Trudeau is resigning as Canada’s prime minister. What happens now?

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday said he would step down in the coming months after nine years in power, bowing to legislators alarmed by his Liberal Party’s miserable pre-election polling numbers.

Trudeau said he would stay on both as prime minister and Liberal head until the party chooses a new leader to take it into the next election, which must be held by late October this year. Here is what might happen next.

Will Trudeau leave office immediately?

No. Trudeau will stay on both as prime minister and head of the ruling Liberal Party for now. Unlike the process in other countries like Australia, where party leaders are elected by legislators and can be removed overnight, in Canada they are chosen by special leadership conventions that can take months to organise.

Will an election be held in the immediate future?

No. Trudeau announced that parliament – which had been due to resume work on January 27 – would instead be prorogued, or suspended, until March 24.

This means opposition parties who had originally planned to unveil non-confidence motions to bring his minority government down as soon as they could after January 27 will now have to wait until some time in May since the government controls the agenda for most of each session. If all the opposition parties vote together on the motion, the Liberals will be defeated and a new election called.

As a result, a new election is unlikely to be held before May at the earliest.

When parliament resumes, the government has to formally unveil its plans for the new session in the so-called Speech from the Throne. The Liberals are not obliged to make this subject to a vote of no confidence.

Parliament is scheduled to start its summer break no later than June 20 and if the Liberals are still in power by then, an election would be held as scheduled at the end of October.

  

​Read More