Last week, Liberal MP Ken MacDonald walked back comments suggesting he wanted the Liberal Party to consider reviewing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership.
But even if a significant number of Liberal MPs wanted such a review, there is no formal way to make it happen, and it cannot happen while Prime Minister Trudeau is in office.
The Liberal Party does not have a system for examining leaders built into its party constitution. This will allow for a “Leader Support” vote, where registered Liberal members can vote on whether they still support the current leader.
Favor votes are taken by each riding association and each riding is equally weighted with 100 points. A leader needs 50 percent of the national points to remain.
However, such a vote will only take place after the party loses the general election. The Conservative Party constitution similarly stipulates that a vote for leadership will only take place if the current leader lost the previous election.
Dalhousie University political science professor Lori Turnbull said it’s not part of Canada’s “political culture” to oust leaders before they lose an election.
“If the whole party elected you, it’s very difficult for the whole party to come together and say we don’t need you anymore,” she said. “There is no formal mechanism for that unless you are voted out.”
Strategy Corp vice-president and former Liberal campaign strategist Andrew Steele said the party constitution would need to be amended to force a leadership review at the party’s next annual general meeting.
No such general meeting is expected to be held until 2025, meaning any leadership review would need to happen “just before an election,” he said.
”[It] “It would be basically a suicidal time to try to do something like that,” he said.
Mr Turnbull and Mr Steele said other parliamentary parties were more willing to abandon leaders mid-commitment.
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The Australian Labor Party changed leadership twice during its tenure in government, from Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard, then back to Rudd in 2019. 3 years space.
Steele said these congressional caucuses generally have more influence over party leadership.
“Caucuses need to have a role, but in Canada that role is very weak, persuasion at best,” he said.
Mr Turnbull agreed. “For us, the expectation is unity around a leader,” she said.
The reform law was intended to give more powers to the party caucuses.
In 2015, Congress passed a bill aimed at making party leaders more accountable to caucus members.
The reform bill proposed by Conservative MP Michael Chong would allow MPs to review and remove party leaders. Under the law, a vote would be triggered if 20% of the party’s caucus signed a petition calling for leadership review. If a majority of MPs vote against the leader, the MP will be forced to resign.
However, the reform law stipulates that political parties must vote on whether to adopt either measure after a general election. Only the Conservative Party does so. The party used the reform law to expel Erin O’Toole From Leadership in 2022.
Prime Minister Turnbull said the Liberal Party could have sent the wrong signal if it had chosen to adopt the law’s leadership vetting mechanism after winning the 2021 election.
“If the Liberal Party had won the election and still wanted to review leadership, it would have been a bit confusing,” she says.
“I can’t imagine a scenario where a party would invoke it as just a backup plan.”
Steele suggested the Liberals might also object to having a mechanism to overthrow elected leaders at the party’s grassroots.
“There’s also probably a question of who decides. Will it be decided by 150 people behind closed doors or by the hundreds of thousands of people who make up the Liberal Party?” he said.
Steele also suggested that Trudeau likely still has strong support among grassroots Liberals, despite the Liberals losing support in the polls.
“The party’s grass roots have not lost faith in Prime Minister Trudeau and do not have an exciting alternative,” he said.
Ministers are focused on governing after Liberal MP Ken MacDonald told reporters there was “almost hatred” towards Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and called for an overhaul of the party’s leadership. said. The Newfoundland MP later clarified, saying he was not calling for an overhaul of leadership and was supporting the premier.
When asked about MacDonald’s initial comments last week, many Liberal MPs said it was ultimately up to Trudeau to decide whether to run again.
“It really depends on his choice. If he thinks he has the energy and ability to move forward, I think he has the right to make that choice,” said Assemblyman Cody Blois.
“He’s won three elections in a row,” Ontario MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said. If he’s ready for the next challenge, he’s ready to try again.”
Prime Minister Trudeau made the following statement: I intend to remain as a leader.. Prime Minister Turnbull said it would take comments from multiple backbenchers to make him reconsider.
“Even if there are mechanisms available, the fact that there are complaints doesn’t mean he can’t be a leader. It’s just that there are people who are complaining,” she says.
“I think there needs to be a significant, coordinated and organized part of the party that is willing to put something on the line for this.”
