Farm groups are digesting an announcement made Monday morning from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said he is resigning as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Prime Minister, once the party selects its next leader.
Speaking in front of Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Trudeau also announced the Governor General granted his request of proroguing Parliament until March 24.
“It leaves a lot of questions as to how this affects programming and legislation and what do the next couple of months look like in the political scene on the Hill and how does that affect producers, I guess it’s yet to be seen,” said Bill Prybylski, President of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) in reaction to the announcement.
Prybylski says the next time APAS is in Ottawa is the end of February for the Canadian Federation of Agriculture’s Annual General Meeting, adding meetings APAS was in the process of setting up with government officials “are in limbo” at the moment. He also says they’ll be contacting the CFA to “see what they’re hearing and what they’re seeing and who it is we should be talking to.”
SaskAgToday reached out to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture for a request for comment Monday afternoon. A spokesperson replied in an email that they are currently processing the announcement and a response will be made soon. Other groups such as the Canadian Cattle Association and Canada Grains Council have not released a response at this time.
The resignation comes three weeks after Chrystia Freeland resigned from Cabinet due to disagreements with Trudeau over the future direction of Canada and the number of Liberal MP’s calling for Trudeau to step down grew in subsequent days.
It also comes well in advance of the upcoming federal election, scheduled for October 20, 2025, and at a time when Canada is facing a series of challenges ahead, including possible 25 per cent tariffs from the incoming Trump Administration in the U.S. and ongoing trade tensions with China and India.
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