Canadian PM Trudeau struggles with calls for resignation

In recent days, the entire Liberal Party caucus from Atlantic Canada, minus Cabinet Ministers from the region, called upon Trudeau to resign immediately. Earlier, Indo-Canadian MP from Alberta, George Chahal, made a similar demand, following the entire caucus from Ontario, again sans Ministers, seeking the PM’s exit. The Quebec caucus has also informed Trudeau that it has reached a consensus he should leave, the outlet iPolitics reported.

In all, over half the 153 MPs from the ruling party in the House of Commons, are now asking for an early departure from Trudeau so a new leader can helm the next Federal election campaign. That poll is scheduled for October 2025 but given the fragility of the Trudeau government, it is expected to occur as soon as this spring.

A survey published on Monday by the non-profit agency Angus Reid Institute (ARI) showed that the Liberal Party’s support among decided and leaning voters down to just 16%.

“It represents the lowest level of support for the party in Angus Reid Institute tracking dating back to 2014. It is also quite possibly the lowest vote intention the Liberals have ever received in the modern era. Even in the worst electoral performance in the party’s 157-year history, the 2011 election under then leader Michael Ignatieff, the Liberals received 18.9% of votes from Canadians,” ARI added.

Trudeau’s personal popularity has also reached a new low. ARI explained that “as he mulls his future during his ski in the snow in BC (British Columbia), approval of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which had been steady in the low 20s, now plummets to an all-time nadir of 22%.”

The opposition Conservatives are polling at 45% support and are firmly situated to form the next government in Ottawa. And they obviously want the election to held as soon as possible, and another no confidence motion come in late January after the House begins its session.

The prospect of a potential electoral debacle under Trudeau has more MPs seeking his resignation. After meeting on December 23, the Atlantic caucus made that clear. A letter to Trudeau from its chair Kody Blois said, “The discussion this morning centred around the need for you to resign as the Leader of the Liberal Party and to urgently allow for a process to determine a new leader to replace you.”

Chahal, one of just two Liberal MPs elected from the province of Alberta, has that “now is the time for new leadership” in a letter to fellow MPs.

“Any rational individual in a position of leadership would resign. Any group of individuals providing advice based on data and logic would reach the same conclusion,” he wrote.

Earlier in December, over 50 ruling party MPs from Ontario arrived at a “consensus” that Trudeau should resign and a new leader take charge of the government.

Outside the 2011 election, the worst performance for the Liberals came in 1867 when it tallied 22.7 per cent of the votes cast. Modelling of the ARI poll indicated they could be reduced to just six House seats, if the numbers held.

The crisis facing Trudeau has deepened since then Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s shock resignation on December 16. Some MPs have floated the idea of bringing her in to replace Trudeau.

Trudeau has said he will reflect over his future over the holidays. But the latest polling figures may make his continuing as PM untenable.