Trudeau leaves Canada in suspense as anxious Liberals urge him to go
The holiday period is over and Canadian politics is gripped by a single question: when will the country hear from Justin Trudeau?
The prime minister has largely disappeared from public view since Dec. 16, when Chrystia Freeland — his finance minister and once his most powerful ally in cabinet — resigned in devastating fashion, with a public letter that criticized him.
Trudeau spent much of the holidays at a ski resort in western Canada and is not planning any official events or appearances by the end of the week, according to a person familiar with his schedule. He has given no public indication yet of when he’ll announce a decision about his future.
But lawmakers in his Liberal Party keep turning up the pressure on him to quit as the party’s polling numbers slide further. A new survey by Nanos Research, taken over the holiday period, has the Conservative Party extending its lead going into an election year.
Members of the Liberal caucus of Quebec, Trudeau’s home province, have asked the prime minister to step aside, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, following a similar declaration by those in Ontario. Some Liberal members of the House of Commons have gone public, including Toronto lawmaker Rob Oliphant, who posted a letter asking Trudeau to make way for “a new leader elected through a robust, open leadership contest.”
Liberal representatives from the Atlantic provinces said Donald Trump’s imminent return to power in Washington makes it more urgent that Trudeau makes a decision.
“The country could face instability, notably from an economic threat in the potential of a 25 per cent U.S. tariff on Canadian imports from the incoming administration,” said a letter from Kody Blois, who leads a group of
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