Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a dead man walking politically. His top lieutenants are resigning, confidence, already low, has crashed, and his Liberal Party, deeply unpopular, is already projected to lose heavily to Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives in the 2025 federal election. This contest must be called by or before October of next year. It could come sooner as Trudeau’s government starts to collapse. With things falling apart, Mr. Trudeau is reportedly considering all options, including tendering his resignation. In a move that echoes the Democrats’ treatment of Joe Biden, Liberal Party members might place pressure on Trudeau to step down as a way to save their party from annihilation in the next election (via NYT):
⚠️ CANADA’S TRUDEAU CONSIDERING RESIGNING: CTV pic.twitter.com/0GfThtFmFd
— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) December 16, 2024
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is considering resigning, according to CTV News; with him said to be preparing to address Parliament. pic.twitter.com/X0lbiLtxFt
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) December 16, 2024
Trump has sent the Canadian Parliament into a tailspin.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) December 16, 2024
You just love to see it. pic.twitter.com/YPkUdBQfPU
DEVELOPING: Multiple reports that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is considering resigning, and he may address parliament this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/K4mI4p1pnV
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 16, 2024
Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister who led Canada’s response to the first Trump administration, resigned abruptly on Monday from the cabinet in a stinging rebuke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, marking the first open dissent from any cabinet member and raising questions about his hold on power.
The revelation, in a letter of resignation, came hours before Ms. Freeland, who had been the finance minister, was scheduled to outline the government’s commitments to improve border security with the United States as part of an interim budget.
Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet, which was meeting in Ottawa soon after the letter was made public, seemed stunned by the development.
[…]
On Monday, another senior cabinet member and rising star within Mr. Trudeau’s Liberal Party, Sean Fraser, the housing minister, announced he would resign, compounding the sense that the prime minister’s lieutenants were abandoning him.
Ms. Freeland’s high-profile departure comes at a treacherous moment for Canada: President-elect Donald J. Trump has warned that he will impose 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico unless the two countries do more to curb the flow of undocumented migrants and drugs into the United States.
Mr. Trudeau needs to call an election by October, and his party is deeply unpopular, according to polls, badly trailing the Conservative Party, which is led by Pierre Poilievre.
Mr. Trudeau’s poor standing and the prospect of a federal election have given rise to speculation about a leadership contest to replace him as leader of the Liberal Party. Ms. Freeland is considered a likely contestant, alongside other senior cabinet members such as the foreign minister, Mélanie Joly.
While some Liberal members of Parliament who are not in the cabinet have called for Mr. Trudeau to step down as leader, until Monday his ministers had been publicly, and strongly, supportive of the prime minister.
Freeland was replaced by Dominic LeBlanc this afternoon. Trudeau is set to speak at 7 PM (Via CTV):
6:15 p.m. EST: Justin Trudeau set to speak
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to speak at 7:00 p.m. EST at the Canadian Museum of History in his first address following Freeland’s resignation. He was seen earlier addressing his caucus where Freeland was also present.
5:43 p.m. EST: Cameras capture Trudeau addressing caucus
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is speaking to his caucus after a chaotic day on the Hill. Images captured from outside of the meeting in Ottawa show Trudeau speaking at a podium. It’s not clear what he said. Now former-finance minister Chrystia Freeland was also present at the meeting. Sources tell CTV she received a standing ovation from her caucus.
Trouble was already present in the polling. Last September, a Liberal Party stronghold flipped in a special election (via NYT):
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party has lost a Parliament seat it had held for decades in a special election in Montreal, a devastating defeat that is likely to increase pressure on Canada’s deeply unpopular leader to resign.
The Bloc Québécois, a national party that supports independence for Quebec, narrowly won the race that was held on Monday, according to final results released early on Tuesday morning. It was the Liberals’ second stunning election loss in three months.
The result underscored how support for the Liberals has evaporated, even in their last few strongholds, ahead of the next general election, which must be held by the fall of 2025 but is likely to take place in the spring.
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