Justin Trudeau on the brink of resigning as Canadian Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau has been heckled by the public as speculation mounts that the under-fire Canadian PM is on the brink of resigning.

Justin Trudeau is on the brink of resigning as Canadian Prime Minister as his government crumbles, local media is reporting.

Mr Trudeau is considering his options as leader, according to CTV News, after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland revealed she would quit the cabinet, citing disagreement over spending priorities and how to address Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

Mr Trudeau appeared for a Liberal Party fundraiser at the Canadian Museum of History at 8pm on Monday local time (12pm AEDT), where he thanked MPs and supporters.

“It’s the absolute privilege of my life to serve as your Prime Minister,” he said.

“Canada is the best country on Earth, but it’s not perfect. That’s why I wake up every single day thinking about how to make this nation work better for all Canadians.”

CTV News reported that as Mr Trudeau entered his motorcade earlier, a heckler could be heard yelling, “You failed Canada, you ruined our country. You’re done. Walk away.”

“Have a good night, sir,” Mr Trudeau replied.

Ms Freeland announced she was stepping down in a bombshell letter shared on social media on Monday morning.

See my letter to the Prime Minister below // Veuillez trouver ma lettre au Premier ministre ci-dessous pic.twitter.com/NMMMcXUh7A

— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) December 16, 2024

“On Friday, you told me you no longer want me to serve as your Finance Minister and offered me another position in the Cabinet,” she wrote.

“Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the Cabinet.

“To be effective, a Minister must speak on behalf of the Prime Minister and with his full confidence. In making your decision, you made clear that I no longer credibly enjoy that confidence and possess the authority that comes with it.”

Ms Freeland added that “for the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada”.

The letter has sent shockwaves through Canadian politics.

It comes as Mr Trudeau’s Liberal government trails the Conservative opposition in the polls.

The Conservative Party and the third-largest party, Bloc Quebecois, have demanded an election.

Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), the Liberals’ coalition partner in government, has called for Mr Trudeau’s resignation.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has resigned from Cabinet. Picture: Patrick Doyle/AFP

Sources told CTV News that Mr Trudeau had conveyed to his Cabinet that he was considering prorogation or resignation.

The PM addressed an emergency caucus meeting on Monday evening.

Ms Freeland’s letter came hours before she was due to deliver an economic update to parliament that was expected to show a large increase in the country’s deficit.

“What we are seeing is the government of Canada itself is spiralling out of control right before our eyes and at the very worst time,” Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters in Ottawa.

“Today, mere hours before Trudeau’s Finance Minister was to deliver a fall economic update that was expected to smash through her already massive deficit targets, she announced she no longer has confidence in the Prime Minister.”

Mr Poilievre said Canadians were “already anxious about the reckless $CA40 billion ($44 billion) deficit the government had announced last spring”.

“But today in mere hours they were expected to learn that it was much higher than that, threatening our social programs and our fiscal stability, right in the middle of a potential trade war,” he said.

The Department of Finance has since unveiled the long-awaited economic statement, revealing a deficit of $CA61.9 billion ($68.2 billion) for 2023-24.

In her letter, Ms Freeland said Canada needed to take US President-elect Trump’s “aggressive economic nationalism”, including threats of 25 per cent tariffs, “extremely seriously”.

Justin Trudeau meets with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Picture: X

Mr Trudeau leaving for the airport after meeting with Mr Trump. Picture: Chandan Khanna/AFP

“That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war,” she wrote.

“That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognise the gravity of the moment … I know Canadians would recognise and respect such an approach. They know when we are working for them, and they equally know when we are focused on ourselves.”

Mr Trudeau travelled to meet with Mr Trump at his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago late last month in an attempt to head off the tariff threats.

The incoming President has threatened both Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent tariffs if the two countries don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and immigrants across America’s northern and southern borders.

“As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” he posted on Truth Social on November 26.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”

Canada sends about 75 per cent of its total exports to the US, and a blanket 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods would wreak havoc on its economy.

Mr Trump said after the Mar-a-Lago meeting that Mr Trudeau had “made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation”, but later mocked his counterpart as the “governor of the Great State of Canada”.

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre. Picture: Dave Chan/AFP

Speaking to reporters, Mr Singh said “all tools are on the table” when asked if a no-confidence motion was possible.

“People can’t afford their groceries,” Mr Singh said during a rowdy question time on Monday afternoon, where Mr Trudeau was not present.

“Canadians literally cannot afford the groceries they need. Trump is threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs in this country … The Prime Minister cannot remain in that position. Will he resign?”

Mr Trudeau has led the Liberal Party since 2013 and has been Prime Minister since 2015. He won a third term at the 2021 election, forming a minority government with the NDP.

Ms Freeland’s departure came on the heels of the resignation of Housing Minister Sean Fraser.

“We simply cannot go on like this,” Mr Poilievre told reporters.

“Mr Trudeau is being held in office by one man — Jagmeet Singh. A fifth of Liberal MPs have written a letter for him to resign. Eighty per cent of Canadians have lost confidence in this Prime Minister. So why is Jagmeet Singh making the entire country wait for him to get his pension?”

Mr Poilievre said it was “not backroom Liberal insiders who get to choose the Canadian Prime Minister, it is the Canadian people”.

He said an election should be held before Mr Trump takes office, even if that meant interrupting Christmas holidays.

“Right now Canadians’ Christmas holidays are being interrupted by the NDP-Liberal hell they’re living under,” he said.

“Two million people lining up at foodbanks, 1400 homeless encampments, a doubling of gun crime, the worst inflation in 40 years, six consecutive quarters of shrinking per-capita GDP, a half trillion dollars of investment leaving for the United States, parents are tossing and turning at night because we have the most indebted households by far in the G7.”

Mr Poilievre said that was “the real hell that is interrupting people’s Christmas spirit right now”.

“I think the best Christmas present we could give Canadians is to let them choose a new, common sense Conservative government … Now is the time for a carbon-tax election. Let’s bring it home.”

Originally published as Justin Trudeau on the brink of resigning as Canadian Prime Minister