On Monday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he is resigning as Prime Minister and as leader of the Liberal Party while also announcing that parliament will be prorogued until March 24.
“Over the holidays I had a chance to reflect,” Trudeau said in a press conference streamed live. “I have had talks with my family about our future. Throughout the course of my career, any success I have personally achieved has been because of their support and encouragement.”
Trudeau announced that he informed his children of his decision during Sunday night dinner. After a brief pause during the press conference he made the difficult announcement.
“I intend to resign as the party leader, and as Prime Minister after the party selects its next leader through a robust, and nationwide competitive process," he said. "Last night I asked the leader of the Liberal Party to begin the process. 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 within that election.”
Following his statements, reporters asked Trudeau about his time as the Prime Minister, and about some of his highlights. He told reporters that fighting for the middle class is something he is proud of.
“We were elected in 2015 to fight for the middle class, and that’s exactly what we’ve done over the past years,” he told reporters. “We reduced their taxes, increased benefits to families, we made sure the economy was focused on working for everyone.”
When asked about any regret, Trudeau answered that he was disappointed that her couldn’t fix the electoral process.
“I do wish we’ve been able to change the way we elect our governments in their country,” he said. “If we could have changed the voting method, people could simply choose a second or third choice on the same ballot, so parties would spend more time trying to be people’s second or third choice. I think with this method of voting people would be looking for things they have in common rather than dividing Canadians against each other.”
Peter Frsgiskatos, the Liberal MP representing London North Centre, joined the call over the weekend calling for Trudeau’s resignation. He said he wasn’t entirely shocked by Mr. Trudeau’s announcement, because of the challenges that have materialized since the resignation of former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, but did also acknowledge that Trudeau did do a lot of good things during his tenure.
“This is someone who achieved a great deal for the country,” said Fragiskatos. “Whether it's the way that child poverty declined massively because of the Canada child benefit, or whether it's the groundbreaking environmental legislation and climate change policy, whether it's a reconciliation agenda that has never been pursued by any Federal government, and especially the way he shepherded the country through a first Trump presidency.”
Fragiskatos also pointed to the work done by Trudeau and the entire Liberal party during the COVID-19 pandemic as a win on his resume.
“People were still able to put food on the table, and run their businesses,” he said. “That’s no small thing for a prime minister and those are real achievements.”
A six hour meeting is scheduled for Wednesday for Liberal party which will include MPs from all over the country. A big talking point will be the leadership race, but also how to best handle a new Trump administration. Fragiskatos says the proroguing that was announced by Trudeau to last until March 24 will act as a pause for parliament.
“We needed to do that because parliament has been stuck since the fall, really over internal squabbles within parties,” he said. “It’s strange that legislation hasn’t been moving forward because this parliament has proven to be very effective in terms of its ability to see legislation introduced in a minority context. Most minority parliaments last about a year to a year and a half, this one has lasted since 2021 making it the longest standing minority parliament in Canadian history.”
For Fragiskatos he says at the meeting on Wednesday he will be in listening mode, with hopes that the new leader will reinvigorate the party.
“After ten years it’s natural that a party in government would face real challenges in terms of maintaining popular support,” he said. “I read the polls like everyone else, but I also look across the isle and see Mr. Poilievre exploiting anger at every opportunity. There are a lot of great things about Canada, but a lot of people are having a tough time, and I’m not sure what Mr. Poilievre is going to do for those people when he has promised to cut pensions, cut employee insurance, take away dental care, and child care. So the Liberal party needs a leader who will be able to really go against him and present a socially responsible but also economically responsible vision for the party.”
The federal election is scheduled for October of this year, but the Conservative Party and the NDP’s have said they would put forward a vote of no confidence against the Trudeau Liberals, but it is uncertain what their plan will be moving forward.
