Trudeau weighs his options as his path to stay on as prime minister narrows

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is considering his options after Chrystia Freeland’s bombshell resignation Monday heightened calls for him to step down.

Freeland resigned as finance minister on Monday — the same day she was scheduled to present the fall economic statement and just days after Trudeau told her she would be moved out of the finance job.

Trudeau’s decision appears to have backfired spectacularly, igniting a chorus of calls for him to resign, including from several Liberal MPs, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and the Toronto Star’s editorial board.

Trudeau told an emergency caucus meeting Monday evening that he would reflect on what he is being told.

A Liberal source with knowledge of the situation, but who was not authorized to speak publicly about the discussions, confirmed to The Canadian Press that Trudeau is reflecting with his inner circle on what to do next.

Those reflections include whether he should stay or leave.

Trudeau has cancelled his year-end interviews with news outlets and has yet to publicly discuss Freeland’s departure.

He has resisted calls for him to leave for more than a year now, but should the latest situation change his mind he has several options, including resigning immediately and walking away or staying on until a new leader is chosen. Both of those options likely would require Parliament to be prorogued briefly for a short leadership race to take place.

Another Liberal source with ties to Trudeau’s inner circle but not in government said the prime minister’s team is trying to sort out a path forward for him, and characterized that as “definitely operating in a manner to assert” having him continue on as leader.

Trudeau tends to clam up and only confide in a select few people at times of crisis. That’s left a town hungry for gossip scrambling to try to find reliable intel while Trudeau’s senior officials stress over their next steps.

“The move of Chrystia Freeland eroded a lot of confidence for caucus members who had brought serious complaints earlier in the fall about the treatment of members of Parliament,” said former Liberal staffer Greg MacEachern, founder of KAN Strategies. “Whatever steps they take now are fraught with challenges because the scrutiny of those decisions will be that much more elevated coming after what’s being seen by a lot of people as a mistake.”

If he stays, Trudeau has some damage control to do in his caucus, with some suggesting at least one-third of Liberals MPs now want him to resign.

New Brunswick MP Jenica Atwin joined that chorus Wednesday, telling the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal she will not run again unless Trudeau resigns.

On Wednesday New Brunswick MP Wayne Long, who was among the first MPs to call for Trudeau to resign earlier this year, wrote to the entire caucus calling the “mishandling” of Freeland’s resignation “embarrassing” and “an indictment of the chaos and insularity within the Prime Minister’s inner circle.”

Long said it should be a “glaring wake-up call” and encouraged all MPs to speak up about the need for Trudeau to go to save the party from a “historic defeat.”

The House of Commons is now on its holiday break, giving the prime minister a few weeks to decide on his next move before MPs return to Ottawa on Jan. 27.

On Tuesday evening, he spoke at the national Liberal caucus holiday party in Ottawa, where Freeland was in attendance.

He indirectly referred to Monday’s events, saying the previous few days had been eventful.

“It hasn’t been easy, and that’s why I’m so happy to see you guys,” he said, comparing the Liberals to a “big family.”

“Like most families, sometimes we have fights around the holidays. But of course, like most families, we find our way through it.”

Freeland’s departure came on the same day Housing Minister Sean Fraser publicly announced he won’t be seeking re-election, citing family reasons. He is the seventh minister since July to make a similar announcement, five of whom remain in cabinet today.

Before Freeland’s resignation, it was expected Trudeau would shuffle his cabinet this week, including moving Freeland but also to replace those five. It’s not clear yet if that’s now going to happen as Trudeau ponders the path ahead.

But all of this comes at a critical time for the government and Canada, with president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration just over a month away, and his threat of imposing a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian imports looming over Canada like a thundercloud.

“There’s absolutely no question that they need to have their cabinet shuffle taken care of and have people working on the key files to deal with Trump’s tariffs and other very urgent matters,” said former Liberal staffer Jonathan Kalles of McMillan Vantage.

Which backbench MPs would get the nod in a new cabinet has been the subject of speculation all fall, with some Liberals openly accusing others of remaining loyal to Trudeau only to get a chance at a cabinet seat, even if only briefly.

A senior government official who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter said Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith is being considered to replace Fraser in an upcoming cabinet shuffle. Erskine-Smith has previously stated he was not going to run again but that may be changing.

Currently, several ministers are doubled up, running multiple departments on their own while a spate of others have publicly stated they plan to not run again.

New ministers, including whoever will get the crucial public safety role now held by LeBlanc, will have to learn their portfolios by Jan. 20, when Trump is inaugurated as president.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2024.

Nojoud Al Mallees and Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press