Danielle Smith calls for immediate election after Trudeau resignation

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Following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement that he will resign after the Liberal party selects a new leader, some are criticizing the move for leaving Canada in limbo at a time when there are pressing concerns for the government, such as the threat of U.S. tariffs.

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, an outspoken Trudeau critic, argued in a post on X Monday that “Canadians need and deserve a prime minister and federal government with a clear mandate won from the Canadian people” because of the forthcoming negotiations with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.

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“The Liberal Party has no such mandate from Canadians and they are putting their selfish political interests ahead of the Canadian people by paralyzing Parliament and suspending democracy for months while they fight a divisive internal leadership contest,” Smith wrote. “It is one of the most irresponsible and selfish acts of a government in Canadian history.”

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She called on all MPs to force an election “at the first available opportunity and give Canadians the opportunity to pick a party and a leader to represent their interests at this critical time for our nation.”

Trudeau spoke to reporters at around 11 a.m. on Monday, telling them that given the internal battles he was fighting — a number of Liberal caucus members had called on him to resign — he was poorly positioned to lead the Liberal party into the 2025 election, which must be held on or before Oct. 20.

Parliament will be prorogued until March 24. It’s unclear how long it will take the Liberals to choose a new leader. Trump, who won the 2024 U.S. election, will be sworn in as president on Jan. 20, and has promised tariffs will come into effect on the first day of his presidency. He has also repeatedly mocked Trudeau by calling him the “governor” of the “51st state.”

Trump repeated his call for Canada to become the 51st state following Trudeau’s resignation.

“Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!” Trump posted on social media.

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“To say that we’ll have a functioning government over the next 10 to 12 weeks, I think is the best you could possibly say, which is a low bar when you’re negotiating one of the most important trade and border discussions that we’ve been in in decades,” said Jason Lietaer, a former staffer in Stephen Harper’s government and president of Enterprise Canada.

In addition to the spectre of American tariffs, which studies estimate would re-accelerate inflation and reduce Canada’s GDP growth, Canada is also dealing with broad domestic issues related to the economy and affordability and international instability, including the risk of intensifying war in the Middle East and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

In a video posted to social media, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has a hefty lead in the opinion polls, said the Liberal government has broken Canada over the past nine years. He called for an election, as he has been doing for months.

“Now, while leaderless Liberals focus on saving their jobs and fighting each other for power, the country spirals out of control,” Poilievre said.

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The minimum period for an election campaign in Canada is 37 days, meaning that even if Trudeau had gone to Governor General Mary Simon Monday and asked for an election instead of prorogation, the parties would have been on the campaign trail over Trump’s initial days in office.

The argument from the Liberal quarter has been that it’s better to have some hands, however distracted by a leadership race, on the tiller over that period, rather than all parties fighting an election or a new government sorting itself out while trying to negotiate with the new U.S. administration.

Lietaer said the prime minister could have resigned at any point in 2024, giving Canadians time to either give the Liberals a new governing mandate or select a new party.

“Mr. Trudeau has left us with no good solutions, no good options,” Lietaer said in an interview. “(We are) now two weeks, exactly two weeks to the day, before Mr. Trump is inaugurated. He is facing a weakened adversary with little mandate and a fiasco inside the Liberal party and the Liberal government.”

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Few other premiers weighed in directly on Trudeau’s forthcoming departure, although several Conservative politicians also called for an immediate election.

“Canadians want an election. Trudeau wants a new Liberal Prime Minister that will continue his bad decisions,” wrote Rachael Thomas, an Alberta Conservative MP. “We need an election now!”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, without alluding to Trudeau’s announcement directly, raised the spectre of potential tariffs.

“Between now and then, the federal government needs to do everything humanly possible to avoid these tariffs, including by doing more to secure our border and offering a credible plan to invest more in Canada’s military to meet and exceed our NATO spending commitments,” Ford wrote.

In a statement, Ford also called for a demonstration of “stability and strength” from the federal government.

“The federal government must urgently explain to Canadians how they will avoid tariffs that could have devastating effects on our economy,” Ford said.

British Columbia Premier David Eby echoed those sentiments, while thanking Trudeau for his service as prime minister. Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, whose support has been critical to keeping alive Trudeau’s long-running minority government, said that whoever leads the Liberals, the party doesn’t deserve another chance.

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Until a new prime minister is selected, the Canadian government will largely continue to function, albeit without any parliamentary activities. Critics, though, have described this as a “lame duck” government.

Quebec Premier François Legault alluded to the degree of continuity, even during a leadership race, writing in French on X that he would “continue to work with Mr. Trudeau, his successor and the current government” to avoid U.S. tariffs.

James Moore, formerly Harper’s industry minister, wrote on X that with Trump promising mass deportations and tariffs, a “functioning government to protect Canada” is needed.

“Instead, we have an absentee PM, a shuttered parliament & a dysfunctional cabinet in competition with itself,” Moore wrote.

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