Canada political crisis deepens as PM Trudeau faces fresh calls for resignation

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing fresh calls for his resignation, hours after Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned in a surprise move due to disagreements with him over US President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

A third of the ruling Liberal Party’s MPs have called for a change in leadership, deepening the political crisis in the country.

On Monday evening, Canadian media reported that Trudeau had yet to decide whether he would continue as Prime Minister or resign. Nearly 60 of the 153 MPs in the House of Commons have now called for his ouster.

Freeland also stepped down as Canada’s Finance Minister, marking the first open dissent from within Trudeau’s cabinet, which threatens his grip on power.

Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party, trails his main rival, Conservative Pierre Poilievre, by 20 points in the polls. Poilievre has attempted three times since September to topple the Trudeau government and force a snap election.

In her resignation letter posted on the social media platform X, Freeland explained, “Our country today faces a grave challenge,” referring to Trump’s planned 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports. She said, “For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada.”

Freeland, a former journalist, was first elected to Parliament in 2013 and joined Trudeau’s cabinet two years later when the Liberals swept to power. She held key posts, including trade and foreign minister, and played a leading role in free trade negotiations with the EU and the United States. Most recently, she was tasked with helping lead Canada’s response to moves by the incoming Trump administration.

Canada’s main trading partner is the United States, with 75 percent of its exports going south each year. In her resignation letter, Freeland stated that Trudeau had wanted to reassign her to another position, to which she replied, “I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the cabinet.”

As finance minister, she stressed the importance of taking Trump’s tariff threats “extremely seriously” and warned that it could lead to a “tariff war” with the United States. Freeland emphasized that Ottawa must keep its “fiscal powder dry” in the face of such challenges.