Feelers indicate that the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, may resign within a matter of days amid public outcry within his country over his liberal politics, rising inflation and soaring cost of living.
Sources told The Globe and Mail that Trudeau may announce his resignation as the Liberal Party leader early this week and certainly before a key national caucus meeting on Wednesday.
A source told the publication that the PM wants to make an announcement before he meets with the Liberal caucus to avoid the appearance that he was forced out by the party.
The prime minister came to the conclusion that the party is no longer behind him, and he knows there is no path for him to stay on, sources said.
It remains unclear what Liberal Party national executives plan to do to replace Trudeau as prime minister, and whether he will stay in his position until a new leader is selected.
But the Liberal Party national executive, which rules on leadership issues, is planning to meet later this week.
The decision comes amid outrage following Chrystia Freeland’s surprising decision to resign as finance minister and deputy prime minister on December 16 – the same day she was supposed to deliver her economic and fiscal update.
She cited concerns over what she called Trudeau’s ‘spending gimmicks’ in her announcement.
Freeland also outlined disagreements she had with Trudeau on spending and ‘the best path forward for Canada’ amid a high cost of living and rising inflation, according to the BBC.
The disagreements, she said, were underscored by incoming US President Donald Trump’s threats of a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods if it does not secure its border.
Trudeau remained mostly silent about Freeland’s resignation in the aftermath as he made a public trip down to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate – which only worsened the crisis as Trump went on to mock his counterpart and imply that he would make Canada a US state.
As calls for his resignation mounted, Trudeau eventually announced the country would engage in a Trump-style crackdown on immigration.
Canada’s newly appointed Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced on Tuesday that the $1.3bn CAD ($930m USD) slate of new measures ‘will secure our border against the flow of illegal drugs and irregular migration.’
The new measures will include 24/7 surveillance of the border using ‘helicopters, drones and mobile surveillance towers’, and upgraded detection tools to catch drugs slipping over the border.
The legislation is based on five pillars: Slowing the trade of fentanyl, improving border patrols’ coordination, providing new tools for law enforcement, easing information sharing among departments and slowing migrant crossings, reports TNC.
