Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to make an announcement about his political future this week as he faces growing calls to resign.
Mr Trudeau – who has become deeply unpopular over a range of issues, including the soaring cost of food and housing – has kept publicly quiet in recent weeks, despite intensifying pressure for him to step down after the abrupt resignation of his finance minister on December 16.
The Prime Minister has now returned to Ottawa after the Christmas holidays.
Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said of Mr Trudeau: “His long silence following this political drama speaks volumes about the weakness of his current position.”
While all three opposition parties now say they would support a vote to topple Mr Trudeau’s minority government, the Canadian Parliament is not currently in session so that threat is not immediate.
But members of his own party are increasingly calling for his resignation – making his situation appear more and more untenable.
Still, there is no mechanism for Mr Trudeau’s party to force him out in the short term. If he hangs on until Parliament returns later this month, his Liberal party could be forced from power by a no-confidence vote that would trigger an election, which would very likely favour the opposing Conservative Party.
The 53-year-old was initially hailed for returning the country to its liberal past when he was elected in 2015, but he has become widely unpopular in recent years. The political upheaval comes at a difficult moment for Canada.
US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian products if Canada does not stem what he calls a flow of migrants and drugs in the United States – even though far fewer of each cross into the US from Canada than from Mexico.
Mr Trudeau is scheduled to participate virtually in a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Canada-US Relations on Monday.
If Mr Trudeau does step down as party leader, the Liberals could potentially delay the return of Parliament to give them time to choose a new leader.
Because Mr Trudeau’s Liberals do not hold an outright majority in Parliament, they have for years depended on the support of the NDP to pass legislation and stay in power.
But that support has vanished – NDP leader Jagmeet Singh made clear last month the NDP will vote to bring down the government. The other opposition parties have said the same.
