Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will resign, paving the way for a new Liberal Party leader to take on Pierre Poilievre, who is favoured to win an election due this year.
“I intend to resign as party leader and as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust nationwide competitive process,” Trudeau told a news conference in Ottawa on Monday.
“This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I am having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.”
Keerit Jutla, CEO of the Vancouver-based Association of Mineral Exploration, said the group appreciates the government’s focus on critical minerals over the past decade, but criticized the uncertainty now with who will lead the country after Trudeau prorogued, or suspended, Parliament until late March.
“As it stands, Canada is ill-prepared to tackle the threat of tariffs proposed by Donald Trump, who is set to take office on January 20, Jutla said by email.
“We need a government that cares about the Canadian economy and wants to strengthen every aspect of the natural resource sector. This includes implementing a permanent mining exploration tax credit, supporting expedited processes for exploration and construction of Canada’s critical minerals mines, and ending a national carbon tax.”
Poilievre, who declined to take questions from media on Monday, has criticized current permitting delays, which can range from five to 25 years. He’s pledged to expedite approvals to attract investment and enhance productivity in the mining sector.
The Conservative Party leader intends to repeal laws he views as detrimental to the energy and mining sectors, including the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act and the Impact Assessment Act, to make it easier to develop resource projects.
He advocates increasing the production of critical minerals like lithium, cobalt and copper, essential for manufacturing electric vehicles and batteries, by approving more mining projects for these resources.
Poilievre is probably most known for his plan to axe the carbon tax. Instead, his environmental strategy would develop carbon capture and storage technologies within the mining industry to reduce emissions without imposing additional taxes.
Trudeau prorogued Parliament until March 24 after consulting with Governor General Mary Simon early Monday. That allows the government to dodge votes of non-confidence until then, which would trigger an election call.
The leftist NDP has vowed to pull its support for the Trudeau Liberals and cause that election. The NDP kept the minority Liberal administration in power since its 2021 poll win. A national vote is due this year in Canada anyway because terms are limited to four years.
Internal Liberal Party battles came surprisingly into the open in December when Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned. Since then, Liberal Members of Parliament have increasingly said they will not support Trudeau and urged him to resign.
Liberal Party rules require a four-month leadership contest. It’s not clear at this point if there would be enough time to fully satisfy the requirement before an election is called and held.
Potential candidates to replace Trudeau include Freeland, former Bank of England governor Mark Carney and former British Columbia premier Christy Clark.
