Eric Farnsworth on CNN About Canada's Political Crisis

Eric Farnsworth, vice president at AS/COA, was interviewed by Rosemary Church on CNN Newsroom about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's resignation after nearly a decade in power.

Church asked Farnsworth what could have been the potential reasons for Trudeau to announce his decision at this time. Farnsworth argued that although the announcement was abrupt, this had been developing for some time.

"The Liberal caucus itself began to question Trudeau's leadership over the autumn. But I think the major precipitating event was the resignation of Chrystia Freeland, who's the deputy prime minister and finance minister. [...] She left with a scathing letter that she made public, which questioned the direction that Trudeau was taking the country, particularly as Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated south of the Canadian border."

Farnsworth said that this causes "some instability" for the country, especially as it's an election year for Canada. "You're going to have a new prime minister, and then presumably you'll have to have a new election after that. So you could actually have three Canadian prime ministers this year, 2025," said Farnsworth.

When it comes about who can potentially replace Trudeau, the expert says that the chosen person "would try to broadly continue the same policies of the Trudeau administration [...] The real shift is going to take place in the elections themselves when the Liberals and the other political parties will have to contest the Conservatives who are clearly in the lead at this point."

Finally, Farnsworth spoke about the impact of Trump's reelection and the U.S. president-elect's comments towards Trudeau, saying that this could have "diminished the prime minister in the public eye and clearly caused some to question whether he had the political weight to be able to stand up to somebody like Donald Trump."

Watch the full interview.