Justin Trudeau announces resignation as Canada PM amid growing dissent

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that he intends to step down as leader of the ruling Liberals and also as the PM after nine years in office but will stay on in his post until the party chooses a replacement.

Trudeau, under heavy pressure from Liberal legislators to quit amid polls showing the party will be crushed at the next election, said at a news conference that parliament would be suspended until March. Trudeau said he has asked the president of his Liberal Party to begin the process to select a new leader.

That means Trudeau will still be prime minister on Jan. 20 when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs that would cripple Canada's economy.

Justin Trudeau said that Canada deserves a Parliament that functions. He says it has been “entirely seized” by what he calls obstruction and a total lack of productivity. He says this is the longest-serving minority government.

Justin Trudeau — who has become deeply unpopular over a range of issues, including the soaring cost of food and housing — has kept publicly mum in recent weeks, despite intensifying pressure for him to step down after the abrupt resignation of his finance minister on December 16.

*With Agency Inputs