Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement Monday that he will step down could pave the way for a less crypto-resistant government there, though provincial governments have a key role in determining future of Canada’s digital assets.
“I intend to resign as the leader of the party, as the prime minister, after the party chooses its new leader,” Trudeau said at a press conference, citing “internal battles” that were disrupting his rule. “I will not be the one to bring liberal standards to the next election.”
Trudeau said he will leave his 11-year post as leader of the Liberal Party and the role of prime minister he has occupied since 2015. Trudeau’s critics in the crypto community have denounced the government’s sanctions on digital wallets in during the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests.
Read more: Canada Punishes 34 Crypto Wallets Tied to Trucker’s ‘Freedom Convoy’
The government’s freezing of crypto accounts has reverberated beyond Canada, and has become a rallying cry for US Republican lawmakers in the 2024 elections. Those politicians used that situation as a prime example of the dangers of allowing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) that could establish government interference in crypto transactions.
The Canadian general election is fast approaching in October, and Pierre Poilievre of the Conservative Party is sitting at a strong advantageaccording to the poll. He also won cross-border appeal to many of US President-elect Donald Trump’s supporters.
Poilievre has been a vocal supporter of digital assets in the past but has recently been relatively quiet on the subject.
In Canada, however, securities are a provincial affair, and because there is no national securities regulator like the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the influence of the next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada – and thus prime minister – or Poilievre will be limited.
Instead, the Canadian Securities Administration (CSA), an umbrella regulatory body made up of provincial regulators, will have more of a say in what’s next for crypto.
Read more: Polymarket Bettors Are Confident Justin Trudeau Will Resign on Friday
A possible opponent to replace Trudeau is Mark Carney (as the race has not yet begun he has not formally announced his candidacy), who was recruited from the Bank of Canada, Carney is a former governor of the Bank of England, where he had much to say about crypto and stablecoins.
“Tokens at the center of programmable networks need to remain that way, with token value,” he said in a 2021 lecture at the Bank of International Settlements.
Carney also said that highly regulated stablecoins are the only way for them to be successful, and, if strictly regulated, “what differentiates them from CBDCs?”
