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Justin Trudeau is expected to announce his resignation at a news conference at 10.45 am EST (15.45 GMT) on Monday, CBC News reported, after a snowballing leadership crisis that has caused the prime minister to lose support within his party.
The prime minister’s office said he would speak about his political future from Rideau Cottage, his temporary residence. The press conference marks the first time that he will have answered questions from reporters since November.
The Globe and Mail newspaper cited three sources as saying that Trudeau, 53, would quit as head of the ruling Liberal party after nearly a decade in office.
It said one of the sources had recently spoken to the prime minister and believed he intended to step down before an emergency meeting of party members on Wednesday, “so it doesn’t look like he was forced out by his own MPs”.
The Toronto Star said it had also confirmed that Trudeau was “expected to signal his intentions to step aside as early as Monday”, citing what it said was a senior source.
Trudeau’s popularity has plummeted amid record inflation, an acute housing crisis, high food prices and voter fatigue with incumbent politicians. Recent polling put the Liberals at 16% support, their worst pre-election standing in more than a century, with the opposition Conservatives coming out on top.
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On 23 December, dozens of MPs in Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party agreed that the embattled prime minister should step down after the catastrophic resignation of his deputy – a sign he had completely lost support from a group who had been crucial loyalists.
Several Canadian media outlets, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Toronto Star, reported that 51 of Ontario’s Liberal MPs met virtually and agreed collectively that Trudeau’s time in office has expired.
There are a total of 75 Liberal MPs in the province that is the country’s most populous and represents where most of the party’s support lies, indicating the core of the Liberals have abandoned Trudeau.
Justin Trudeau, 53, took office in November 2015 and has won re-election twice, becoming one of Canada’s longest-serving prime ministers.
However, his popularity began to decline two years ago amid public anger over high prices and a housing shortage, the Associated Press reports, and his fortunes never recovered. Polls show the Liberals will badly lose to the official opposition Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October 2025.
Liberal leadership races usually take months to arrange and even if the party speeds up the process, Trudeau will still not be leaving office any time soon.
This means he will be prime minister on 20 January when US president-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs that would cripple Canada’s economy.
Another worry for the Liberals is the threat by opposition parties to bring down the government. A no-confidence motion could be proposed as soon as the end of March, and if all parties vote in favour, an election will be triggered.
Trudeau had until recently been able to fend off Liberal legislators worried about the polls and the loss of safe seats in two special elections last year.
But calls for him to step aside have soared since last month, when he tried to demote finance minister Chrystia Freeland, one of his closest cabinet allies, after she pushed back against his proposals for more spending.
Freeland quit instead and penned a letter accusing Trudeau of “political gimmicks” rather than focusing on what was best for the country.
Justin Trudeau is expected to announce his resignation at a news conference at 10.45 am EST (15.45 GMT) on Monday, CBC News reported, after a snowballing leadership crisis that has caused the prime minister to lose support within his party.
The prime minister’s office said he would speak about his political future from Rideau Cottage, his temporary residence. The press conference marks the first time that he will have answered questions from reporters since November.
The Globe and Mail newspaper cited three sources as saying that Trudeau, 53, would quit as head of the ruling Liberal party after nearly a decade in office.
It said one of the sources had recently spoken to the prime minister and believed he intended to step down before an emergency meeting of party members on Wednesday, “so it doesn’t look like he was forced out by his own MPs”.
The Toronto Star said it had also confirmed that Trudeau was “expected to signal his intentions to step aside as early as Monday”, citing what it said was a senior source.
Trudeau’s popularity has plummeted amid record inflation, an acute housing crisis, high food prices and voter fatigue with incumbent politicians. Recent polling put the Liberals at 16% support, their worst pre-election standing in more than a century, with the opposition Conservatives coming out on top.
