the day-to-day operations of government.

Mr. Trudeau has spent a decade building a political brand around being a feminist, an environmentalist, an advocate for refugees and indigenous people, and following the same message of change and hope as Barack Obama. But analysts say Mr. Trudeau’s brand, which seems at odds with Mr. Trump’s, is no longer working in his favor.

“He caught a wave on his way in, and when you catch a wave, it can lift you up,” said Darrell Bricker, a veteran pollster and CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs. “But on the other hand, if you don’t get down, it’s going to hold you back.”

An Ipsos poll, published in late December, showed the Liberals trailing the Conservatives by 25 percentage points.

Although the next elections must be held by October, a vote could be called or forced early.

A Liberal government led by a new prime minister may be short-lived. Shortly after the start of the new session, the Liberal government will likely face a vote of confidence. He is likely to lose such a vote, because he controls only a minority of seats in parliament and has lost the support of all other parties. This would trigger a federal election.

The Prime Minister also has the power to dissolve Parliament at any time, which could also trigger elections.