Welcome back to class! Let’s dive right in: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his plan to resign as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and as our prime minister.
Just not right away.
Why not step down today? For starters, there’s the not-so-small matter of finding a replacement who can lead the Liberals into the 2025 federal election – a leader who will serve as prime minister, at least for a small stretch, until the government falls.
And it will fall this spring.

The majority of opposition MPs in the House of Commons have pledged to vote down the government and trigger an election during the next matter of confidence – the votes a government must win to remain in power. And with opposition parties scheming to make a whole host of votes confidence matters when Parliament was scheduled to resume later this month, the prime minister has elected to not resume Parliament. Yet.
Neat trick!
You see, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced today that he’s proroguing parliament. Well, he isn’t, the governor general is, because this is how prorogation works.
What is prorogation exactly?
Well, as we teased in your social studies lessons, it’s a complicated, constitutional, and controversial procedural move that essentially shot-gun-ends a sitting of parliament – and all legislation before it – to buy the government time. And the government needs time if the Liberal Party is to have, as Trudeau promised, “a robust, nationwide, competitive process” that will select their next leader – the next prime minister – without having to simultaneously fight a federal election (the inevitable outcome without the prorogation of Parliament).
The winner of the federal Liberal Party’s leadership race, presumably, will be announced and sworn in as prime minister prior to March 24th, as the governor general has granted Trudeau his wish of proroguing Parliament through to this date. On March 24th, a new session of Parliament will commence, complete with the requisite Throne Speech (the opening remarks of a parliamentary session that set the agenda – a speech written by the government and read in the House of Commons by the governor general, on behalf of the King, our head of state).
And the Throne Speech? As you know from class, it’s a confidence vote.
(Okay, yes, technically the government doesn’t have to hold a vote to approve the Throne Speech, but if it does, it’s a confidence motion. If the government decides not to have a vote on the Throne Speech, a mandatory money bill – also a confidence vote – and a mandatory opposition day – where the Conservatives, say, can put forward a motion of non-confidence in the government – will be on deck in the days following the Speech from the Throne. So, it’s kind of pick your poison: one way or another, the Liberals will face a confidence vote once Parliament resumes.)
The government must receive a majority of votes in the House of Commons on any confidence motion in order to move forward with the session. If the government loses the vote, the government will fall and an election will be called.
So, the new Liberal leader? The next prime minister? In all actuality, they will only serve as the head of our government for an extremely short period of time.
But until that individual is chosen? You guessed it: our prime minister remains Justin Trudeau.
There’s a lot to unpack here and we’ll help you understand every aspect of today’s announcement, one issue at a time:
- Why prorogation is constitutional and controversial
- How leadership races work
- The mixed legacy of Justin Trudeau
- What today’s announcement means for Canada and for you
And, of course, we’ll be here to update you on the latest developments as they unfold over the coming months. No, we’re not a replacement for your news sources, but we are here to go deeper on every subject, defining the dizzying array of terms the media assumes we all understand, while helping you understand how it all relates to what your learning in this class.
Resources:
Trudeau to resign as prime minister after Liberal leadership race
Trudeau says he will resign after Liberals choose successor, prorogues Parliament
The Parliamentary Cycle: Prorogation and Dissolution
We hope you had a wonderful, restful holidays and you’re feeling refreshed for what promises to be a busy year ahead.
More soon. Back to class!