Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces a serious crisis as a growing number of his own lawmakers demand his resignation and accuse him of mismanaging his relationship with Chrystia Freeland, once his most trusted lieutenant.
Through it all, he still has the job of governing the country – which is not getting any easier.
Eight cabinet ministers have either retired or resigned in recent months. They have left vacancies on Trudeau's front bench as the country grapples with a series of crises, notably US President-elect Donald Trump's threat to impose economic ruin on Canada by imposing punishing tariffs on exports.
Trudeau's temporary solution to the personnel problem has been to give a lot of responsibility to Dominic LeBlanc — he currently serves as finance, public safety and intergovernmental affairs ministers, arguably the three most challenging cabinet portfolios.
Trudeau's former governing partner NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said Trudeau should resign.
The NDP House leader, MP Peter Julien, said Monday that the party would hold a vote of no confidence in the government if Trudeau remained as Liberal leader into the new year.
Julian said if this “liberal debacle” continues into February or March, the NDP could pull government support once and for all. That means a federal election could come this spring — a scary prospect for Trudeau, given that polls suggest he is deeply unpopular and has the support of the Liberal Party. Only 20 percent of voters.
A growing number of Liberal MPs are now publicly calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign as details of the conversation that pushed Chrystia Freeland to quit cabinet emerged.
Trudeau has been tight-lipped publicly about what has been a challenging week for himself and his government.
He has not spoken to the press and canceled a series of year-end interviews scheduled for Wednesday with media outlets including CBC News.
At two Liberal Christmas parties this week, one on Monday for top donors and the other on Tuesday for political staffers, he mentioned the Freeland fracas and the internal movement to oust him.
“Like most families, sometimes we fight during the holidays. But like most families, we find a way through it,” he said Tuesday.
An increasing number of calls for resignations
What began as a secret movement to oust Trudeau in October has spilled over into the open, and a growing number of Liberal lawmakers appear to be comfortable calling for him to resign.
A movement to gather signatures for a letter from disaffected MPs secretly calling on him to resign has exploded into a more concerted campaign to pressure him out of office.
Those liberal MPs are speaking openly to reporters on Parliament Hill and they've gone on political shows like the CBC. Power and politics To pressure Trudeau to go.
About 13 Liberal MPs are on record saying Trudeau should resign and make way for someone else. But there are many Liberal MPs who want him to leave, with MPs pressuring him to resign.
Liberal MP Chad Collins estimated the number of caucus members who want him out at between 40 and 50. If there is a secret ballot on Trudeau's future, Collins told CBC Radio.
Liberal MP Wayne Long said at least a third of the caucus – about 50 MPs – want him to resign immediately, while another third are on the fence. He suggested that a third of the caucus is made up of Trudeau loyalists who think he should be suppressed.
In a letter sent to lawmakers Wednesday and obtained by CBC News, Long said, “Gone are the days of quiet hands and polite whispers behind closed doors, for loyalty at all costs.”
“It's not just about one person — it's about saving our party from a historic defeat,” he wrote. “Let's ask ourselves: Do we want to be silent and let this happen? Silence is complicity.”
Other lawmakers still aren't comfortable going public as anti-Trudeau members of the caucus.
MP Sean Casey, an outspoken anti-Trudeau member of the caucus, said the number of Liberals calling for his resignation would increase after the upcoming cabinet reshuffle.
Sources say some lawmakers have been approached for background checks and interviews before the reshuffle, giving hope that they could be tapped to join the cabinet — the ultimate goal of many elected officials.
“I think it's very likely that some of these people will express those feelings,” Casey said Tuesday.
Awaiting cabinet reshuffle
Prior to Freeland's resignation, this much-anticipated cabinet reshuffle was expected to take place this week.
According to a Liberal source who spoke to Radio-Canada, Freeland was told by the prime minister in a Zoom call on Friday that he would be replaced as finance minister on Tuesday by former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.
But according to sources who spoke to CBC News, Carney did not agree to the move after the prime minister raised it with Freeland. Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity.
Freeland eventually resigned rather than accept a different position, which sources say was a minister without portfolio with some responsibility for Canada-US relations.
His resignation derailed plans for a cabinet reshuffle – but sources said it could be this week to fix the cabinet's vacancies.
Six cabinet ministers – Sean Fraser, Pablo Rodriguez, Marie-Claude Bibeau, Carla Qualtrow, Philomena Tassi and Dan Vandal – have told Trudeau in recent months they will not run in the next election. Rodriguez has already left the cabinet and is living independently.
Trudeau's former jobs minister, MP Randy Boissonault, resigned last month amid claims of tribal ancestry and a scandal over business dealings.
Those departures, along with Freeland's resignation, mean there are now eight cabinet spots that need to be filled in short order.
In addition to LeBlanc's triple-duty portfolio, Anita Anand serves as both Chair of the Treasury Board and Minister of Transportation, and Ginette Petitpas Taylor is Minister of Employment, Official Languages and Veterans Affairs.
With Trudeau's leadership in a precarious position, there is talk of who might replace him if he steps down.
Freeland has decided to stay on as a Liberal MP and run for her Toronto-area seat again in the next election — a sign she could launch her own leadership campaign if Trudeau resigns.
Freeland's resignation and subsequent decision to criticize Trudeau's “expensive political gimmicks” — a thinly veiled reference to the GST holiday and a promised $200 check for working Canadians — could be interpreted as a way for the former finance minister to distance himself from the unpopular prime minister. and present itself as a more moderate political force that sought to take on the spendthrift leader.
Disgruntled MP Long said there are other possible contenders for Trudeau's job besides Freeland: Carney, LeBlanc, Anand and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly.
