Canada: Liberal MP calls for Justin Trudeau’s resignation, MPs want him out

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership is under scrutiny as disgruntled Liberal MPs collectively discuss the way forward while attempting to oust him.
Long-time Liberal MP Sean Casey went public with his criticism of Trudeau during an interview with David Cochrane on CBC News Network’s Power and Politics. He outrightly declared on Tuesday, “The message that I’ve been getting loud and clear — and more and more strongly as time goes by — is that it is time for [Trudeau] to go. And I agree.”
Adding that voters in his riding “have tuned” Trudeau out, he said, “People have had enough… they want him to go.” Later down that conversation, he said that even though Trudeau’s work over the past nine years has been “truly transformational,” the “electorate are no longer listening to him.” The Charlottetown also confessed that he had already told the PM about the current state of things during a private phone call in July.
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Casey is reportedly the first MP to publicly urge the Canadian prime minister to step aside before the next election and give the Liberals a fighting chance. During the interview, he also acknowledged that he knew about a series of meetings taking place across Parliament Hill after Toronto-St Paul’s byelection loss in June, but he hadn’t personally attended them.
The Liberal MP’s remark followed last week’s reports detailing how anxious MPs were working together to get Trudeau to step down as Liberal Party leader. With the PM and his chief of staff, Katie Telford, out for an Asian summit, party members saw it as an opportunity to sign their names to a reported pledge amid mounting calls for Trudeau to resign. According to CBC News, sources have described the document as more of an embodiment of politicians’ commitment to bringing about leadership change and as proof of their solidarity in case Trudeau pushed back. It is not meant for circulation. As of October 11, unspecified sources claimed that at last 20 MPs had signed the document, described as an “insurance policy of sorts,” and others had voiced their support.
As for if Casey knew about the document, he said that his knowledge of the pledge had only been “second hand” as there is a “high level of anxiety” in the Liberal caucus over the PM’s leadership. He affirmed that many people had concerns about the current working of things and “those who have come to the same conclusion as me seem to be becoming more emboldened with the passage of time.”
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Although Casey may be the first to publicly call out Trudeau on a major platform like this, New Brunswick MP Wayne also sent an email to the Liberal caucus in June, building up pressure for Trudeau to step down.
Despite some leaders showing no interest in running in the next federal election if Trudeau is still in power, Casey remained firm in his position. “I have an obligation to the people of Charlottetown to keep Pierre Poilievre out of the prime minister’s chair in any way shape or form,” he said. “I’m gearing for the fight. It’s a fight worth fighting regardless of whether or not we have Justin Trudeau leading the party.”