Justin Trudeau’s surprise announcement that he and his wife were separating, just a week after a broad cabinet reshuffle, underscores the Canadian prime minister’s focus and intent to lead the Liberal Party into a fourth election victory, despite sagging opinion polls, pollsters and insiders said.
On Wednesday, Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau unexpectedly announced their separation, likely marking the end of their 18-year-long high profile marriage. The separation is one of Trudeau’s biggest personal crises, although insiders and political commentators said he wants to ride out the aftershocks.
“He’s running again,” said a source close to Trudeau, when asked whether the news of the separation might be prompting second thoughts. The source was not authorized to speak about the matter publicly.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau are separating after 18 years of marriage.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Trudeau said on Instagram that the couple took the decision after “many meaningful and difficult conversations.” His office said the two had signed a legal agreement and the couple would focus on raising their children. The family will go on vacation together next week.
Trudeau, 51, has always stressed the importance of family, and he and his wife were seen on campaign trails during elections, with his children by his side after three successive wins starting in 2015.
While the next election is only due by October 2025, Trudeau’s campaign by all accounts will look different.
“The shuffle was a political clearing of the decks and this is a sort of personal clearing of the decks … he seems determined to stay on as leader of the Liberal Party,” said Roderick Phillips, history professor at Ottawa’s Carleton University.
Surveys of public opinion show voters are starting to tire of Trudeau, and last week’s cabinet reshuffle was designed to build up his core economic team in response to cost-of-living challenges that Canadians have grappled with for more than two years.
