On January 6, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he would resign as Leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister pending a Liberal Party leadership race. His stepping down follows the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland last month and mounting pressure from within the party for him to step aside.
This decision comes as the government’s polling numbers continue to decline, and in the wake of important by-election losses across the country. Several ministers also announced their resignation from cabinet. The looming threat of a non-confidence vote put before the house also threatened Trudeau’s hold on power as opposition parties have declared their intention to vote down the Liberal government at their earliest convenience. For months, members of the Liberal caucus have called for Trudeau’s resignation as leader, with a sharp increase in such calls occurring in the past couple of weeks.
Prime Minister Trudeau also prorogued Parliament until March 24, allowing the Liberals time to elect a new leader and enact a new Parliamentary session upon return. Prorogation ends all proceedings before Parliament. Unfinished business dies on the Order Paper and must be started anew in a subsequent session. Notably, prorogation appears to have killed the Capital Gains hike that was tabled in June, which would have impacted many HRAI contractor members. There have been some contradictory reports on this, however, so HRAI is seeking clarification on the status of this measure.
On the other hand, prorogation has almost no practical effect on Private Members’ Business. Private Members’ bills and motions originating in the House, including motions for papers which have been transferred for debate, need not be reintroduced in a new session as they are automatically deemed to have passed all stages completed in the previous session and retain the same place on the Order Paper.
There are a few Private Members Bills that could be of interest to members that have been left on the table:
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C-312 An Act respecting the development of a national renewable energy strategy (MP Don Davies) (Second Reading House of Commons) -- This enactment requires the Minister of Natural Resources, in consultation with the provincial government representatives responsible for energy matters, to develop and implement a national strategy to provide that, by December 31, 2030, 100% of electricity generated in Canada must be from renewable energy sources.
Prorogation also does not affect the work of the Government as a whole, as Ministerial mandates remain active during this time.
With MPs in their ridings for an unexpected three months until the end of March, HRAI will ramp up grassroot lobbying as part of our preplanned election strategy for 2025. HRAI is also moving forward with provincial advocacy.
The Liberal Party of Canada will hold a leadership race to choose who replaces Trudeau as Liberal Leader and Prime Minister. High profile Liberals such as Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland, François-Philippe Champagne and Christy Clark are likely leadership candidates. The party has yet to announce a timeline for the leadership race, but the party has stated there will be no changes to who can participate in the Liberal leadership race.
When the House returns, a new Liberal Leader and Prime Minister will introduce a new Speech from the Throne almost immediately, and this will likely trigger a confidence vote. All opposition party leaders have expressed their desire for an election and have stated their parties will be voting non-confidence in the government at the next opportunity despite the party having a new leader. This would automatically result in a general election.
With the PM stepping down it is easy to forget that Trudeau announced a Cabinet shuffle very late in December. The shuffle followed the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland.
See below for more details on the shuffle:
