The Canadian dilemma: Majority of Justin Trudeau’s caucus calls on him to quit

Liberals want the prime minister to reveal his plans as soon as he’s back from holidays. With a majority of his caucus now calling on him to resign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on a ski holiday, reflecting on whether to stay or go, writes POLITICO.

Trudeau is way down in the polls and facing challenges from within his party about whether he’s the right leader to unite Canadians. His decision comes as Canada braces for a tariff war when Donald Trump returns to the White House in three weeks.

Canadians will head to the polls in 2025, a federal election that could be triggered in late January if Trudeau’s foes topple the minority government when the House returns from break.

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau no longer has the support of caucus and to maintain some dignity he should immediately tender his resignation,” Calgary lawmaker George Chahal wrote in a Dec. 27 letter to the caucus.

The missive follows a recent virtual meeting during which 51 Liberal members of Parliament from Ontario discussed Trudeau’s leadership. After the gathering, the party’s largest caucus group relayed a message to the prime minister: Resign.

“We’ve reached a breaking point,” said one Liberal who attended the meeting, and was granted anonymity to speak freely. “There’s a critical mass now that has been reached and that was not in place before.”

For a year Trudeau has faced calls to step down from the party he’s led since 2013. Demands intensified after the explosive exit of Chrystia Freeland earlier this month. Trudeau’s long-time ally quit as deputy prime minister and head of finance citing tension between their offices over how to handle Trump’s tariff threat along with a domestic holiday tax break.

Canada’s prime minister has also been abandoned by his Atlantic caucus, a group Trudeau’s team considered vital to any hopes it had of winning a fourth term.

The Atlantic Liberals now say it’s in the best interest of the prime minister to resign. The lawmakers no longer believe Trudeau can beat Pierre Poilievre, a populist conservative who has made massive inroads with Canadians by capitalizing off of a housing and affordability crisis with simple slogans that promise change. They also warn that Canada could be catapulted toward instability if Trump makes good on his Day 1 promise to slap a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods.

“Time is of the essence, and our Caucus is of the view that it is not tenable for you to remain as the Leader, and that we need to allow for the necessary conversations on transition to take place,” Atlantic Caucus chair Kody Blois wrote to the prime minister on Dec. 23.

Liberal caucus members expect an answer when Trudeau lands back in Ottawa. Some want an emergency meeting to hear directly from their boss. Others say they won’t run again if he sticks around.

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