Quebec’s Liberal MPs want to join their peers in Ontario and Atlantic in calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down before the next federal election.
Sources within the Liberal party’s Quebec caucus told the media that MPs have been discussing the issue since mid-December when the House of Commons went on holiday break.
Media reports indicate Quebec Liberal caucus chair Stephane Lauzon was tasked with relaying their message to national caucus leadership, according to sources.
However, Lauzon released a statement on Tuesday saying that no conclusion has been made regarding whether the Quebec caucus will officially call for Trudeau’s resignation.
He went on to say that the upcoming official caucus meeting won’t be until next Thursday.
Should they decide to publicly call for the prime minister to step down, they will be the third caucus to do so, following both Ontario and Atlantic Liberal caucuses.
If so, that would mean that the overwhelming majority of Liberal MPs will be united in publicly calling for Trudeau to resign.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather told Global News in an interview last month that “Canadians have clearly lost confidence in him, and Canadians want him to go.”
“It’s clear they’ve tuned him out, and he is not the best person to deliver the message of our party in the next election,” said Housefather.
In the wake of former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland stepping down from cabinet last month, a growing number of MPs began calling for Trudeau to resign.
However, the prime minister has been vacationing in B.C. and has thus far vowed to stay on as Liberal leader in the next federal election.
Trudeau also cancelled all of his scheduled year-end interviews with legacy media outlets.
Normally, the prime minister and other political leaders sit down with journalists one-on-one to review the year’s events and to provide predictions for what Canadians can expect after the holidays.
The next federal election is scheduled for October 25 with the House of Commons returning from its winter break on Jan. 27.
The Conservatives and the NDP have stated their intentions to introduce non-confidence motions to topple the government upon returning at the end of the month.
However, some political pundits have suggested Trudeau may prorogue Parliament to buy himself time.
