Trudeau can prorogue Parliament until October 2025: report

Trudeau can prorogue Parliament to avoid a non-confidence vote, sending everybody home until the next federal election. Parliament only needs to sit once every 12 months, according to the Constitution.

Alex Dhaliwal
  |   December 23, 2024   |   News Analysis   |   7 Comments

Justin Trudeau could prorogue Parliament until the next federal election should he wish too – and there’s not much anyone could do about it.

Following Chrystia Freeland’s shocking departure from cabinet, a Liberal caucus meeting on Monday revealed continued calls for Trudeau to resign.

Disgruntled Liberals have held closed-door meetings to boot Trudeau since June, after a shocking by-election defeat in Toronto. Some have suggested a “secret ballot vote” but there is no internal mechanism to initiate that. 

The party failed to adopt provisions of the 2015 Reform Act that would allow for a leadership review if petitioned by at least 20% of the caucus. 

A Liberal leadership review can only be initiated through a “leadership endorsement” ballot following a general election defeat.

Trudeau went on to lose another by-election in Montreal and the B.C. mainland, with New Democrats tearing up his supply and confidence agreement in September.

Twenty three Liberal MPs called for the prime minister to resign during a tense October 23rd caucus meeting, though few came forward publicly.

According to the National Post, some 50 Liberal MPs want Trudeau to step aside. A Global News exclusive with one of the disgruntled MPs, says the “vast majority” of Liberal MPs want a new leader.

“Canadians have clearly lost confidence in him, and Canadians want him to go,” Liberal MP Anthony Housefather said on Sunday.

A new Ipsos poll found that nearly three-quarters of Canadians want Trudeau to step down, amid flailing support.

“It’s clear they’ve tuned him out, and he is not the best person to deliver the message of our party in the next election,” said Housefather, noting “a more centrist vision” could bring back voters.

More than half of Canadians want an election triggered before October 2025, the poll uncovered. 

Should Trudeau prorogue Parliament, with explicit intent of resigning following the outcome of a leadership election, the new leader can then reconvene Parliament after a Throne Speech. 

“Prorogation would dissolve all legislative business and committee activity until the next session begins,” reads a National Post column.

A leadership convention could happen in two months, on an accelerated timeline, says the MP. “I think that would be the best approach.”

“If the prime minister remains, I believe he is the ballot question,” Housefather told CTV News in a prior interview. He previously asked Trudeau to resign months ago, both in writing and at caucus.

New Democrats have expressed their interest in backing a new Liberal leader for another minority government situation.

However, Trudeau can simply prorogue Parliament to avoid a non-confidence vote, and send everybody home until the next federal election. Parliament only needs to sit once every 12 months, according to the Constitution.

The only problem with proroguing Parliament until October is money, as Trudeau cannot approve funding outside the parliamentary process. 

Conveniently for him, the House of Commons approved $21.6 billion in funding to sustain the federal civil service through March 31, 2025.

“That’s not a lot — but it does mean that the House of Commons just surrendered their most immediate leverage against the prime minister,” said the Post.

During a December 16 dinner with donors, Trudeau pledged a “serious, positive vision for the future” following the winter recess. 

“I wanted to come here tonight and speak with you dedicated, devoted members of the Liberal Party, because you, not me or any other politician, are the beating heart of this movement,” he said to a roaring applause.

The prime minister reiterated those remarks at the Liberal Party’s annual Christmas party. “We stand with workers and the middle class. We stand with Canadians, and we stand with Canada.”

Trudeau intends to lead the Liberal Party into the next election, and has expressed no interest in resigning at publication.

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Alex Dhaliwal

Calgary Based Journalist

Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.

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COMMENTS

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  • Bernhard Jatzeck
    commented 2024-12-24 14:50:29 -0500
    If there’s a way he can hang on to power, he’ll make use of it.
  • Lynne Osborne
    commented 2024-12-24 11:38:55 -0500
    Trudeau to prorogue parliament until October 25? All legislation not passed through the Senate will be cancelled on the order paper. Ottawa doing nothing. What a god sent. Now that’s a plan that could actually help balance the books.
  • Jerrold Lundgard
    commented 2024-12-24 05:57:28 -0500
    Any Liberals with integrity have been weeded out of the Liberal party during the Jean Chretien Sponsorship (ADSCAM) Program. The level of integrity and honesty has diminished since then.
    Any Liberals (especially women) showing any signs of competency or integrity have been bullied out of the Liberal party by Mr Trudeau.
    There is no one left to lead
    On January 27, Mr Trudeau can prorogue parliament for a year delaying an election to after January 2026 . The constitution allows delay of an election to October of 2026.
    Mr Trudeau can work within the law to allow further looting of the treasury by friends of those in power, friends of the bureaucrats and possibly the bureaucrats (with shell companies) themselves.
    Canada seems to have become one of the most corrupt nations in the world
  • Ruth Bard
    commented 2024-12-23 22:28:01 -0500
    I wonder if proroguing Parliament would be an entirely bad thing. There’s some atrocious legislation in the offing, that would die. C-63 comes to mind. Much better, of course, to call and election right away, but the POS in the PMO will cling to power as long as he can.
  • Wade Collinge
    commented 2024-12-23 16:26:10 -0500
    I think things have spun out of control at an unprecedented level probably since the beginning of our Canadian government. Without checking history, is there anyone or any instance that could possibly rival the clown show currently happening in our government with a Prime Minister that has a 14-year-old mentality (Jordan Peterson’s words). The saddest part is our system is set up in such a way that we cannot remove a Prime Minister with a mental health issue which is known as Narcissistic Personality Disorder, I believe it is called.
    COPY AND PASTE Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. They need and seek too much attention and want people to admire them. People with this disorder may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others. But behind this mask of extreme confidence, they are not sure of their self-worth and are easily upset by the slightest criticism.
  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2024-12-23 15:26:51 -0500
    I hope Trudeau doesn’t read this or nobody tells him about this option. Of course that tyrant would do that if things keep spinning out of control.
  • Wade Collinge
    commented 2024-12-23 11:09:09 -0500
    He Should call an election right fucking now