After weeks of speculation over his future, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his intention to resign on January 6, 2025.

His departure will bring an end to more than a decade of power for the progressive politician and once-darling of the liberal left. It follows infighting in his own party and a slump in Trudeau’s popularity to the point where he trails the leading opposition candidate by over 20 percentage points.

But it can’t escape notice that the resignation comes just weeks ahead of a Trump administration – and after a barrage of personal slights and threats of punishing tariffs directed at Canada by the incoming Republican president.

The Conversation turned to Patrick James, an expert on Canadian-United States relations and Dean’s Professor Emeritus at USC Dornsife, to explain why Trudeau chose to bow out now – and what role Trump played in his departure.

The first thing to note is that Trudeau’s resignation is no real surprise to anyone following Canadian politics – the only real surprise is the timing.

At its heart, this is a personal political decision. The reality is Trudeau’s party was doomed in the next election – which is due to take place before the end of October 2025.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau bows out as support within and outside of his party melts away.Credit: AP

Barring any wild changes between now and the vote, the chances of Trudeau’s Liberal Party winning are as dead as a doornail. The opposition Conservative Party, also known as the Tories, are up in the polls by 24 points.

The Tory leader, Pierre Poilievre, has done a reasonably good job at moderating his image from that of a hard right-winger – narrowing any chance Trudeau had of capturing enough of the centre he needed.

My best guess is that, faced with this imminent defeat, Trudeau believes getting out now will insulate him and make it more likely that he can return to frontline Canadian politics further down the line, after a period of time in the........

© Brisbane Times