At a virtual meeting of the Ontario Liberal caucus on Saturday morning, more than 50 Liberal MPs came to a consensus that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to step down as party leader, multiple sources told CBC News.
CBC News is not naming the MPs so that they could speak freely about private discussions.
The prime minister is believed to be reflecting on his political future after Monday’s dramatic resignation from cabinet by Chrystia Freeland. Her pointed, public departure letter prompted a fresh wave of Liberal MPs to call for the prime minister to go.
As the Saturday meeting concluded, Ontario caucus chair Michael Coteau was tasked with communicating to Trudeau and the Prime Minister’s Office that he has to resign.
MPs offered different perspectives about how long it was appropriate to let Trudeau reflect on his future before facing further pressure, according to sources. MPs who spoke confidentially to CBC News said one participant raised the question of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s impending inauguration and the potential for “chaos” if the prime minister stepped aside as Trump was coming into office.
One MP who spoke to CBC News said no formal mechanism exists within the Ontario caucus to force a chair to deliver such a message to Trudeau but that members trust Coteau to listen to their wishes.
The MP said nobody fixed a deadline for Coteau to communicate with Trudeau, but they hoped it would happen soon.
Sources said 51 MPs were on the call, a majority of the Ontario caucus’s 75 members.
Freeland present but silent at meeting: sources
Sources told CBC News that Freeland was on Saturday’s call but said nothing as the future of the party’s leadership was debated.
Hours before she was supposed to deliver the 2024 fall economic statement on Monday, Freeland posted her resignation letter on social media. She wrote that she and the prime minister had been at odds for weeks and warned him against “costly political gimmicks” that would hurt the country and Canadians’ confidence in the Liberals amid a potential tariff war with the United States.
Freeland has not publicly announced any attempt at dislodging Trudeau, but since Monday, two Liberal MPs — Sean Casey, who represents Charlottetown, and Chandra Arya, whose Nepean riding encompasses part of Ottawa — have said they would publicly support a Freeland leadership bid.
“Chrystia Freeland’s resignation marked a pivotal shift,” Arya wrote in a letter to Trudeau that he made public on Friday, just days after he had defended the prime minister staying on during an interview on CBC’s The National.
“While I was disappointed by the timing of her announcement, I must acknowledge her exceptional political acumen. Whether by design or circumstance, she has emerged as a credible and stable alternative to your leadership.”
Reached for comment by CBC News about the conversation, one Ontario Liberal MP offered some defence of the prime minister. Julie Dzerowicz, who represents the Toronto riding of Davenport, said Trudeau has been listening to caucus.
She also said whoever is speaking about any kind of consensus at the meeting is breaching caucus confidentiality.
Scarborough Centre MP Salma Zahid said there was agreement that recent events have raised everyone’s level of concern, but she would not delve into details, citing caucus confidentiality.
“People don’t really know what are options and what are timelines,” she said.
On her leader’s future, Zahid would only say, “Let’s see what happens and when it happens,” adding that she has started to look for a campaign office in anticipation of next year’s election taking place sooner rather than later.
