“Extraordinary” and “unprecedented” are how a New Brunswick Liberal MP describes the past few days in Ottawa.
Two high-profile cabinet ministers resigned on Monday, including Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
The move has led to renewed calls for the prime minister to step down immediately, including from within his own caucus.
Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long told our newsroom said it is clear the party needs a leadership change and a new focus.
“The prime minister is living in a, you know, world of delusion. The prime minister right now is listening to people that are telling him what he wants to hear,” Long said in an interview on Wednesday.
“I’m calling on our ministers. I’m calling on my colleagues to speak up. We have one chance to fix this before we go into an election and we need to speak up.”
The MP pointed to recent polling which shows only about one in five Canadians support the Liberals and 85 per cent are saying the prime minister should not reoffer.
Long, who himself does not plan to reoffer in the next federal election, has been outspoken about the prime minister’s leadership in recent months.
He called for Trudeau’s resignation back in the summer after the Liberals lost the riding of Toronto-St. Paul’s in a byelection.
“I’d chalk our caucus right now up into three categories. I would say, you know, 50 MPs want the prime minister to step down immediately,” said Long.
“There’s another 50 MPs that know the prime minister should step down, but really don’t want to say anything or somewhat resided to their fate in an upcoming election. And of course, there’s 50 MPs that are very, very loyal to the prime minister.”
Long, who is a three-term MP, said he takes exception to those who claim he is not being loyal to the Liberal Party by speaking out against the leader.
“If anything, I’m trying to save the Liberal Party from a certain defeat in an upcoming election, most likely in this spring or the fall of 2025,” he said.
“We weren’t elected to watch people walk by the graveyard. We weren’t elected to not do what needs to be done. And what needs to be done is the prime minister needs to step back. He needs to reevaluate. He needs to resign immediately so we can start looking for and starting the process of a leadership convention.”
The MP added he thinks the chances are “good” that Trudeau will take a step back and reevaluate over the coming days and weeks.
