Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign, with a growing number of Liberal MPs joining calls for his resignation after a chaotic week for their party.
More than 50 of Ontario’s 75 Liberal MPs held an hour-long meeting Saturday to discuss their party’s leadership, Global News has learned.
At the caucus meeting, few MPs spoke in favor of Trudeau continuing his leadership, but many spoke about whether he should leave, saying his brand has now become “toxic.”
Details of the Ontario caucus meeting were first reported by The Toronto Star and CBC News and those details have largely been confirmed by Global News, which also spoke to MPs who were present.
Michael Coteau, president of the Ontario Liberal caucus, was in charge of communicating the content of the meeting to Trudeau in the hope that he would make a quick decision to leave.
Coteau did not respond to requests for comment Sunday.
Additionally, several Ontario Liberals, including Yasir Naqvi, Shafqat Ali and Majid Jowhari, have spoken out in support of Trudeau late last week. None of those MPs responded to requests for comment on Sunday.
Among those who attended Saturday’s meeting was Chandra Arya, who represents Nepean in Ottawa.
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On Friday, Arya released a letter he wrote to Trudeau, asking him to “step aside immediately as leader of the Liberal caucus.”
“While I align myself as a fiscally center-right liberal and have often disagreed with his left-wing positions, I have consistently supported him since last summer, even as some of our colleagues called for his resignation.” Arya wrote in the letter dated December 20 and shared on X.
“However, today it has become clear that he no longer has the confidence of the House of Commons. “I am now reasonably sure that the majority of the liberal group no longer supports his leadership.”
In an interview with Global News on Sunday, Arya did not reveal what happened at Saturday’s meeting, but said it reconfirmed what he wrote in his letter.
He said that over the past 48 to 72 hours, the number of Liberal MPs who have joined calls for Trudeau to resign has “started to increase.”
“In my opinion, I think the prime minister is seriously considering it,” Arya said.
“The question is when; that is the key question now, whether to do it now.”
Trudeau was in Ottawa on Sunday. His public itinerary indicated he had no public events, but his office did not respond to requests for comment or about his activities.
With the new Trump administration taking office on January 20, Arya said “time is of the essence” in choosing a new party leader.
Chrystia Freeland, who resigned from the Liberal cabinet on Monday, is a “credible and stable” replacement, according to Arya.
“Chrystia Freeland’s resignation marked a fundamental change. While I was disappointed in the timing of your announcement, I must acknowledge your exceptional political acumen,” Arya wrote in her letter.
A source close to Freeland said calls for her to take over were “going a long way” at the moment. The source said he is at home in Toronto with his family for the holidays.
Freeland, however, joined the Ontario caucus meeting on Saturday, although she did not speak during the meeting.
Trudeau’s leadership has been on shaky ground for months, but became shakier on Monday after Freeland resigned from cabinet, plunging the government into chaos.
Since then, a growing number of Liberal MPs have publicly called on Trudeau to step aside and make way for a new Liberal leader ahead of a likely early election.
One of those MPs is Anthony Housefather of Montreal, who said the “vast majority” of caucus colleagues he has spoken to feel Trudeau should resign.
In an interview with Mercedes Stephenson that aired on Sunday The west block Housefather said “the significant majority of MPs I’m speaking to” believe Trudeau “has no path to remain” as Liberal leader.
A recent Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News also shows a drop in the popularity of Trudeau and the Liberals.
Nearly three-quarters of Canadians said in the Ipsos poll released Friday that Trudeau should resign, while support for the Liberals is at a near-record low of just 20 per cent.
– with files from Sean Boynton of Global News
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