Dozens of MPs from Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party now agree that Canada’s embattled prime minister must step down after the disastrous resignation of his deputy last week – a sign that he has completely lost the support of key loyalists.
Several Canadian media outlets, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Toronto Star, reported over the weekend that 51 Ontario Liberal MPs met and collectively agreed that Trudeau’s time as head of government was up.
There are a total of 75 Liberal MPs from this most populous province of Canada, which represents the party’s main base of support, indicating that the core of the Liberals has abandoned Trudeau.
Canada’s public broadcaster also reported that 21 Liberal MPs have publicly called on Trudeau to resign after Chrystia Freeland, his deputy prime minister and finance minister, abruptly resigned on December 16.
Freeland announced her resignation in a letter to Trudeau, which was posted on social media, in which she criticized the prime minister for not sufficiently resisting Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs on Canada, which could destroy the economy.
She warned of the dangers of Trump’s economic nationalism under the slogan “America First”. She stated that Canada must “preserve fiscal reserves today” in order to have funds for “the coming tariff war”.
Her public rejection of the prime minister, after being a key member of his team for over a decade, brought chaos to Ottawa. The fallout led to the New Democratic Party (NDP) withdrawing its support for the prime minister, which allowed the Liberals to rule a minority government.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced Friday that his party will oust Trudeau when the House of Commons reconvenes in January after the holidays, likely triggering a spring election if the NDP sticks to that plan.
Trump mocked Trudeau last week for the turmoil, calling him “the governor,” referring to Canada as the 51st U.S. state and taking credit for Canada’s new border security plan, which appears to have been announced to counter Trump’s the threat of tariffs.
None of the Ontario MPs were in favor of keeping Trudeau as Liberal leader in the next election, the Star reported. Even Rep. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, the new housing minister in Trudeau’s cabinet reshuffle on Friday, told the Star that the decision on Trudeau’s stay “depends” on who is available to take over the leadership.
However, many at the virtual meeting said Trudeau should be given space and time to make his own decision and resign on his own terms, the Star reported.
Quebec Liberal MP Anthony Housefather told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the “vast majority” of fellow MPs he’s spoken to believe Trudeau should resign, “whether they’ve come out publicly or not.”
Housefather said there was a fear that Trudeau could become “the main theme of the election” and almost certainly guarantee the defeat of the Liberals in the next election.
If an election is called, sources told the Guardian last week that Freeland was seen as a possible contender for the Liberal leadership, and her statement to stay in politics, set out in her resignation letter, is a sign she could be preparing to run.
(Vijesti.ba)
