Canadian PM Justin Trudeau announced yesterday he would step down as soon as his Liberal Party has chosen a new leader. Trudeau also suspended Parliament until late March, at which point a no-confidence vote is all but assured, setting up general elections that the Liberals are expected to lose. (AP)
Our Take
Trudeau’s announcement yesterday hardly comes as a surprise. After then-Deputy PM and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland—long a close Trudeau ally—resigned last month in a rebuke of his leadership, a growing chorus of voices in the Liberal Party began calling for him to step down. Ultimately, Trudeau had no path to remaining in power.
Still, while Freeland’s resignation may have been the immediate trigger of his political demise, the writing for Trudeau has also been on the wall for much longer. His popularity has been waning for years, to the point that it is difficult to pin his falling approval ratings on any one factor. Canada has faced economic issues like high inflation and unemployment as well as rising housing costs. Trudeau’s pro-immigration and environmentalist policies faced a growing backlash. And after 10 years in power, a general mood of anti-incumbency—seen in virtually every wealthy democracy recently—cannot be discounted.