Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not a fact of nature. He was a choice made by the Canadian public. Now that he’s leaving, we’d better learn from the ordeal.

Trudeau should have been done in 2021. Or 2019. Instead, on Jan. 6, 2025, he announced his plan to resign as prime minister upon the selection of a new Liberal leader, which will happen while Parliament is prorogued until March 24. He’s finally awoken to the cold feelings of his own people: December saw the Atlantic Liberal caucus call for the prime minister to resign, as well as most of the Ontario Liberal caucus, who no doubt have been anxiously watching their party plummet in the polls.