Justin Trudeau steps down as Canadian Prime Minister, party leader – National & International News – MON 6Jan2025

Justin Trudeau steps down as Prime Minister, party leader.

At least six dead from severe winter weather in Midwest and Mid-South. 

Israel helps IDF soldier flee war crimes arrest in Brazil.

NATIONAL NEWS

At least six dead from severe winter weather in Midwest and Mid-South 

Over the weekend, polar vortex brought heavy snow and freezing temperatures to several states including Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and North Carolina. Over 200,000 customers are currently without power in these states. Heavy snow created perilous travel conditions throughout the area, with parts of Kansas receiving up to 18 inches of snow. Up to 40 million people are under winter weather alerts with freezing temperatures expected even as far as south as Florida. Sub-freezing temperatures are expected in the Deep South throughout this week.

At least 6 people are known to have died as a result of the weather. Two people in Missouri and three people in Kansas perished in traffic incidents due to icy road conditions. In Houston, TX, a man was found frozen to death at a bus stop.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Justin Trudeau steps down as Prime Minister, party leader

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced today that he would be stepping down as the leader of Canada’s Liberal Party, and consequently from his position as Prime Minister. Trudeau has asked for Parliament to be suspended until his party can elect a new leader. As yet, there is no timeline for this election. 

Canada is due for a general election in October. However, opposition party leaders from both the Conservatives and the New Democratic Party say that they will push for an early election as soon as Parliament reconvenes in March. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is currently leading in the polls.

End of nearly a decade in office

Trudeau has been Canada’s Prime Minister since 2015 and is currently the longest serving prime minister in the G7. He has withstood various challenges to his governance, including the chaos of the Canadian truck convoy protest in 2022 over his government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like his fellow center left politicians elsewhere, including the US and Europe, he has also faced growing political headwinds over Canada’s support of Ukraine in their war against Russia.

Like much of the world, Canada is also facing a cost-of-living crisis, including out of control housing prices. Some have blamed the housing crunch on Trudeau’s mishandling of immigration. As a result of discontent with Trudeau’s governance, the Liberals have lost ground in recent national and local elections.

Most recently he has faced criticism from members of his own party over his handling of a face-off with US president-elect Donald Trump. In December, Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on goods entering the US from Canada and Mexico to pressure both countries to rein in immigration. Trudeau quickly capitulated, which angered fellow Liberals, including those governing border provinces. 

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Israel helps IDF soldier flee Brazil ahead of potential war crimes arrest 

Late last year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity over their prosecution of the war in Gaza. This means that neither Netanyahu nor Gallant can freely travel to the 125 countries who are parties to the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court without potentially facing arrest and extradition to the Hague. 

Now, a Brussels-based coalition of human rights attorneys are pursuing criminal prosecutions against other Israelis involved in atrocities in Gaza, including individual soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces. The Hind Rajab Foundation is named for a 5-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza in January 2024. At the time, she was trapped in a car surrounded by dead family members awaiting rescue from an ambulance crew. Despite Israel’s claim its forces were not in the area, an investigation by London-based Forensic Architecture determined that Hind and her rescuers were killed by an Israeli tank. A heavy military vehicle also ran over the car Hind was in, partially crushing it.

HRF attorneys and investigators have assembled war crimes dossiers on hundreds of IDF soldiers. Many of the cases HRF has assembled are based on videos uploaded to social media by the soldiers themselves boasting of their crimes in Gaza.

Last week, a judge in Brazil ordered an investigation of an IDF soldier vacationing there after a complaint from HRF. HRF accused the unnamed soldier of “participating in massive demolitions of civilian homes in Gaza during a systematic campaign of destruction”. Before the investigation could be launched, the Israeli government intervened to help the soldier flee Brazil to evade arrest.

It is a tradition among Israelis to travel abroad after completing their service in the IDF. Despite accusations of war crimes in Israel’s prior military offensives in Gaza, Israeli soldiers who participated in those crimes have never faced any fear of arrest when traveling. HRF says it is dedicated to “breaking the cycle of Israeli impunity and honoring the memory of Hind Rajab and all those who have perished in the Gaza genocide”.

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