Justin Trudeau Announces His Resignation: What Americans Need to Know
By now you have likely heard that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that he will be resigning from his post as the leader of Canada and the Liberal Party of Canada. He made the announcement on Monday and stated that he intends to stay on as leader until a replacement can be found.
The resignation comes after mounting pressure from within and without his party has pushed him to the point of no return. His popularity is at an all-time low, and the Liberals who presently have 153 members of Parliament (MP), are projected to win so few seats in the next election that they may be able to drive to work together in an airport shuttle van. According to surveys, Trudeau has become Canada’s “worst prime minister.” (RELATED: Justin Trudeau Is in Deep, Deep Trouble)
Now, some may be wondering why Trudeau has announced that he will be resigning and why he doesn’t simply leave now for someone else to take his place. After all, in America, if a president resigns, the vice president would take his place; however, this isn’t how it works in Canada.
The prime minister of Canada is elected to Parliament as an MP and he assumes the office of prime minister because he is the MP who was elected by his party internally as the leader of the party. When Canadians go to the polls, they do not vote for the Prime Minister directly — unless they live in his riding (district) — but instead vote for whichever MP is running in their riding who belongs to the party they want to see in power.
So, Justin Trudeau is a sitting MP from the Papineau riding in Montreal, and he is the leader of the Liberal Party, which makes him prime minister. Prime ministers do have deputy prime ministers, but this is not the same thing as a vice president, and the deputy does not simply assume office if the chief resigns.
As per the electoral norms of Canadian Parliamentary procedure, the Liberal Party of Canada must hold an election to find a new leader who will take the place of Trudeau before he can step down officially. Even if the prime minister were to die in office, there is no official procedure to replace him, and it hasn’t happened since before the 20th century when the Governor General — acting on behalf of the King — had more power and could appoint a successor.
However, to make matters more complicated, the Liberals have a Minority government, which means they do not have 170+ seats in the House of Commons. This means that the other parties could in theory vote the Liberals out and bring down their government if they chose to do so with a vote of no-confidence, which is a given at this point. So, Trudeau has decided to “prorogue” Parliament, which entails an ending of the current session while the House of Commons is dismissed until a future date. A prorogation is not a dissolution, but more like a pause, albeit a pause where all the bills and acts heretofore presented must be thrown out.
If Trudeau had a majority, then his party could hold a leadership race while Parliament continues to function, because there would be no threat of a no-confidence vote. This exact thing happened in 1993 when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announced his intention to retire from politics while his party held a majority in the House of Commons.
All of this is to say that Trudeau will officially resign from his role as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada as soon as a successor is selected, which should happen by March 24, as Parliament has been prorogued until then.
It is then expected that the opposition parties will oust the new leader, who will enjoy perhaps a few days or short weeks as prime minister, and an election will be held after the governor general issues the “writs” for the election, which must conclude between 36-50 days after that.
Exactly when the election will take place is not certain, because it is not the case that on day one of the new session, the government can be brought down by a confidence vote.
If I had to guess, we are likely looking at a May or June election, and it is expected that Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre will win in an epic landslide and may have the largest margin of victory in history.
Until then, Canada will have a lame-duck prime minister who has given up on his nation to negotiate with President Trump about the tariffs that have been threatened.
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