Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, facing increasing demands for resignation, may announce his political future this week.
Trudeau – who has become deeply unpopular on a number of issues, including the rising costs of food and housing – has maintained public silence in recent weeks, despite mounting pressure to step down following the sudden resignation of his finance minister in December. . 16. The Prime Minister has now returned to Ottawa after the Christmas holidays.
“His long silence after this political drama speaks volumes about the weakness of his current position,” said Daniel Belland, a professor of political science at McGill University in Montreal.
While all three opposition parties now say they will support a vote to topple Trudeau’s minority government, Parliament is not currently in session, so the threat is not immediate. But members of his own party are increasingly calling for his resignation – making his position even more untenable.
Still, Trudeau’s party has no mechanism to oust him in the short term. If he holds on until he returns to parliament later this month, his Liberal Party could be voted out of power in a no-confidence vote, triggering an election that will likely favor the opposition Conservative Party.
When the 53-year-old was elected in 2015 he was initially praised for returning the country to its liberal past, but he has become widely unpopular in recent years. The political turmoil comes at a difficult moment for Canada.
US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian products if Canada does not stem the flow of migrants and drugs into the United States – even though the number of migrants coming to the US from Canada is very low. yes. Mexico.
Trudeau is scheduled to virtually participate in a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Canada-U.S. Relations on Monday.
If Trudeau steps down as party leader, the Liberals could potentially delay the return of parliament to give them time to choose a new leader.
Since Trudeau’s Liberals do not have an outright majority in Parliament, they have relied on the NDP’s support for years to pass legislation and remain in power. But that support has evaporated — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh made clear last month that the NDP would vote to bring down the government. Other opposition parties have also said the same.
