Canada's Trudeau announces resignation after nearly a decade as prime minister

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation Monday after nearly a decade in power, bowing to rising discontent over his leadership and growing turmoil within his government signaled by the abrupt departure of his finance minister.

Trudeau, the latest incumbent to be driven out by rising voter dissatisfaction worldwide, said it became clear to him that he cannot "be the leader during the next elections due to internal battles.” He planned to stay on as prime minister until a new leader of the Liberal Party is chosen.

“I don’t easily back down faced with a fight, especially a very important one for our party and the country. But I do this job because the interests of Canadians and the well being of democracy" are "something that I hold dear," said Trudeau, who was initially teary-eyed at the announcement outside his official residence.

He said Parliament, which had been due to resume Jan. 27, would be suspended until March 24. The timing will allow for a Liberal Party leadership race.

All three main opposition parties have said they plan to topple the Liberal Party in a no-confidence vote when Parliament resumes, so a spring election after the Liberals pick a new leader was almost assured.

“The Liberal Party of Canada is an important institution in the history of our great country and democracy. A new prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party will carry its values and ideals into that next election,” Trudeau said. “I am excited to see that process unfold in the months ahead.”

Trudeau came to power in 2015 after 10 years of Conservative Party rule and was initially hailed for returning the country to its liberal past. But the 53-year-old scion of one of Canada’s most famous prime ministers became deeply unpopular with voters in recent years over a range of issues, including the soaring cost of food and housing, and surging immigration.

Speaking in a recorded message posted on X, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said Canadians “desperate to turn the page on this dark chapter in our history might be relieved” that Trudeau is leaving. "But what has really changed? Every Liberal MP in power today and every potential Liberal leadership contender fighting for the top job helped Justin Trudeau break the country over the last nine years.”

Other opposition leaders added their own criticism, including Jagmeet Singh, who leads the leftist New Democratic Party.

“It doesn’t matter who the next Liberal is. They’ve let you down. They do not deserve another chance,” said Singh, who propped up Trudeau’s party for years.

The president of the Liberal party, Sachit Mehra, said party members were “immensely grateful” to Trudeau for delivering “transformational progress” for Canadians, including $10-a-day child care, dental care and a national climate plan. Mehra said he would call a meeting this week to begin selecting a new leader.

The political upheaval comes at a difficult moment for Canada internationally. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods if the government does not stem what Trump calls a flow of migrants and drugs in the U.S. — even though far fewer of them cross into the U.S. from Canada than from Mexico, which Trump has also threatened.

Canada is a major exporter of oil and natural gas to the U.S., which also relies on its northern neighbor for steel, aluminum and automobiles.

After Trudeau's announcement, Trump, who for weeks has referred to Canada as the 51st state, did so again and incorrectly claimed on social media that the prime minister resigned because Canada relies on subsidies from the U.S. to stay afloat.

Trudeau kept publicly mum in recent weeks, despite intensifying pressure for him to step down.

“His long silence following this political drama speaks volumes about the weakness of his current position,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.

Canada’s former finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, announced her resignation from Trudeau’s Cabinet on Dec. 16, criticizing some of Trudeau’s economic priorities in the face of Trump’s threats. The move, which came shortly after the housing minister quit, stunned the country and raised questions about how much longer the increasingly unpopular Trudeau could stay in his job.

Freeland and Trudeau had disagreed about two recently announced policies: a temporary sales tax holiday on goods ranging from children’s clothes to beer, and plans to send every citizen a check for $250 Canadian ($174). Freeland, who was also deputy prime minister, said Canada could not afford “costly political gimmicks."

“Our country is facing a grave challenge,” Freeland wrote in her resignation letter. “That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war.”

Trudeau had planned to run for a fourth term despite his party's displeasure. Prime ministers in Canada can stay in office as long as their government or party has the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons, but no Canadian prime minister in more than a century has won four straight terms.

Trudeau's party recently suffered upsets in special elections in two districts in Toronto and Montreal that it has held for years. And based on the latest polls, his chances for success looked slim. In the latest poll by Nanos, the Liberals trailed Conservatives 47% to 21%.

