Justin Trudeau loses grip on power as allies turn against him

A growing chorus of voices from within Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s own Liberal Party called on him to resign as he named a new cabinet.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is engulfed in a political crisis. Picture: AFP.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s hold on power has grown more tenuous as the New Democratic Party, which has been propping up his minority government, said it was withdrawing its support.

A growing chorus of voices from within Trudeau’s own Liberal Party, including longtime allies, called on him to resign as he named a new cabinet days after the resignation of the finance minister, who stepped down because she disagreed with Trudeau’s spending proposals.

Trudeau hasn’t made any public comments this week about the resignation or his future. In a social-media post on Friday, Trudeau said he made changes to the cabinet and “it’s back to work on what matters most – making life better and more affordable for Canadians.”

“This government’s time is up,” said Jagmeet Singh, leader of the NDP, in announcing his party’s decision to abandon Trudeau and the Liberals.

The NDP, the Conservative Party and Bloc Quebecois together have enough votes to pass a no-confidence motion against Trudeau when Parliament reconvenes in late January. Singh said the NDP would seek his ouster as soon as possible.

Trudeau has been under fire from allies and opponents alike over recent decisions. Chrystia Freeland, the finance minister and deputy prime minister, said she left the cabinet because she thought Trudeau wasn’t taking adequate steps to prepare for a possible trade war with the U.S.

President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada.

Voters blame Trudeau for rising costs and housing shortages that were aggravated by looser immigration policies.

Public-opinion polls over the past year and a half have consistently shown the Liberals are trailing the Conservative party by 20 percentage points. One recent survey by polling firm Abacus found more Canadians hold a favorable view of Trump than Trudeau.

Liberal Party lawmaker Rob Oliphant, who called Trudeau a friend and lauded his leadership record, on Friday posted a letter on the social-media platform X, in which he called for Trudeau to step down.

Oliphant said voters in his Toronto-area district say they can’t vote for Trudeau again, and called on Trudeau “to relinquish the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada to a new leader elected through a robust, open leadership contest.”

In October, roughly two dozen Liberal lawmakers signed a letter calling on Trudeau to quit. At the time, Trudeau said he would carry on, and the Liberal caucus has no mechanism available to push the leader of the party out.

An election must be held no later than October of next year, but it could happen earlier if the government is defeated in the legislature or if Trudeau calls a snap election.

The Wall Street Journal