Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey is stepping down, ending his nearly five-year term in office.
Furey announced his resignation during a Feb. 25 press conference in St. John’s, less than one week after Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King announced his retirement from politics.
Furey said he would continue to serve as premier until a successor is appointed, adding that his resolve to avoid becoming a “career politician” path has never changed.
He said the time has come to focus on his family and return to his role as an orthopedic surgeon.
“This job has been like one five-year-long shift. You go to bed with it on your mind and it’s your wake-up call every single morning,” he said.
“It is with a heart full of pride and hard-earned confidence in the future of Newfoundland and Labrador, that I must now move on.”
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He said he could not commit to another full term in office, with a provincial election scheduled to take place in November. He said he has asked the Liberal party leadership to begin the campaign to find his replacement.
Furey became premier in August of 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, after winning the Liberal leadership in the wake of former Premier Dwight Ball’s resignation. He triumphed in the Humber-Gros Morne byelection in October of that year, successfully capturing Ball’s former seat.
He won a slim majority during 2021’s pandemic election that saw voting postponed due to a spike in COVID-19 cases one week prior to the election day. Furey’s Liberals claimed 22 of the legislature’s 40 seats.
Aside from navigating the pandemic, the potential trade war with the United States will be one of the most serious concerns the province and country will face, Furey said.
“I wish I could tell you this is a short-term concern,” he said. “Unfortunately it’s the reality of not just the next four weeks or four months, but four years. But we have survived much worse.”
Furey is one of several Canadian premiers who has made trips south of the border to meet with his American counterparts to discuss the impact tariffs will have on both countries.
He said earlier this month that U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about wanting Canada to merge with the United States should be taken seriously.
“Make no mistake, President Trump isn’t joking when he says Canada should abandon its nationhood and become the 51st state,” Furey said in a Feb. 11 social media post.
Despite the threat of 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods, which could come next week if Trump isn’t satisfied with Canada’s efforts to clamp down on cross-border fentanyl trafficking, Furey said the province is in a good position to ride out the potential storm.
“The energy we have is the energy the world needs right now,” he said during his press conference. “And that will only get stronger moving forward.”
Furey said he is leaving his post as premier having achieved one of his main objectives: securing a new deal with Quebec concerning the hydroelectricity generated from Churchill Falls. Furey also noted several other initiatives his government embarked on, including dealing with population decline, tackling the debt, and improving health care.
“Every single decision was made for you, and you alone. Every Newfoundlander and Labradorian,” he said. “For the collective of who we are, and the possibility of who we could be.”
