Amid growing pressure from his own party, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that he will resign and end his nine-year tenure as leader.

Trudeau said he will stay in office until his Liberal party chooses a new leader, and Parliament will be prorogued or suspended until March 24.

“This country deserves a real choice at the next election, and it’s become clear to me that I can’t be the best choice for that election if I have to fight internally,” he told a news conference on Monday.

Trudeau’s personal unpopularity among Canadians has become a growing drag on his party’s fortunes ahead of federal elections later this year.

“Last night, at dinner, I told my children about the decision I am sharing with you today,” he told a news conference in Ottawa.

“I intend to resign as party leader and prime minister after the party selects its next leader through a robust national competitive process,” he said.

Liberal Party chairman Sachit Mehra said the party’s board will meet this week to begin the process of electing a new leader.

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“Liberals across the country are deeply grateful to Justin Trudeau for his more than a decade of leadership of our party and our country,” he added in a statement.

“As prime minister, his vision brought transformative progress for Canadians,” he said, citing programs implemented by the Canadian government such as the Canada Child Benefit and the establishment of dental care and drug coverage for certain medications.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poliyev said “nothing has changed” since Trudeau resigned.

Poilievre wrote on , just like Justin.”

Trudeau, 53, faces growing calls from within the Liberal Party to quit, which intensified in December with the sudden resignation of deputy prime minister and long-time ally Chrystia Freeland.

Freeland said in a public resignation letter U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatens tariffs on Canadian goodsand accused Trudeau of not taking enough measures to deal with the “serious challenges” posed by Trump’s proposals.

Trump has pledged to impose a 25 per cent tax on Canadian imports – which economists warn will severely damage the Canadian economy – unless Canada takes steps to strengthen security at its shared border.

Trudeau said on Monday that he had wanted Freeland to remain deputy prime minister “but she chose otherwise.”

Canada has since announced that it will implement Implement new security measures across the board along the country’s U.S. border in response to threats.

In an online post, Trump said tariff pressure had led to Trudeau’s resignation and reiterated his jibe that Canada should become the “51st country.”

“If Canada merged with the United States, there would be no tariffs, tax revenues would drop significantly, and they would be completely protected from the Russian and Chinese ships that constantly surround them,” he wrote.

The Liberal Party has been in power as a minority party since 2019.

After Freeland’s resignation, Trudeau lost the support of the parties that had helped the Liberals stay in power, including the left-leaning New Democratic Party, which had a support agreement with the Liberals, and the Quebec nationalist Bloc Québécois.

The largest opposition party, the Conservatives, have held a double-digit lead over the Liberals in opinion polls for months, suggesting the Liberals could suffer a major defeat if an election were held today.

The Liberals will now choose a new leader to lead the party into the next election, which must be held on or before October 20.

A senior government official told the BBC the campaign was an open contest and the Prime Minister’s Office would be fully involved in the process, leaving Liberal Party members to decide their own futures.

Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet told reporters that an early election should be held once the Liberal Party elects a new leader.

Trudeau is the son of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who dominated the country’s politics in the 1970s and 1980s.

In 2015, after the Liberal Party won an overwhelming majority of seats, Trudeau Jr. became prime minister, promising to usher in a new progressive era of the “Sunshine Road.”

His record includes a commitment to gender parity in the cabinet, which remains 50 per cent female; progress on reconciliation with Canada’s First Nations; a national carbon tax; implementing a tax-free child benefit for families; and legalizing recreational marijuana.

Assembly of First Nations national president Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak praised Trudeau’s record on Indigenous issues following his resignation, saying in a statement that he “has taken meaningful steps” to address issues of critical importance to Aboriginal people.”

“While there is still much work to be done, these actions lay the groundwork for future administrations.”

Dark clouds have begun to hang over Trudeau’s government in recent years, which has endured a series of scandals that were often of its own making, including a controversy over a deal with a Canadian company facing corruption charges and the emergence of a prime minister wearing brown makeup. Face makeup photos.

Vaccine mandates and other restrictions also faced strong opposition from some Canadians, leading to the Freedom Convoy truck protests in early 2022. Trudeau eventually used unprecedented emergency powers to disperse the protesters.

As Canada begins to emerge from the pandemic, housing and food prices are soaring, and the Canadian government is scrapping ambitious immigration targets as public services begin to come under pressure.

By the end of 2024, Trudeau’s approval ratings were at their lowest – only 22% of Canadians thought he was doing a good job, According to one poll tracker.

In Ottawa, a small group of protesters danced outside Parliament Hill to celebrate his resignation.

However, one passerby said he thought everything was fine under Trudeau.

“I’m a carpenter,” Hames Gamarra, from British Columbia, told the BBC. “I mind my own business, I get paid, I pay my bills. Everything’s fine.”

Another Canadian, Marise Cassivi, said it felt like the end of an era. Asked if she felt any signs of sadness, she replied: “No.”

“It’s the right thing to do.”