Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is resigning.
The Prime Minister announced on Monday his plan to step down after the Liberals pick a new leader, just hours after he requested Governor General Mary Simon prorogue Parliament for more than two months, until March 24.
Here’s what it means to prorogue — and why Trudeau is doing it.
What does it mean to prorogue Parliament?
Prorogation is a normal political process that pauses Parliament for a predetermined amount of time. It’s usually used as a tool for the government to reset its agenda and return with a new throne speech and budget, according to Kathy Brock, a political scientist and professor at Queen’s University.
Proroguing stops all parliamentary business; MPs are sent home, no committees can sit and bills that have not yet received royal assent are wiped off the slate, having to be reintroduced in the next session.
Proroguing is different from dissolution, which terminates a Parliament and is followed by an election.
Why is Trudeau proroguing?
Trudeau’s decision to prorogue buys the Liberal party time for a leadership race — and also potentially means “calming the waters” of Parliament after a tumultuous 2024, Brock said.
“Parliament has been paralyzed for months, after what has been the longest session of a minority Parliament in Canadian history,” Trudeau said while announcing his resignation outside Rideau Cottage, the residence he has occupied for more than nine years. “That’s why this morning, I advised the Governor General that we need a new session of Parliament.”
But politically, this decision could backfire for Trudeau, according to Brock.
“Is it a wise decision? It’s a very risky one,” Brock said. “People are fed up and Canadians … I’m not sure they have the tolerance for a prorogation at this point … Canadians are tired and they want to see some resolution to this matter.”
When will Parliament return?
Trudeau’s prorogation will end March 24 after a break of about two and a half months.
Sometimes, prorogation lasts for only hours — Parliament will end one session in the morning and start another in the afternoon, political historian and University of Regina professor Raymond Blake said. Constitutionally, prorogation can last for up to a year.
Either way, Trudeau’s break will be far longer than the average prorogation of about 22 days, according to Brock.
“Canadian voters are going to have to look at that and say, was this opportunistic as opposed to what is in the best interest of the nation,” Brock said. “Is he putting the fate of the party and the needs of the party ahead of the needs of the Canadian public? … The Canadian voters will have to decide if that’s acceptable or not.”
On Monday, Trudeau justified his decision.
“This prorogation will take us only into March, and there will be confidence votes in March and the passing of supply that will allow Parliament to weigh in on confidence in a way that is entirely in keeping with all the principles of democracy,” Trudeau said.
What is the history of proroguing?
Trudeau prorogued Parliament for a month in August 2020 during the WE charity scandal, which then-Conservative leader Andrew Scheer called “spineless” and a “disgusting attempt to make Canadians forget about his corruption.”
But Trudeau said he decided to prorogue because the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic had rendered the throne speech eight months earlier no longer relevant.
Prorogation has been used as a political tool since confederation. In 1873, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald requested the Governor General prorogue Parliament to avoid a committee investigation into allegations of corruption against him.
Despite public outcry, the Governor General granted the request — only for Macdonald, facing certain defeat on a non-confidence vote, to resign after Parliament resumed.
More recently, in December 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper requested the Governor General prorogue as his government teetered on the brink and the Liberals and NDPs had proposed a coalition government supported by the Bloc.
Governor general Michaëlle Jean approved the request — but only after two hours of consideration, during which TV networks aired live shots of the front door of Rideau Hall, awaiting an answer.
“You have to think about it. You have to ask questions,” Jean told The Canadian Press two years later. “The idea wasn’t to create artificial suspense. The idea was to send a message — and for people to understand that this warranted reflection.”
