Freeland considers vying for Liberal leadership as calls on Trudeau to quit mounts sources say
The Prime Minister has no plans to step down over the Christmas holidays despite mounting calls for him to quit, and Chrystia Freeland is considering a leadership bid that is being spurred on by Liberals who believe she is a strong contender should Justin Trudeau resign.
A Liberal insider said the Prime Minister continues to reflect on whether to stay or leave and will spend Christmas in Ottawa and then take a skiing vacation with his family in British Columbia.
The Globe and Mail is not identifying the person because they were not authorized to disclose Mr. Trudeau’s private deliberations.
On Saturday, a large number of MPs in the Ontario Liberal caucus privately expressed their desire for Mr. Trudeau to resign, and more organizing meetings are expected as many in the Prime Minister’s caucus grow ever more impatient.
New Brunswick Liberal MP René Arseneault said Mr. Trudeau does not have the luxury of time. In an interview with The Globe on Sunday, he urged the Prime Minister to make a swift decision.
“He cannot wait, he has to address Canadians and talk about what happened and be clear about his intentions,” Mr. Arseneault said, referring to Ms. Freeland’s shock resignation last week.
Given that president-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened massive tariffs on Canada, will be inaugurated in less than a month, the Liberal MP said Mr. Trudeau needs to put Canadians’ interests first and step down.
“He needs to announce now that he will resign and put in place as smooth, logical and practical a process as possible to find a new leader for the Liberal Party and for Canada to face the United States at the end of January,” he said. “We don’t have time; we are in a minority government.”
A leadership race would fall at a precarious time for the Liberals. On Friday, the government lost the support of the NDP – the last opposition party that Mr. Trudeau could reliably turn to, in order to get his agenda through the House.
Ms. Freeland, who represents a Toronto riding, was on the Ontario caucus call Saturday but did not say anything. A source close to her said she is weighing a run at the leadership if Mr. Trudeau leaves.
She has been flooded with calls from MPs, party members and wealthy people offering their support, the source said.
The Globe is not identifying the source, who was not authorized to discuss her leadership plans.
Ms. Freeland rocked the government on Monday when she abruptly resigned as finance minister and deputy prime minister, citing her opposition to Mr. Trudeau’s push for spending on what she called gimmicks, such as a GST tax holiday, and for what she said was the Prime Minister not taking seriously the threat of 25-per-cent tariffs from the incoming Trump administration.
While Liberal MPs are debating how to put pressure on the Prime Minister to step aside, senior Liberals are working out options to find a replacement for him.
The Liberal insider, who said Mr. Trudeau will make no leadership decision over the Christmas period, said the party is looking at two options should Mr. Trudeau announce he is leaving early in the new year.
The first option is a leadership race that would take at least four months. This would require a request to Governor-General Mary Simon to prorogue Parliament until a new leader is selected, with Parliament set to resume on Jan. 27. The second option is to have the national executive of the Liberal Party select an interim leader on the recommendation of the Liberal caucus.
Ms. Freeland, who just this summer was viewed by many in Liberal circles as part of the minority government’s problem, is now getting private and public backing for her to take over the top job.
In a letter calling on Mr. Trudeau to step down, Ottawa-area MP Chandra Arya said Ms. Freeland’s resignation marked a “pivotal shift” in his own thinking on the Prime Minister’s future.
“While I was disappointed by the timing of her announcement, I must acknowledge her exceptional political acumen,” Mr. Arya said in his public letter to Mr. Trudeau.
“Whether by design or circumstance, she has emerged as a credible and stable alternative to your leadership.”
He said he stood by Mr. Trudeau for lack of a credible alternative but that Ms. Freeland has now “filled that void.”
“To the Liberal caucus and Canadians at large, she represents stability and competence, ready to lead immediately. Her successful track record positions her ideally to address the looming challenges posed by the new U.S. administration.”
He described her approach to governance and managing the threat of Mr. Trump as “embodying the strength of an iron fist in a velvet glove” and argued that she would be able to unite the party, and that caucus would rally behind her.
Toronto MP Yvan Baker, who in October called for a secret caucus vote on Mr. Trudeau’s future and last week publicly called for the Prime Minister to resign, said in a Sunday interview that he hoped for a speedy decision.
“My view is the sooner the Prime Minister announces that he is stepping down, the better,” Mr. Baker said. “The sooner he makes the decision to step down, the more time we will have for a leadership process to elect the strongest possible leader and for the new leader to earn the support of Canadians.”
Mr. Baker said the party needs to look at its options and the different possible scenarios that would still allow for a good process to elect the next leader. However, he said that’s a discussion the party should only have once the Prime Minister has made the decision to step down.
Other cabinet ministers expected to throw their hats into a possible leadership race are newly named Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Transport Minister Anita Anand.
During Saturday’s caucus meeting, two Ontario Liberal cabinet ministers were critical of Ms. Freeland’s move. Another cabinet minister present raised concerns about the controversy playing into Mr. Trump’s hands and chastised MPs for going to the media with their thoughts.
Most MPs, however, were in favour of a leadership contest, according to two MPs who were on the call. The Globe is not naming the MPs, who were not authorized to reveal caucus discussions.
Despite its leadership turmoil, the Liberal Party on Sunday released what it called its first television ad of the 2025 campaign. The one-minute video attacks Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, and says he plans to cut Liberal social programs like child care. Notably, the ad makes no mention of who the party’s leader will be in the next federal campaign and makes no mention of Mr. Trudeau at all.
Meanwhile, on Fox News, Mr. Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said her boss is racking up “Trump wins” before he’s taken office. She mentions Canada.
On Canada, she said: “You see Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Mar-a-Lago in about 15 minutes when President Trump threatened tariffs. They just unveiled a billion-dollar border plan to secure our northern border.”
This article was first reported by The Globe and Mail
