Canadian PM Justin Trudeau To Step Down After Decade of Global Challenges

TaiwanPlus News

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced a plan to step down once his Liberal Party chooses a new leader. He will leave amid low approval ratings and a mixed legacy after nearly a decade in office.

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00:00After nearly a decade as Canada's prime minister and almost 12 years as leader of the country's

00:07Liberal Party, Justin Trudeau says he's stepping down.

00:10I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next

00:18leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process.

00:25Trudeau, the son of a former prime minister, came into office in 2015, promising progressive

00:31change and a more inclusive government.

00:34His foreign policy included strong support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia's

00:38full-scale invasion, providing military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv.

00:43Trudeau managed tense relations with some countries, like China, which imprisoned two

00:47Canadian citizens in 2018 after his government arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou over

00:53financial crimes in the U.S.

00:56All three were later released.

00:58In another incident, he called out Beijing, saying it had interfered in recent Canadian

01:02elections.

01:04After a meeting about the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping was leaked, Xi confronted

01:08Trudeau about it in public.

01:24We will continue to work constructively together, but there will be things we will disagree on.

01:34Relations with India also worsened under Trudeau, after a Sikh activist and Canadian citizen

01:40was shot and killed in British Columbia, in what Trudeau says is part of India's program

01:45of transnational repression.

01:48At home in Canada, a sluggish economy and internal party battles have left Trudeau and

01:53his party deeply unpopular.

01:55The most likely candidate to replace him is Conservative Party leader Pierre Poulliève,

02:00whose party is leading by large margins in recent polls.

02:04Poulliève has criticized Trudeau's policies for harming the economy, here referring to

02:09an unofficial coalition between the Liberals and the leftist New Democratic Party, or NDP.

02:15We need a carbon tax election now to choose between the NDP-Liberal costly coalition or

02:22common-sense Conservatives who will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop

02:27the crime.

02:28Canada's parliament has effectively been suspended until late March, meaning an election

02:33will come no sooner than May.

02:36That means Trudeau will likely face yet another challenge while still in office, the terrorists

02:41threatened by incoming US President Donald Trump.

02:44Trudeau's exit will mark the end of a political era in Canada, the nation still facing major

02:49global challenges and divided on his legacy.

02:53Alex Chun and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.

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