Justin Trudeau said on Jan. 6 that he intends to step down as prime minister, following abysmal numbers in the polls and ongoing drama in the Liberal Party.
His announcement came after a prolonged struggle with his caucus that began bubbling to the surface last year after losing longtime Liberal strongholds in byelections. Trudeau rejected calls for his resignation until the situation escalated with the high-profile exit of Deputy Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland from cabinet on Dec. 16.
After reflecting over the holidays and as different regional caucuses urged him to step down in recent weeks, Trudeau said he will resign once the party chooses a new leader.
Stephen Harper
Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to power after his Conservative Party defeated the Paul Martin Liberals in the 2006 federal election. Harper formed two back-to-back minority governments in 2006 and 2008 before winning a majority in the 2011 election.
His nine-year tenure as Canada’s leader came to an end in 2015 when the Conservatives were defeated at the polls and were forced to return to the opposition benches by the Trudeau Liberals.
Paul Martin
Paul Martin became the leader of the Liberal Party after the retirement of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in 2003.Chrétien’s resignation was a sign that Martin had finally emerged victorious from a long-standing feud between the two men that dated back more than a decade.
Despite the hard feelings between them, Chrétien named Martin his finance minister, a portfolio he retained until 2002. Martin said Chrétien ousted him from cabinet in June of that year, while Chrétien maintained that Martin had made the decision to resign.
Martin became leader in November 2003 and was sworn in as prime minister a month later. He managed to win a minority government in the 2004 election, despite a decline in the party’s popularity nationwide.
His government fell in November 2005 after the Conservatives, supported by the NDP and Bloc Québécois, introduced a motion of non-confidence in the House.
Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien came to power in 1993 after handily defeating the Progressive Conservative government led by Kim Campbell. He was the first Canadian prime minister since 1945 to win three consecutive majorities, but it was by no means smooth sailing for Chrétien within his own party.The tension between Chrétien and Martin plagued the prime minister throughout his term in office. The acrimony increased after the Liberals lost seats in the 1997 election.
His third term was fraught with turmoil from strained relations with the United States, scandals, and discontent within his own party.
Tension with the United States increased during his final term due to his refusal to deploy Canadian forces to participate in the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Although most voters approved of his decision not to send troops to Iraq, infighting among the Liberals grew and the ongoing discord with Martin escalated into a major conflict in early 2002.
The Sponsorship Scandal erupted in May of that year as well, leading to accusations of corruption in the government, tarnishing Chrétien’s reputation. The prime minister further angered some members of caucus after he issued a stern reprimand for leadership campaign plotting and ordered the end of all fundraising for that purpose. Just days after the May 30 tongue lashing, Martin left cabinet.
By this time, Chrétien had lost much of the party machinery to Martin, placing him on shaky ground for his upcoming leadership review in February 2003.
Following the commitment of fewer than half the caucus members to endorse him in August 2002, Chrétien declared that he would not guide the party into the next election and set a February 2004 date for his resignation.
Kim Campbell
The popularity of Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney had plummeted by 1993, and the polls forecasted a Tory defeat should he be at the helm during the upcoming election.
Mulroney announced his retirement from politics in February 1993 and stepped down as party leader after Defence Minister Kim Campbell defeated Jean Charest at the Progressive Conservative leadership convention that June. She became the first and only female prime minister later that month.
Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney guided his Progressive Conservative Party to a landslide victory in the 1984 vote, securing the second-largest percentage of seats ever recorded in Canadian history. He won a second majority government four years later.
It was during his second term, however, that his popularity began to wane, initially due to the failure of the Meech Lake Accord.
John Turner
Former Liberal Leader John Turner served as prime minister for only 11 weeks, the second-shortest term in Canadian history.Turner emerged victorious from the 1984 leadership election called following the resignation of Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau led Canada from 1968 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1984. The one year in between saw the Joe Clark-led Progressive Conservatives form a minority government.The Progressive Conservatives’ failure to get approval of their budget in the House toppled the government, triggering a new election after less than a year in power.
Trudeau’s Liberals came back to the House of Commons with a majority government, but the party’s popularity ebbed in the latter half of the term, leading Trudeau to announce he would not lead the party into the 1984 election.
His announcement of resignation came after his famous walk in an Ottawa snowstorm to contemplate his leadership in February 1984.
Joe Clark
Best known for his brief tenure as prime minister, Joe Clark led the Progressive Conservative Party to its first victory since the defeat of John Diefenbaker in the 1963 election.
Clark was sworn in as Canada’s 16th prime minister on June 4, 1979. His government fell just six months later on Dec. 13, when the House failed to back the Tories’ proposed budget.
Lester B. Pearson
Lester Bowles Pearson formed a minority government in April 1963 and called an early election in November 1965 in the hopes of winning a majority.
John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving in this capacity from 1957 to 1963. He was the lone Tory leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to three election victories, though he only secured a majority of seats in the House of Commons on a single occasion.Diefenbaker’s reticence regarding nuclear arms and his response to the Cuban Missile Crisis in the fall of 1962 led to strained relations between him and U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
Diefenbaker’s minister of defence, Douglas Harkness, supported Kennedy’s stance on nuclear weapons, leading to turmoil within the party. Harkness triggered a political crisis by stepping down from his cabinet position in February 1963 in response to Diefenbaker’s refusal to allow American nuclear warheads to be stationed in Canada.
The resignation further exacerbated discord within the Progressive Conservative Party, which eventually culminated in a cabinet split that contributed to the government’s loss in the 1963 federal election to the Liberals.
The loss came despite Diefenbaker’s one-man political train campaign, in which he travelled the country to rally support for his party. The Liberals secured 129 seats compared to the Tories’ 95, leaving them five seats short of an absolute majority.
Diefenbaker refused to relinquish power until six Quebec Social Credit MPs signed a declaration supporting Pearson’s formation of the government. The votes provided Pearson the support of a majority within the House of Commons.
Diefenbaker continued to lead the Progressive Conservatives as they formed the Official Opposition, and finally resigned as leader in 1967 after prolonged party infighting.
Louis St. Laurent
Louis St. Laurent, a high-profile cabinet minister in the government of World War II-time Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, took over the party leadership and became prime minister in 1948 with the support of King after King retired from power.
He won the 1949 election and, having turned 75 at the end of his term in 1957, was ready to retire but was persuaded to embark on one final campaign—a close battle between his Liberal Party and Diefenbaker’s Progressive Conservatives.
While the Liberals won the popular vote, the Progressive Conservatives had more seats. St. Laurent was encouraged by his party to contact the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and some other smaller parties in a bid to form a coalition majority government, but he declined.
That campaign was one of the greatest upsets in Canadian political history, ending the Liberals’ 22 years in power.
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King held three non-consecutive terms as prime minister between 1921 and 1948. His rule was split in three parts with the main gap being between 1930 and 1935, when Conservative Leader R. B. Bennett took the reins.
There was also a short gap in 1926 when King resigned his post after the Governor General declined his request to dissolve Parliament and call an election. The request was made in a bid to avoid losing a vote in the House of Commons.
The Governor General then asked Conservative Leader Arthur Meighen to form a government, an invitation he accepted. However, Meighen was soon defeated on a motion of non-confidence, triggering an election that saw King regain the government just a few months later.
King’s longest stint as prime minister was from 1935 to 1948, but declining health forced him to step aside. He was the longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history, with more than 21 years in power under his belt.
