Longtime Liberal MP Wayne Long says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should give more weight to the views of his backbenchers in determining his future leading the Party, rather than relying on those in his immediate orbit.
“Seriously, get away from your inner circle,” Long told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday. “I don’t want to name names, but get away from people, because obviously, prime ministers are somewhat insulated.”
Those sources also told CTV News at least two dozen MPs told Trudeau they’d like him to step aside during the meeting, over the course of the first ninety minutes.
But in a press conference fewer than 18 hours later, Trudeau was adamant he’s running again, a statement which caught some in his caucus, including Long, by surprise.
“I think we had hoped for serious reflection,” he told Kapelos. “Reflection in 18 hours tells me the Prime Minister, with respect, already had his mind made up.”
If the MPs are serious about this they should leave the party, sit as independents, and vote against the Government on a confidence motion.
If Trudeau is so bad it is time to nut up or shut up.
Politics doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Everybody not with them, including Jagmeet Singh, recognize that the Conservative party will be a disaster for Canada. It will put the lives of real people at risk. That’s why ideological moves like what you’re describing hasn’t happened. Politics affects real people in the real world.
All this letter did is give the MPs something for their constituents to demonstrate “at least I tried”. This is nothing but MPs desperately clinging to their jobs, not desperately trying to stop the Conservative party from winning the next election.
If they cared about the latter they would be working on things that would make problems in Canada better, which is the Conservatives whole “platform”, not wasting time trying to oust the PM.
They’re Canadian politicians. Their entire careers have been built in a world where everyone who matters thinks that party loyalty is super important, or at least acts as if they believe it. They’re trying to do what they think is best for the Liberal party.
What is best for the party is using their time to pass legislation that benefits Canadians enough to make them want to vote Liberal again.
Anyone who thinks this is all about the PM is drinking what Pierre is selling. If the Liberals showed real results on the files that actually matter to the people of Canada, Pierre wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.
Their goal is serving their constituents priorities, primary of which is to not let PP win the next election. They can’t see Trudeau defeating PP. This is why they want him gone. How would bringing down the government help keeping PP out?
It would seem, based on polling data, that a majority are drinking the Conservative kool-aid and support Pierre winning the next election. Which runs contrary to your main point.
I never said “bringing down the Government” would help keep Pierre out. I said if the Liberal MPs actually felt strongly they would take strong actions instead of wasting everyone else’s time and handing Pierre ammunition to use against the Liberal party as a whole.
If Pierre’s history in Canadian politics cannot stop the fucker, a random new Liberal leader won’t do it either.
Well you said they should vote against the government in a confidence vote. I assume their vote could bring down the government. I haven’t run the numbers. That’s all I went with.
They’re Liberals - they know their chance of reelection depends on the party. If they leave and sit as independents, they almost definitely won’t keep their seat.
They need to stop wasting time on party politics.
If they want to keep their jobs they should work on making their constituents happy enough to elect them again.
I agree on principle.
The received wisdom, however, is that most voters tend to vote for party and leader before they vote for their local representative. As evidence, see how few independent MPs and MPPs there are.
But yeah, a world where voters and representatives focused on their local riding and what’s best for that would be better.