Justin Trudeau intends to stay the course. To his MPs worried about the “difficult” defeat in the riding of Toronto – St. Paul’s last week, the Prime Minister responds that he wants to “continue to deliver” in order to block Pierre Poilievre.
While in Montreal on Wednesday for a series of announcements, the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada (PLC) spoke to the media for the first time since this setback in a riding once considered safe for his political party.
“Let’s be very clear. The defeat in last week’s by-election is a challenge. It is something we have to take seriously,” he said.
Justin Trudeau then defended himself against refusing to meet with his party’s national caucus at a time when a group of nine MPs are calling for an emergency meeting to discuss the “extremely worrying results” for the Liberal troops in this by-election.
“This is a race that the Liberal Party of Canada should not have lost,” wrote the person behind the move, Alberta MP George Chahal, according to what Radio-Canada reported on Tuesday.
To which Justin Trudeau responded Wednesday that he had met the day before with the party’s executive caucus, a much smaller group than the national caucus. “We will continue to engage and be engaged with MPs across the country,” he insisted.
” [Dans] “In my conversations with all the members of parliament from one end of this country to the other, the emphasis is on how we are going to present a positive vision, to counter this rise of right-wing populism, which we see a little bit across the world, including in the personality of Pierre Poilievre,” he insisted.
“Lots of different opinions”
Then, to those who are now openly calling for his resignation, Justin Trudeau replies that “there will always be people with many different opinions” within the PLQ. “That’s one of its strengths.”
Among those calling for his departure is New Brunswick Liberal MP Wayne Long, who wrote in an email obtained by The Canadian Press that “for the future of our party and for the good of our country, we need new leadership and new direction.” So does former Liberal cabinet minister Catherine McKenna, although this is not the first time she has openly criticized Justin Trudeau.
PHOTO MICHAEL HAWKINS, THE CANADIAN PRESS
New Brunswick MP Wayne Long
Other elected officials, however, offered their support to Mr. Trudeau.
During a press scrum held Tuesday in New Brunswick, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc argued that the defeat in the by-election should be an opportunity for the government to examine its conscience.
PHOTO ADRIAN WYLD, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc
On the elections in France
Asked about the result of the first round of the legislative elections in France, Justin Trudeau said he had observed a “rise of the populist right”, without however naming the National Rally party of Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen, which came out on top.
“There are some who see that people are anxious and decide to amplify this anxiety, in France and elsewhere. There are others who offer concrete solutions,” he explained. “But it is always more difficult to come across as positive and deliver concrete solutions because controversy and fury generate clicks and headlines.”
The Prime Minister did not, however, go so far as to endorse another party.
A lively speech
Later in the day, Justin Trudeau went downtown to speak to Liberal supporters at a fundraiser for his party. A handful of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the hotel where the event was held, protesting the ongoing war and calling on the government to take action.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the hotel where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was speaking in downtown Montreal.
With The Canadian Press