Trudeau says he’s staying on, despite demands from upset MPs

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed he plans to stay put as Liberal leader past the deadline of next Monday given to him by around two dozen of own his caucus members, triggering some disappointment among some dissidents.

Trudeau was provided that date in a letter read aloud to him during Wednesday’s closed-door caucus meeting, which sources described as an airing of long-simmering grievances about the party’s troubles, leading to 30 Liberal members of Parliament calling on Trudeau to step down.

The letter asked Trudeau to make up his mind about their request by Oct. 28. Less than 24 hours after leaving that meeting, the prime minister delivered his answer.

At an unrelated news conference about slashing the country’s immigration levels, Trudeau was asked whether he plans to stay on as Liberal leader past next Monday. Trudeau responded with a simple “yes.”

Asked to repeat his answer in French, as in often the case because of Canada’s two official languages, Trudeau did so, this time with a succinct: “oui.”

The prime minister said the Liberals will continue to discuss how best to move forward and counter Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre with him at the helm. The Liberals have been badly trailing the Tories in the polls for more than a year.

“We’re going to continue to have great conversations about what is the best way to take on Pierre Poilievre in the next election, but that’ll happen with me as leader going into the next election,” Trudeau said, which earned applause from more than 20 caucus members who were lined up behind him for Thursday’s announcement.

New Brunswick MP Wayne Long, who signed the letter, said he thinks Trudeau needs to take the time needed to “reflect properly” on the calls for him to step down.

“I honestly hoped he’d take the weekend,” he said.

British Columbia MP Patrick Weiler went from being a relatively unknown name in the Liberals’ 153-person caucus to appearing in headlines for being the MP who read Trudeau the letter asking him to step aside during Wednesday’s caucus meeting. One Liberal MP, who spoke to the National Post on the condition of anonymity, confirmed Weiler presented the document.

An MP who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they were “extremely shocked” that Wailer was the one to read Trudeau the letter. The MP said they hadn’t expected that from him, given they had never heard Weiler express unhappiness with Trudeau or the government.

Speaking to reporters, Weiler would not comment on what had been said in caucus but said he was confident Trudeau would reflect some more on the matter.

“The ball is really in the prime minister’s court about what he wants to do, and the case that he’ll be making to Canadians and to caucus about why he’s the best leader for a party and the best leader to lead the country,” he said.

Ontario MP Yvan Baker also expressed hope that Trudeau’s mind is not made up.

“I know him to be someone who is very thoughtful, and I know that he will take the time to reflect on what he heard from caucus members,” he said.

Others are resigning themselves to going through the next election with Trudeau as leader.

While Prince Edward Island MP Sean Casey said Trudeau was ultimately not “swayed” by his MPs’ arguments for him to step down.

“This is a decision that he had every right to make, and he made it. I did my job by voicing what I was hearing from my constituents. Now I’ve got to take my energy and direct it to winning my seat, and not on internal party matters. As far as I’m concerned, it’s closed.”

It is still unclear what the next steps are for those MPs past the Monday deadline.

Speaking in Toronto, Poilievre said he had conversations with “numerous” Liberal MPs, some of which said they were willing to vote non-confidence in Trudeau if the occasion presents itself again. That is an idea that was floated by Liberal MP Ken McDonald, from Newfoundland and Labrador, but was struck down by some of his colleagues.

“I’m not going to send our government into an election. That really doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” said Long.

Casey said that any step taken to put Poilievre in the Prime Minister’s Office is “dumb.”

As it was the case after the loss of the Toronto byelection, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault will be trying to talk with some of the MPs who want to see Trudeau step down to convince them that there is still “a place for them” within the Liberal party.

Guilbeault however would not speculate on any potential consequences for the dissidents, adding he is “not in the ultimatum business.”

“The reason I’m doing this is because I care so much about the party. I want us to be around in the future,” said Long. “I think where we’re heading is not on a good path. You see what happened to Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals in 2018 … they haven’t recovered yet.”

Another MP noted that the Liberals’ new campaign director, Andrew Bevan, worked for Wynne before the province’s worst political defeat in modern history and fears that the federal Liberals are destined to a similar fate.

“We’re going to get slaughtered.”

— With files from Ryan Tumilty

National Post [email protected] [email protected]

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