Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday he will step down from his job once the Liberals find someone to replace him. Now, the leadership race is on, with all sorts of politicians in the Liberal caucus and beyond feeling out whether they’ve got a shot to succeed Trudeau.

The backdrop to all of this is U.S. president-elect Donald Trump claiming he’ll use economic force to absorb Canada as a new American state. On today’s episode, a top leadership contender discusses why she’s considering a leadership bid.

Then, a White House correspondent for the New York Times explains why China and Russia are watching the brewing fight between Canada and the United States and shares his thoughts on how Canadian officials can respond to Trump’s ongoing threats.

Finally, Trudeau’s planned resignation will cap off a long tenure that transformed Canada on several fronts. How big were those transformations? Catherine Cullen speaks to experts and analysts from several areas about Trudeau’s legacy and whether his policies will outlast his time in office.

This episode features the voices of:

• Christy Clark, former B.C. premier
• David E. Sanger, New York Times correspondent and author of New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West
• Paul McCarthy, President of the Cannabis Council of Canada
• Perry Bellegarde, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations
• Lisa Young, political science professor at the University of Calgary
• Sahir Khan, vice-president of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa
• Catherine Abreu, director of the International Climate Politics Hub
• Thomas Juneau, former analyst at the Department of National Defence
• Mireille Paquet, director of the Institute for Research on Migration and Society at Concordia University
• Nicole Myers, criminologist at Queen’s University

This week, The House brings you some of the most compelling interviews from our coverage of immigration issues in Canada — from ministers who’ve overseen major policy changes to experts who say Ottawa’s recent clampdown will shake up the Canadian economy and post-secondary institutions. Plus, rare access to Toronto’s immigration holding centre, where migrants are locked up while waiting to hear if they’ll be deported.

This episode features the voices of:

• Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute
• Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration
• Jason Kenney, former Conservative immigration minister
• Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business
• Catherine Connelly, McMaster University professor
• Meti Basiri, CEO and co-founder of ApplyBoard
• Pari Johnston, president and CEO of Colleges and Institutes Canada
• Sajjad Bhatti, Canada Border Services Agency
• Minley Lloyd, Canada Border Services Agency

It ended with a shocking cabinet resignation — but 2024 was packed with plenty more political ups and downs. How many headlines do you remember? Listen along and test your smarts as host Catherine Cullen quizzes three keen Parliament Hill watchers who battle it out in The House's annual showdown, featuring Brian Platt of Bloomberg News, Nojoud Al Mallees of The Canadian Press, J.P. Tasker from CBC’s Parliamentary Bureau — and a very special American media guest.