.
.
, Trudeau cited “internal battles” within his Liberal Party that meant he “cannot be the best option” in a future election.
Speaking outside his residence at Rideau Cottage, Trudeau said he had taken time over the holidays to “reflect” with his family. “Throughout the course of my career, any success I have personally achieved has been because of their support and with their encouragement,” Trudeau said.
as prime minister after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process.”
Carney, who will be sworn in as Trudeau’s successor in the coming days, was on Sunday night elected as Canada’s new prime minister by the members of the Liberal Party and promised to keep taking the fight to Trump. Winning with with 85.9 per cent of the votes cast by 150,000 members, Carney hit out at Trump for “attacking Canadian families” and wanting to “destroy the Canadian way of life”, describing the US president’s tariffs and threats as the “greatest crisis of our lifetime”.
Last week, the US slapped sweeping 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods and Canada retaliated with its own 25 per cent tariffs on up to $155bn in US goods over the course of this month.
, Trudeau’s popularity waned in the final years of his tenure – although the approval ratings for both he and the Liberal Party have both jumped in the wake of refusing to back down to Trump.
Trudeau said in a televised address last week: “It’s not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you are a very smart guy, this a very dumb thing to do.”
But how did Trudeau end up here?
Rapid rise of a bright young thing
over the incumbent Conservative Party, cinching a parliamentary majority.
Just 43 at the time, Trudeau became the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history when he took office in 2015.
“extremely hot.”
for the country’s history of abuse at residential schools, and welcomed thousands of refugees.
Blackface scandal
With approval ratings as high as 63 percent, his image took a hit after a blackface scandal in 2019. Videos and images resurfaced of Trudeau from the early 1990s and in 2001 dressed up in black or brownface, doing significant damage to his reputation as a liberal and progressive politician.
from some of the uncovered images.
Minority government and Covid
Trudeau led the Liberal Party to a narrow election win in 2019, pushing his administration into minority government.
failed to secure a parliamentary majority.
.
under his leadership.
with its earlier target.
Trump tariff woes
Trump was quick to announce plans to slap a 25 percent tariff on goods from Canada when he won his second term in the White House in November.
following a recent dinner meeting at the president-elect’s estate Mar-a-Lago.
just hours before she was set to release the country’s latest economic plan, questioning Trudeau’s ability to deal with the incoming Trump administration.
Trudeau, called it one of the Liberal Party’s “toughest days,” which ultimately led to his resignation.
Trudeau praised her as an “incredible political partner” of almost a decade, but expressed disappointment in her resignation.
“Chrystia has been by my side for close to 10 years now. She has been an incredible political partner through just about everything we have done as a government and as a party over the past decade,” Trudeau said.
But he added: “I had really hoped that she would agree to continue as my deputy prime minister and take on one of the most important files that not just this government, this country is facing, but she chose otherwise in regards to what actually happened.”
Split with wife of nearly 2 decades
after nearly two decades of marriage.
They wed in 2005 and have three children together — Xavier, Ella-Grace, and Hadrien. Trudeau wrote at the time: “Sophie and I would like to share the fact that after many meaningful and difficult conversation, we have made the decision to separate.”
Earlier this year Grégoire, a former entertainment journalist, spoke out about the “hurt” their separation has caused.
“It hurts deeply, because in a way we have these two words in our language. You know, marriage is ‘success.’ Separation and divorce is ‘failure,’” she told the podcast
“But life happens in between. And we dramatize our relationships because we are insecure, we are afraid to be abandoned, we are afraid to be alone as human beings. It is not in our nature to be alone and just living alone.”
resurfaced after the announcement, where she talked about a longing to breakaway from the traditional role of motherhood in the family.
“Women across this planet are still the nucleus of the family, they still carry most of the load for housework, contributing to the family’s well-being and most decisions concerning the kids,” she said. “But I think we’re all that lioness, we all have that inside of us, and we all long to be free in who we are.”
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