Introduction

On Monday, January 6, 2025, the Prime Minister asked Governor General Mary Simon to prorogue Parliament until March 24, 2025. The reason: Justin Trudeau will step down as Prime Minister once the party has elected a new Liberal leader. 

The result: Parliament will not meet for three months, delaying several important pieces of legislation (which now may not get passed if there is an immediate successful non-confidence vote after Parliament reconvenes). 

It also means (of course) there is now a race to replace Justin Trudeau. Many current and former Liberal MPs, and others (e.g., Mark Carney – former Governor of the Bank of Canada) are contemplating a run. No official announcements have been made seeking the office. However, current Finance Minister Dominic Leblanc stated on January 8 that he will not run to replace Trudeau. 

What’s Next

This is the second time Parliament has been prorouged by Trudeau; the first time was in 2020 and was in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Within the next three months, the Liberal Party will have to determine the parameters of the leadership race, implement them and finally make the decision on a new leader, all before Parliament returns on March 24. Not a lot of time for a new leader to make decisions on a cabinet, create a Speech From the Throne and then (most likely) start a national election campaign. 

What occurs in Ottawa, ON over the coming months will be fascinating. While Parliament is not sitting, the civil service continues to operate. It will be interesting to see which Ministers instruct their Departments to continue working on policy and regulatory development and implementation. As has been noted several times already by the media and others, this is an awkward time in our history (especially given the comments coming from the US President Elect Donald Trump) and so the government will have to ensure that it does not get paralyzed and default into non-action.         

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Official Opposition was quick to respond to Trudeau’s resignation. In his statement, he questioned the Prime Minister on what will actually change following his resignation, and stating that his announcement was only a ploy to regain favour amongst Canadians so that an NDP-Liberal Majority government coalition could be formed before the next election. 

“Their only objection is that he is no longer popular enough to win an election and keep them in power. They want to protect their pensions and pay cheques by sweeping their hated leader under the rug months before an election to trick you, and then do it all over again.”