Liberal MP Ken MacDonald says his party believes it’s time to consider a review of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership.
The Newfoundland MP never said Trudeau should resign. He told Radio-Canada he hopes some sort of review will be organized within the party. Considerations would allow party members to express their opinions freely and allow potential rivals to the party leadership to come forward.
“As a party, let’s clear the air. If people are still keen to support the leadership they have now, that’s fine. But at least an opportunity for people to have a say in what they think about the direction the party is going. Please give us,” he said. .
Mr McDonald was first elected in 2015 when the Liberal Party came to power. He said Trudeau was largely responsible for his victory.
“He was the one who won the election in 2015. He came to power,” he said. “He convinced Canadians it was time to change parties and form a different government.”
But the Avalon MP said he now wonders if the Liberal leader is doing his party more harm than good.
“I think Atlantic Canada is pretty much the same as the rest of Canada. There’s a lot of hatred out there for Prime Minister Trudeau right now,” he said.
This is not the first time Mr McDonald has caused controversy within the Liberal Party.Last fall he voted in favor of the Conservative Party’s motion Abolish the carbon pricing system, one of the Trudeau government’s flagship policies.
Around that time, he said he began receiving a number of calls from the Liberal Party, including people in the prime minister’s office, urging him to go along.
“Various ministers have contacted me. The whip has met with me on this matter,” he said. “The pressure was intense, but I knew the people in my riding wanted me to do it, so I was determined to do it.”
“I was asked to cross the floor,” Avalon Liberal MP Ken McDonald, who twice voted with the Conservatives against the federal carbon tax, told Power & Politics on Friday. “Right now, I’m a Liberal and I’m going to stay a Liberal.” Mr. MacDonald said he would suspend the carbon tax on home heating fuel oil for three years, making it more affordable for rural Canadians to heat their homes. He praised the announcement to help people switch to pumps.
MacDonald argues that the carbon tax should not apply to rural voters like his passenger, who have few means of transportation other than their own cars.
“Given Newfoundland’s population, I don’t think we need to change our behavior because we’re not large enough or concentrated enough to cause a climate change problem. “It’s not a crowded area. It’s a densely populated area. That’s the problem,” he said.
“People think it’s probably time for a change.”
MacDonald and other Atlantic Liberal MPs called on the government to suspend the carbon tax on heating oil, which is commonly used in Atlantic Canada.
In that October announcement, Prime Minister Trudeau also promised more generous subsidies for the purchase of heat pumps.
Mr Macdonald said the exemption was a step in the right direction but not enough to improve the prime minister’s image locally.
“People probably think it’s time for a change,” he says. “Every leader and every political party has a shelf life. Ours is here.”
The Atlantic states have favored the Liberal Party in the past few elections. The party currently holds 24 of the 32 seats in the region. In Trudeau’s first election in 2015, all MPs in the region were Liberals.
but Latest public opinion poll by Abacus Data The Conservatives have a 12 point lead in this region.
Mr McDonald said the Liberal Party was likely to lose seats in his state in the next election.
“My biggest fear is that the government will be lost and someone else will take power,” he said.
McDonald’s voters vent their frustrations
Mr McDonald said he had heard from voters that the party would be better off with new leadership in the next election.
At Tiny’s Bar and Grill restaurant in Paradise, New Jersey, Janet Dyck told Radio-Canada that she had voted Liberal in the past, but was planning to vote Conservative in the next election. He said he was thinking about it.
“I can’t accept Justin Trudeau anymore,” she said. She said she thinks the Liberal leadership “doesn’t listen to people.”
“He has charisma…but he’s annoying to me,” she said.
In a year-end interview with CBC News’ chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Conservative leader Pierre Poièvre reflected on the public’s concerns about affordability and said he wanted to do “really effective work.” ” he said.
Trudy Quinlan, who was sitting across from Dike, described herself as a “to-the-point” liberal. Although she plans to vote for the Liberal candidate in the next election, she said she has expressed her doubts about Trudeau.
“Everyone has a time to leave, and it’s time for him to leave too, because people are starting to get tired of him,” she said.
The restaurant’s chef, Trevor Whelan-King, didn’t mince words about the Liberal leader.
“He’s very arrogant. I don’t like his political style.” “He doesn’t seem to care about people.”
Mr Whelan-King cited the rising cost of living as one of his main concerns.
Mr McDonald said he felt Conservative Leader Pierre Poièvre’s message on affordability was resonating in some parts of the region.
“He’s talking about affordability and making life more affordable for Canadians. That’s what Canadians want to hear,” he said.
Mr McDonald said he had not yet decided whether to run in the next election and expected it to be a tough fight for the Liberal Party.
“I think the next election is probably going to be one of the most difficult elections this country has had in a long time,” he said.
The MP said he did not completely “disparage” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, describing him as a “smart politician” who did well in the election campaign, but that the leadership overhaul has caused interest in the Liberal Party. He said there is a possibility that it could flare up again.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sat down with CBC News’ chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton for a year-end interview.