Over his long tenure, Trudeau embraced an array of causes favored by his liberal base. He spoke in favor of immigration at a time other countries were trying to tighten their borders. He championed diversity and gender equality, appointing a Cabinet that was equal parts men and women. He legalized cannabis.

His efforts to strike a balance between economic growth and environmental protection were criticized by both the right and left. He levied a tax on carbon emissions and rescued a stalled pipeline expansion project to get more of Alberta’s oil to international markets.

Fewer people died from COVID-19 in Canada than elsewhere, and his government provided massive financial support. But animosity grew among those opposed to vaccine mandates. Flags with Trudeau’s name and expletives became a common sight in rural regions.

A combination of scandal and unpopular policies damaged his prospects over time.

Trudeau’s father swept to power in 1968 and led Canada for almost 16 years, becoming a storied name in the country’s history, most notably by opening its doors wide to immigrants. Pierre Trudeau was often compared to John F. Kennedy and remains one of the few Canadian politicians who are recognized in the U.S.

Born while his father was prime minister, the younger Trudeau became an international celebrity upon being elected. He appeared on the cover of America's Rolling Stone magazine under the headline “Why Can’t He Be Our President?”

Tall and trim, with movie-star looks, Justin Trudeau channeled the star power — if not quite the political heft — of his father.

He became the second-youngest prime minister in Canada’s history, and rivals said his age was a liability when he first sought office. But he won a sweeping mandate in a come-from-behind victory in 2015.

Trudeau is a former teacher, nightclub bouncer and snowboard instructor who has three children with his ex-wife, a former model and TV host.

FILE - Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pictured through glass as he speaks with members of his caucus in Ottawa, Ontario, on Dec. 16, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gestures as he speaks with reporters before caucus on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, on Nov. 24, 2021. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, centre left, takes a selfie with a person in a wheelchair during a visit to B.C. Day celebrations in Penticton, B.C., on Aug. 6, 2018. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, speaks before signing the Paris Agreement on climate change on April 22, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

FILE - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, center, his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, center left, and their children Hadrien, in stroller, Ella-Grace, next to her mother, and Xavier, next to his sister, take part in the Pride Parade in downtown Vancouver, Canada, on July 31, 2016. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Liberal leader Justin Trudeau makes his way to the stage with wife Sophie Gregoire at the Liberal party headquarters in Montreal on Oct. 20, 2015. Trudeau, the son of late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, became Canada's new prime minister after beating Conservative Stephen Harper. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau gestures for media to leave so he can begin his first caucus meeting as leader on April 17, 2013, in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Liberal leader Justin Trudeau celebrates with his wife, Sophie Gregoire, after winning a minority government at the election night headquarters on Oct. 22, 2019, in Montreal. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - A woman crosses the street in front of vehicles parked as part of the trucker protest, on Feb. 8, 2022 in Ottawa. Canadian lawmakers expressed increasing worry about protests over vaccine mandates other other COVID restrictions after the busiest border crossing between the U.S. and Canada became partially blocked. (Adrian Wyld /The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with media outside Rideau Cottage, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

FILE - Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, center, flips pancakes at a Stampede breakfast in Calgary, Alta., on July 7, 2013. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lifts his son Hadrien into the air following his speech at the federal Liberal national convention in Halifax on April 21, 2018. (Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Minister of International Trade Chrystia Freeland gives Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a hug after being sworn in during ceremonies at Rideau Hall, on Nov. 4, 2015, in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waves as he leaves the offices of Salesforce on Feb. 8, 2018, in San Francisco. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks to reporters as he arrives at a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 6, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Liberal leader and Prime Minister Elect Justin Trudeau hugs his mother Margaret Trudeau as he makes his way on stage for his acceptance speech at Liberal party headquarters in Montreal on Oct. 19, 2015, after winning the 42nd Canadian general election. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves a news conference after announcing his resignation as Liberal leader outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces his resignation as Liberal leader and prime minister outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces his resignation as Liberal leader and prime minister outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives to make an announcement outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces his resignation as Liberal leader and prime minister outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ski patrollers miffed by wages they say are too low for high living costs have put a wrench in operations at the biggest U.S. ski resort with a rare strike that began over the busy holidays and carried on into the new year's fresh powder.

