Four decades ago, his father took his famous walk in the snow to decide to leave the country’s highest office. In recent days, the son took to the British Columbian ski slopes to determine how to do so, too.

In literature, snow can provide a backdrop for moments of existential resignation or of a quiet acceptance of fate. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s acceptance of his political fate has been anything but quiet, until perhaps the end.

He has held on and on, as we saw painfully in recent months with U.S. President Joe Biden below the border and even BC United Leader Kevin Falcon nearby, until it was beyond obvious that something other than public service was the personal compass.

But with what he called “internal battles” too massive to surmount – while neglecting to cite public opinion that was hurtling toward single-digit support – Trudeau announced Monday he cannot be the standard-bearer of the Liberal party he has kept in power for nearly a decade.

What we will get immediately is a paralyzed, prorogued Parliament until March 24, when Trudeau’s replacement will either from inside or outside of the Commons be the prime minister........

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