Calls for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation have grown louder after Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s surprise resignation triggered by disagreements over US President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats. Trudeau is considering either resignation or prorogation, the process of terminating the parliamentary session, sources told Canada-based CTV News.
The resignation of Freeland, who has been a prominent figure in Trudeau’s Liberal government since he took office in 2015, has dealt a huge blow to Trudeau’s political future – with calls for his resignation both from other party leaders as well as within his cabinet. Freeland, in her resignation letter which she also posted on X (formerly Twitter), said Trudeau had told her that he no longer wanted her to serve as finance minister and that he offered her another role in the Cabinet.
But she said in her resignation letter that the only “honest and viable path” was to leave the Cabinet. “For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada,” Freeland said.
The 56-year-old leader said Canada is dealing with Trump's threat to impose sweeping 25 per cent tariffs and should eschew “costly political gimmicks" it can “ill afford.” “Our country today faces a grave challenge,” Freeland said in her letter. “That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war.”
On Monday, Liberal MPs reportedly called an emergency caucus meeting after Freeland's shock exit, which was also attended by Trudeau. “There’s still a number of our members that want a change in leadership. I’m one of them,” Liberal lawmaker Chad Collins, who was part of the meeting, was quoted as saying by Reuters. “I think the only path forward for us is to choose a new leader.”
Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the New Democratic Party, also called for Trudeau’s departure saying Trudeau and the Liberals are focused on themselves. “They are fighting themselves instead of fighting for Canadians,” he said, adding Trudeau “has to go.”
Trudeau channeled the star power of his father in 2015, when he reasserted the country’s liberal identity after almost a decade of Conservative Party rule. But the son of late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is now in big trouble. Canadians have been frustrated by the rising cost of living and other issues like immigration increases following the country’s emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Twenty-four MPs, led by Collins, signed a letter in October demanding the Prime Minister step down and begin a formal process to replace him. “Today, I publicly reiterate my request that the Prime Minister step down and initiate a leadership process to take our country in a new direction,” Collins wrote on X.
As per trading platform Polymarket, there is now an 85 per cent chance Trudeau will resign before April.
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