The resulting thin staffing at Utah's Park City Mountain Resort, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Salt Lake City in the Wasatch Range, has left many runs closed and caused long lines for ski lifts.

Yet some skiers who paid good money for passes are sympathetic. “Pay your employees!” they chant from lift lines in videos posted on social media.

Unionization is rare but increasing at U.S. ski resorts, including the one in Park City that is owned by Vail Resorts, which with 42 properties on three continents calls itself the world’s largest mountain resort operator.

As talks stalled, 200 patrollers went on strike on Dec. 27, alleging unfair bargaining by the company.

Here's the latest on the strike:

They maintain safety at ski resorts by monitoring terrain, responding to accidents, hauling hurt skiers downhill and reducing avalanche risk, sometimes by releasing avalanches with explosives when nobody's in range.

It's a seasonal job. After the snow melts away, so do they.

Many in the Rocky Mountain region work as fly-fishing, mountain biking and whitewater rafting guides in the warmer months. Often they're young people starting in the workforce.

Others spend decades honing skills in a physically demanding job.

The specialized work requires training and dedication — and ought to be compensated without too much stress over living costs in pricey mountain towns such as Park City, the ski patroller union argues.

The strike comes as actions by labor unions soared over the past couple of years. Unions secured meaningful employer concessions in recent months following strikes by Boeing factory workers, dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports, video game performers, and hotel and casino workers on the Las Vegas Strip.

The 45,000 dockworkers' ongoing threats to resume their strike over automation would shut down ports and could damage the economy as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Pointing to steep inflation since 2022, the Park City Professional Ski Patrollers Association has been negotiating since March, seeking an increase from $21 to $23 an hour. The union says $27 is considered a livable wage in pricey Park City, which is also home to Deer Valley Resort.

They also seek higher pay for the longest-serving ski patrollers. The current scale tops out after five years on the job.

“We just want to make sure these tenured patrollers are compensated for their skills and encouraged to stick around,” Park City ski patroller and association spokesperson Alana McClements said.

The ski patrollers got a big raise a couple years ago.

Vail Resorts argues it was generous with its 50% base-pay increase from $13 to $21 an hour in 2022. It's now offering a 4% pay increase for most patrollers and $1,600 each year for their equipment.

"We deeply regret that this is having any level of impact on the guest experience and are grateful to our thousands of employees who are working hard every day to enable the experience at Park City Mountain and open the terrain,” Bill Rock, president of Vail Resorts mountain division, said in a statement.

Snow has been falling thick and fast in Park City, with more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) in the past week. But much of Park City Mountain Resort is closed because of the strike.

As of Monday, only 25 of 41 lifts and 103 of 350 trails were open, according to the resort's website.

Vail Resorts apparently has brought in nonunion workers from other resorts to help keep the one in Park City running, McClements said.

Union ski patrollers at other U.S. Vail Resorts properties, including Breckenridge, Crested Butte and Keystone in Colorado, have expressed solidarity with the Park City Mountain Resort workers and complained about pressure put on workers from elsewhere to go there.

Sympathizers include other workers at the resort, including ski instructors and snow groomers, who hope their own wages will increase if the patrollers are successful, ski instructor Grace Mauzy said.

“Ski patrol requires even more skilled learning than to be instructor, but to be instructor you also have to have skills training,” Mauzy said. "They’re both highly underpaid.”

There's a wider sense, McClements said, that if Vail Resorts gives in to the union's demands, ski workers elsewhere will demand increases.

“There is a history of mountain workers being paid unlivable wages because people view parts of the job as fun," McClements said. "We definitely see this as a broader fight.”

Mediation between the association and company happened Monday and was scheduled again Tuesday, McClements said.

And this weekend, the forecast calls for more snow.

Associated Press writer Hannah Schoenbaum contributed reporting from New York City.

Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah Jan 7. 2025, (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Park City Ski Patrol strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025, (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Park City Ski Patrol on strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Park City Ski Patrol on strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Park City Ski Patrol on strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Park City Ski Patrol employee Erika Roetman holds a sign while on strike requesting livable wages in Park City, Utah, Tuesday, Jan 7. 2025. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)