CANADA

 NPR - Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation, ending nearly a decade in power. He faced mounting pressure from across the country, including from members of his own party, to step down due to his handling of the economy, immigration, and other issues. Trudeau stated that he will no longer lead the Liberal Party but will remain in office until a successor is selected.

NPR's Jackie Northam tells Up First that Trudeau likely wanted to get ahead of a no-confidence vote he would likely lose. Though he won a landslide victory during his first term, the honeymoon period ended within a few years as he faced scandals and resignations in his cabinet. He received good marks for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Canada never rebounded. 

Time - Trudeau’s nine-year tenure as Canadian Prime Minister has become tenuous, with two-thirds of Canadians disapproving of his performance, amid frustration over the cost of living and record immigration levels. The Liberal Party now trails the opposition Conservative Party by more than 20 percentage points and voter support hit a record low by the end of 2024. The party does not hold an outright majority in Parliament and has relied on the backing of the more left-leaning New Democratic Party through a supply-and-confidence agreement, which the NDP dropped in September. The separatist Bloc Quebecois also dropped its support for the Liberals in October, with its leader saying it wanted to topple Trudeau’s government. These moves, along with recent losses in by-elections in formerly Liberal strongholds, pushed party members to hold a closed-door caucus meeting in late October in Ottawa, where they urged Trudeau to resign.

Pressure on Trudeau grew further following the Dec. 16 shock resignation of one of his closest allies, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, after he tried to demote her. In her resignation letter, Freeland accused Trudeau of “costly political gimmicks” over plans to cancel sales tax and hand out $250 checks for Christmas. Freeland said Canada needed to keep its “fiscal powder dry” ahead of a possible trade war amid Trump’s threat to slap a 25% tariff on all goods from Canada.