Ottawa – Amid growing discontent within his party and the opposition being post by United States of America president elect Donald Trump coupled by a number of unpopular decisions taken by his administration, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called it quits.
The announcement was made by the Prime Minister himself during a press conference on Monday. It is almost a month after his deputy and close aide Chrystia Freeland had resigned from the position of deputy Prime Minister in December last year that Justin had also decided to resign.
Justin had been in the office for the last 9 years during which he has introduced various policies for the welfare of the people of Canada.
However, over the last few months he had been facing opposition from within his party following which he had announced his resignation from the post of Prime Minister.
It is now for the Liberal Party to select a new leader who will be placed as the Prime Minister until March 24, 2025..
The move by Justin Trudeau has not impressed the opposition leaders in Canada as Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre in his post on social platform X (formally Twitter) stated that this was a ploy being played out by the Liberal Party to mislead the Canadians into believing that things have changed. Pierre Poilievre said that with the resignation of Justin Trudeau, the Liberal Party wants to grab power for another 4 years and in return do nothing for the people of the country.
Justin had also been facing problems due to the opposition being posed by US President elect Donald Trump, who has announced to impose additional taxes on goods being imported into the United States of America from Canada.
The sitting Prime Minister had been accused of not doing enough to deal with the situation that had arisen from the statement given by Donald Trump.
Trump had announced that his administration would impose a 25% import duty on Canadian goods, which could have an adverse impact on the Canadian economy. The announcement had come in the backdrop of Trump requiring Canada to enhance the security along the US Canada border.
Following this, the Canadian government had announced that it would be enhancing the security along the US border.
The Canadian Prime Minister was also under pressure due to another statement given by Donald Trump in which he had said that Canada should become the first 51st state of the US.
Meanwhile, in his parting address Justin Trudeau said that he was fighting an internal battle within the party which had made him rethink his decision to contest the next general elections.
According to the political observers Justin had become unpopular with the residents of Canada as they were not in favour of some of the decisions taken by him while being in the chair.
Following the announcement made by Justin Trudeau, Liberal Party president Sanchit Mehra said that a special meeting of the board of directors of the party had been convened during the current week in which the party leaders are expected to select the new leader to be the Prime Minister of Canada.
Mehra also came out in full support of Justin Trudeau stating that he has made immense contributions not only for Canada but also for the Liberal Party and all party members were grateful to him.
He said that the special programs such as Canada child benefit, dental care program and pharma care coverage launched under the administration of Justin Trudeau had changed the lives of Canadians.
In his speech Justin had reflected on the resignation given by Freeland stating that it was very unfortunate.
Soon after the resignation of Freeland, alliance parties that supported Liberals had also started to withdraw their support to Justin. These included New Democrats, the Quebec nationalist party and Bloc Quebecois.
Political observers said that from the monthly polls it was clear that the conservatives were now maintaining a two digit lead over the liberals, suggesting that if elections were to be held today, the conservatives could form the government in Canada.
The next general elections in Canada are scheduled on or before October 20, 2025.
Yves-François Blanchet, leader of Bloc Quebecois has already called for an early election soon after the Liberals instate their new leader to the office of Prime Minister.
53 year old Justin Trudeau’s father Pierre Trudeau was also the Prime Minister of Canada who had been into active politics during the 1970s and 1980s.
Justin was elected to the office of Prime Minister in 2015 after the Liberal Party had won the majority in the general elections.
He had introduced the concept of gender equality in his cabinet, which now consists of 50% women. He had led the Canadian government into implementing various policies including the policy to reconcile with the indigenous people of Canada, introducing carbon tax, implementing tax free child benefits and legalising use of recreational marijuana.
Following his resignation, Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, chief of Assembly of First Nations National, praised Justin Trudeau on his stand taken for reconciliation with the indigenous people.
The controversy over a deal with a tainted Canadian firm that faced corruption charges and the emergence of a photograph of the Prime Minister wearing brownface makeup had caused much trouble for Jatin Trudeau.
The freedom convoy truck protest in 2022, the vaccine mandate, rising prices of food and accommodation along with challenges posed by increase in the number of immigrants into Canada had started to dent the image of Justin Trudeau among the Canadians.
The use of emergency power against the protesters also made him unpopular among the residents.
Justin undertook a slew of measures to improve his public standing but the political damage had already been done.
The approval ratings had shown a drastic fall in his popularity and during the last few months only 22% of the Canadians had reposed faith in his leadership during these surveys.
As per a report, some of the protesters against whom emergency powers had been used by the Prime Minister, broke into celebration outside the parliament hill following the resignation announced by Justin Trudeau.
