Courtesy CPAC

By Cheryl Jahn

Local reaction to Trudeau decision

Jan 6, 2025 | 3:37 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – “Over the holidays, I’ve had a chance to reflect and have had long talks with my family about our future. Throughout the course of my career, any success I have, personally, achieved has been because of their support and with their encouragement.”

And with that, Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced his resignation as Liberal Leader, triggering a leadership race. However, he will stay on until such time as a new leader is chosen.

“We have a Prime Minister that’s resigning, but he’s staying around on the job. Usually, you just kind of leave quietly and don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” says UNBC Political Science Jason Morris.

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Trudeau also announced his plans to prorogue government until March 24th to “reset the clock” after months of political gridlock.

“It’s a common thing you can do in a parliamentary system to cool things off or to end a session and to reset government. But in this case, I’d suggest a good case could be made that it’s not the best decision.”

But international relations for Canada right now are tenuous, especially with our neighbours to the south.

“It means that Canada won’t have a parliament functioning during a time when we face unprecedented threats of tariffs from the incoming president south of the border,” says Taylor Bachrach, the MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley. “This is a time when we really need to pull together as Canadians. We need a strong government in place that’s able to push back on President-elect Trump. The things that he’s talking about are, you know, they’re unthinkable.”

“When you know that the boss is resigning or leaving, but still in charge, they lose their moral authority. They also lose the legitimacy with the public and for the world to make important decisions,” adds Morris.

Canadians will be heading to the polls this year. But with the government prorogued until the end of March, when will that likely be?

“In terms of when a serious vote would be taken in the legislature would be made,” says Morris. “That would be a vote of confidence. Most likely that would be the budget, which would have to come pretty soon. So it should be sometime very soon by the end of March, when we know if the government survives or if Canadians are going to the polls.”

In the meantime, with prorogation means the government remains in power, but all parliamentary activity – from existing bills and committee work – comes to a halt.