Alberta premier slams Trudeau decision as ‘irresponsible’ and ‘selfish’

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has strong words for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau following his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party.

In comments posted to X, she says Canadians deserve a prime minister and federal government with a clear voter mandate to negotiate with incoming U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration in what she called “the most important international negotiations we have ever faced as a country.”

Smith goes on to say the Liberals don’t have that mandate and are putting their “selfish political interests” ahead of Canadians by proroguing Parliament.

Trudeau announced Monday he would officially step down as leader of the party and prime minister following a leadership contest.

Trudeau’s Liberals have been in flux for some time, and political pundits began questioning the Prime Minister’s leadership stemming from weeks of turmoil, none more evident than Chrystia Freeland’s sudden resignation in mid-December.

After Freeland resigned, Trudeau ducked questions from the media for weeks and cancelled all his year-end interviews with news organizations.

The Conservatives were expected to introduce a non-confidence motion at the public accounts committee next week. However, proroguing Parliament would wipe clear the current slate of legislation and delay opportunities for non-confidence votes that could trigger an election.

Smith is expressing her distaste with the move, saying democracy will be suspended for months while the Liberals “fight a divisive internal leadership race.”

The next federal election is slated for October but could happen much sooner.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has continually stated that Trudeau lost government control and repeated calls for an election. Trudeau’s Liberals have trailed behind Poilievre’s Conservative party for over a year as an affordability crisis grips the nation.

Smith is appealing to the federal parties and MPs to force an election at the first available opportunity.