Justin Trudeau resigns 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation, saying he will leave office as soon as the ruling Liberal party chooses a new leader.

“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister,” Trudeau told reporters on Monday in Ottawa.

Trudeau took over as Liberal leader in 2013 when the party was in deep trouble and had been reduced to third place in the House of Commons for the first time. 

An increasing number of Liberal parliamentarians, alarmed by a series of gloomy polls, have publicly urged Trudeau to quit. 

The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. 

The prime minister's regularly published schedule for Monday said he would participate virtually in a cabinet committee meeting on Canada-U.S. relations. 

It remains unclear whether Trudeau will leave immediately or stay on as prime minister until a new Liberal leader is selected, the Globe and Mail report added. 

Source: Agencies