Liberal MP Wayne Long sent an email to his caucus calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down as leader after the party suffered losses earlier this week in Toronto-area constituencies that have been Liberal strongholds for decades.
The New Brunswick member is the first Liberal MP to publicly call for Trudeau’s resignation since his stunning upset victory in the Toronto-St. Paul by-election on Tuesday.
“The future of our party and the interest of our country require new leadership and a new direction,” Long wrote in the email obtained by CBC News.
“Voters have made it loud and clear that they want change, and I agree.”
The Member of Parliament for St John Rothesay, who has spoken out against the Government in the past, will not stand again at the next election.
New Brunswick Liberal MP Wayne Long has circulated an email to his caucus calling for Justin Trudeau to step down as leader following the party’s shocking defeat in the recent by-election in Toronto. This comes after former cabinet minister Catherine McKenna issued a statement to CBC News calling for “new energy and new leadership.”
Ken MacDonald, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Newfoundland and Labrador, responded to the email, saying, “Well said!”
He later told CBC News that he liked what Long had to say but was not calling for Trudeau to resign.
The Avalon member, who twice voted against his party on the carbon tax, said it was a decision the prime minister should make alone, but stressed the need for an urgent face-to-face meeting with Trudeau.
Kingston MP Mark Gerretsen called on council members to stop replying to all, according to a source who has seen the email exchange.
Trudeau has not taken questions from reporters since the by-election and has insisted he intends to remain in his position as party leader.
“My entire team and I have much more hard work to do to deliver tangible, real progress that Canadians can see and feel,” he said in a media statement this week.
Prior to this week’s vote, a Conservative candidate had not been competitive in the Toronto-St. Paul riding since the 1980s, and the party had not won a seat in the greater Toronto area since the 2011 federal election.
Conservative candidate Don Stewart made a big advance, defeating Liberal candidate Leslie Church by 590 votes.
CBC has reached out to Long for comment.
In 2017, he was kicked out of two parliamentary committees after supporting a defeated Conservative motion on proposed small business tax reform.
