PM Trudeau appears to have reached a decision about his future, but he’s not yet prepared to announce it, say some Liberal MPs

Trudeauver status:

If there is a blizzard he is going to resign; if there is an oddly cinematic tropical storm he is going to win.

Archived version: https://archive.fo/6Aq7c.

Summary:

# Unlike the Oct. 23 national Liberal caucus meeting, at Monday’s national caucus meeting, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ‘absorbed the message’ from MPs that it’s time to move on, a Liberal MP told The Hill Times.

>The political pressure is increasing on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down after Chrystia Freeland resigned as finance minister and deputy prime minister Monday morning only hours before she was supposed to deliver the government’s fall economic update, but after Monday evening’s emergency Liberal national caucus meeting, Liberal MPs say they aren’t sure what Trudeau’s next move will be.

>Some Liberal MPs said the prime minister appeared to have decided on his future plans, but is not yet prepared to announce them, with an update expected in the coming days.

>“This time, he absorbed the message,” said one MP who spoke on not for attribution basis because caucus meetings are always confidential. “It wasn’t like before when he weathered the message.”

>**During the Oct. 23 caucus meeting, approximately two dozen MPs urged Trudeau to step down. The [Dec. 16th] emergency caucus meeting was held after Freeland’s (University-Rosedale, Ont.) bombshell resignation. Over the course of the 90-minute meeting, about 20 MPs spoke, with most calling for Trudeau’s resignation. Sources said that while some MPs were more direct, this time even some parliamentary secretaries voiced their concerns about Trudeau’s leadership. Freeland also attended the meeting and received a standing ovation from her caucus colleagues.**

>Liberal MPs told The Hill Times that Trudeau urged MPs not to publicly talk about this subject and assured them that he has received their message. However, he did not specify what decision he would make or when he would announce it.

>**“I have heard very clearly, you don’t need to go outside and talk about this. I have heard everything,” a Liberal MP told The Hill Times, paraphrasing Trudeau’s remarks inside caucus. “It was absorbed this time, it wasn’t weathered.”**

>MPs said that it appears to them that he has decided to leave but wants to take a few days or weeks to reflect and decide the details of his departure.

>“The sentiment was very similar . This time the prime minister clearly acknowledged and understood,” said a second Liberal source. “A lot of new people spoke who had not spoken before. The impression is that he’s mentally made a decision. He’s thinking through it, working through it. He’s focusing on process and moving forward and what it means in terms of how things will develop very quickly.”

>After the caucus meeting, most Liberal MPs declined to comment. But, Liberal MP Chad Collins (Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, Ont.) told reporters that Trudeau should step down.

>**The Toronto Star, meanwhile, reported that 45 Liberal MP had signed the letter asking for the prime minister to resign, up from 24, according to sources.**

>[…]

>“We fear what a ‘Make Canada Great Again’ agenda from Mr. Poilievre means to our constituents, and I think the only path forward for us is to choose a new leader, and to present a new plan to Canadians with a different vision,” Collins said.

>Some, however, expressed their support for Trudeau.

>”We know that President Trump is coming into office on the 20th of January,” Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne (Saint Maurice-Champlain, Que.) told reporters after the caucus meeting. “It is incumbent upon us, we owe it to Canadians, we owe it to our families, and to our friends, and everyone in Canada to be the best prepared, to make sure that we have everything lined up to make sure that we can stand up for Canada.”

>A third Liberal MP observed that Trudeau appeared to carefully consider his MPs’ remarks, both through his words and body language. However, this MP noted that they did not sense the prime minister had reached any definitive decision.

>Meanwhile, Ottawa was thrust into political turmoil on Monday morning after Freeland resigned. In her letter to Prime Minister Trudeau’s (Papineau, Que.), which she posted on X, at 9:07 a.m., Freeland, who has been Trudeau’s top cabinet minister for nine years and who served as finance minister since August 2020, criticized the government’s financial decisions in a harsh language. Freeland said her resignation was the “only honest and viable path” for her after Trudeau asked her to step down as finance minister on Friday, Dec. 13, and offered her another cabinet post, she wrote.

>In her letter, Freeland wrote that she and the prime minister had been “at odds about the best path forward” for Canada in recent weeks. “To be effective, a minister must speak on behalf of the prime minister and with his full confidence. In making your decision, you made clear that I no longer credibly enjoy that confidence and possess the authority that comes with it,” Freeland wrote.

>The former minister confirmed that she will remain as an MP for Toronto and will run again in the next federal election. Freeland warned that Canada faces a “grave challenge” with the incoming Trump administration’s “policy of aggressive economic nationalism,” citing Trump’s threat of 25 per cent tariffs.

>[…]

>Treasury Board President Anita Anand (Oakville, Ont.), meanwhile, called Freeland a “good friend” who she worked with closely in her files. Anand told reporters that the news of Freeland’s departure hit her “really hard,” as she went into cabinet meeting.

>To fill in the hole suddenly left by Freeland, Trudeau tapped longtime Liberal MP and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc (Beauséjour, N.B.) Monday in the late afternoon. LeBlanc will add the finance portfolio to his ever growing roster of files, which includes public safety, democratic institutions, intergovernmental affairs, and the Canada-U.S. Cabinet Committee.

>[…]

>Government sources told The Hill Times that LeBlanc will temporarily retain his public safety and democratic institutions positions. But these roles are expected to be reassigned during a cabinet shuffle that was initially anticipated to take place this week or next month. LeBlanc did not assume the role of deputy prime minister.

>[…]

>NDP House Leader Peter Julian (New Westminster-Burnaby, B.C.) called it a “chaotic day,” but he echoed the Conservative calls for a debate on the fall economic statement. NDP MP Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre, Ont.) echoed that view, saying: “I find it rather gormless that they came into this house, dropped the report, and then left without an opportunity for us to debate here today.”

>Speaking to reporters before Question Period, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh (Burnaby South, B.C.) said, “Justin Trudeau has to go, he has to resign.” However, when pressed, he did not clarify whether he would vote for a motion of non-confidence to bring down the Liberal government, and said that “all options are on the table.”

>Trudeau did not attend the Question Period, but did attend LeBlanc’s swearing-in.

No rush, my guy