Tuesday Briefing: Canada’s Prime Minister Is Stepping Down

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said yesterday that he would step down as Liberal Party leader and prime minister. The decision by Trudeau, who has led the country for nearly a decade, means that new leadership will take over in Canada by late March after his party picks a new head. Here’s the latest.

Trudeau has faced weeks of mounting pressure from inside his party’s ranks. In December, his deputy prime minister and finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, abruptly stepped down in a stinging rebuke of his leadership.

Her resignation led to Liberal parliamentarians asking Trudeau to step aside so someone else can lead the Liberal Party against the Conservatives in the October general election.

What’s next: Trudeau’s resignation sets off a succession battle to replace him. The upheaval comes as the country is grappling with how best to deal with President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to impose crippling tariffs on all imports from Canada on his first day in office. Canada and the U.S. are each other’s biggest trading partners.

End of an era: Trudeau has been prime minister since 2015, having resuscitated the Liberals, who had crashed electorally before he took over the party in 2013. Recently, however, he has become deeply unpopular: According to a poll released last month by Ipsos, 73 percent of Canadians — including 43 percent of Liberal voters — believed he should step down as party leader.