Liberals will meet next week as pressure mounts for Trudeau to resign

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OTTAWA — A special meeting of the national Liberal caucus has been called for Wednesday, as pressure mounts on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to say whether he plans to step down.

National Liberal caucus chair Brenda Shanahan notified MPs of the special meeting late Friday. It has been scheduled to last nearly all day and includes times for regional caucuses to meet, according to two sources.

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It followed a meeting that had been scheduled with regional caucus chairs earlier in the day on Friday, where they were set to discuss calls to hold a meeting with all Liberal MPs, which some wanted to allow the caucus to discuss next steps, including whether it could be involved in appointing an interim leader.

The party has found itself in crisis since former finance minister Chrystia Freeland’s sudden resignation from Trudeau’s cabinet on Dec. 16, resulting in the heaviest round of calls yet for the prime minister to resign, including from several of his regional caucuses.

A growing number of Liberal MPs from across the county say it is time for Trudeau to go, with some growing impatient at the prime minister’s silence since Freeland’s resignation.

Winnipeg MP Ben Carr became the latest to publicly call for a “change in leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada,” posting a statement on the platform X.

“I do not arrive at this decision easily, nor do I make it happily. Far from it. It is the culmination of daily conversations with constituents, supporters, mentors, friends and colleagues over a prolonged period, out of which has emerged a clear belief that is it time for change,” Carr wrote in a letter shared on Friday.

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“I wrestled deeply with this decision. In part, this is because I felt somehow as though I would be betraying my party, leader and colleagues. As time has passed however, and the further I reflected on the conversation I have had those with those I represent, I concluded that it is in fact the opposite, which is true.”

Trudeau spent Friday back in Ottawa after spending the holidays in British Columbia with his family. He chaired a special meeting of the cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations and signed a book of condolences for former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who recently died.

He has yet to publicly address the calls he’s facing to resign. The last time he faced his MPs was during an emergency meeting called the day Freeland resigned, where caucus members left with the impression he would be taking time to reflect on his future.

The House of Commons is not set to resume until Jan. 27. It is typical that the government and opposition MPs meet to plot out their separate strategies several days before Parliament resumes.

Some Liberal MPs say they want Trudeau to ask Governor General Mary Simon to prorogue Parliament to allow time for the Liberal party to hold a leadership race in the event that Trudeau resigns.

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All opposition parties, including the federal NDP, say they are prepared to vote non-confidence in Trudeau’s government once the House of Commons returns, leaving the Liberals with no path to avoid being plunged into an election.

National Post
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