Justin Trudeau’s Resignation Begins Race For Liberal Party Leadership

Photo Credit: CNBC

After nine years in power, current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Jan. 6 that he was resigning as Canada’s prime minister, effective immediately after the Liberal Party chooses a new leader. During his resignation speech, Trudeau discussed his fight for Canada’s people and interests, and his belief that an election where he is on the ballot would not be a fair one.

“This country deserves a real choice in the next election,” Trudeau said during the press conference. “It has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.”

Over the last few months, Canadians have been calling for an end to Trudeau's time in office, with the Angus Reid Institute reporting a 74 per cent disapproval rating for him in December 2024. Due to this, a significant amount of pressure was built up against him by the Liberal party, until multiple Members of Parliament (MP) called for his resignation, including former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. She cited the incoming Trump administration at the time as a major reason in her resignation letter, accusing Trudeau of not properly preparing for the economic threat of Trump’s planned tariffs. 

With Trudeau resigning, a race has opened up for the next Liberal party leader. There are four official contenders, including former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney,  Chrystia Freeland, former government House leader Karina Gould, and Montreal Business Leader Frank Baylis. Ruby Dhalla, the MP for Brampton-Springdale was recently disqualified from the race due to alleged breaches of election law. The Liberal candidates will be facing down in Montreal for a French debate on Feb. 24 and an English debate on Feb. 25. 

Carney, a frontrunner for the position, has built his campaign on “standing up to the bullying” that Canada is enduring from the US and scrapping the carbon tax to replace it with a new green incentivizing program. At the time of publishing, more than 80 MP’s and cabinet ministers have endorsed Carney’s bid for Liberal leadership. Freeland has also based her campaign on a “fight for Canada.” So far, 26 MP’s have endorsed Freelands’ bid for leadership. On the other hand, Karina Gould has been given endorsements from MPs Lisa Hepfner and Pam Damoff, presenting herself as a young, “fresh” new face for the party. 

After the Liberals won a majority government in 2015, Trudeau made promises to provide Canadians with “real change” and “sunny waves.” Throughout his nine-year stint, he prioritized gender equality with a cabinet made up of 50 per cent women, focused on reconciliation efforts with Indigenous communities, implemented a national carbon tax, enforced a national handgun ban, and introduced safe drug consumption sites. 

According to BBC, the Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak praised Trudeau's track record on Indigenous issues following his resignation, saying in a statement that he “has taken meaningful steps to address issues that matter to First Nations” and that his “actions have laid a foundation for future governments to build upon.”

Trudeau’s administration implemented the first consumer carbon tax in April 2019. This carbon tax is now being heavily scrutinized, especially by Conservative party Leader Pierre Polievre. The Conservative leader’s campaign has promised to “axe the tax,” among many other tax-related slogans that take shots at Trudeau.

In October 2022, Trudeau placed a nationwide freeze on the sale, purchase, and transfer of hand-guns, hoping to create safer communities in Canada. The Prime Minister’s Office website describes his policy implementations as “some of the strongest gun control measures in a generation.” According to the RCMP website, non-restricted firearms include the most common rifles and shotguns. 

Trudeau's decriminalization of hard drugs and introduction of safe consumption sites were another controversial decision of his administration. According to Trudeau, the program was focused on “providing more support through additional safer supply pilot projects to help prevent overdoses and save lives.”

A former employee of a safe injection site in Toronto reported to The National about how they often became a place for employees to get high and for drug dealers to pedal their products, leading to deadly or violent incidents.