Canadian Cabinet voices support for Trudeau as some Liberals prepare to confront him

By ROB GILLIES The Associated Press

TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s deputy prime minister said she believes Justin Trudeau has the support of a majority of Liberals in Parliament as some prepare to confront him Wednesday in the hopes of convincing him to step down.

Chrystia Freeland and other Cabinet members voiced support for the prime minister on Tuesday ahead of a broader meeting with colleagues.

A number of Liberals have signed a letter hoping to persuade Trudeau to step down before the next election. It was unclear how many signed.

“The vast majority of Liberal Members of Parliament support the prime minister, support him as leader of our government, support him as leader of our party and support him as the guy who is going to lead us into the next election,” Freeland said.

Freeland said she is more confident of that after meetings in the last 36 hours.

The Liberal recently suffered upsets in special elections in districts the party has held for years, raising doubts about Trudeau’s leadership. Losing a district in Canada’s largest city of Toronto, a traditional Liberal stronghold, does not bode well.

A number of Liberal lawmakers have said they will not run again.

Trudeau has said he will lead the party into the election, which come any time between this fall and October, 2025. His Liberal party must rely on the support of at least one major party in Parliament as the Liberals do not have the majority in the House of Commons.

The opposition leader of the Bloc Québécois said his party will work with the Conservatives and NDP parties to bring the Liberals down and force an election if the government doesn’t boost old age security payments for seniors.

“The whole story is now: what will Justin Trudeau, superstar, do in the coming days,” Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet said.

Trudeau’s Liberals have been in power since 2015 but Canadians have been frustrated by the cost of living coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trudeau reasserted the country’s liberal identity in 2015 after almost 10 years of Conservative rule. His legacy includes opening the doors wide to immigration. He also legalized cannabis and brought in a carbon tax to fight climate change.

“Anybody who has ever bet against Justin Trudeau is sorry they made that bet the next day,” said Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault.

Some Cabinet ministers acknowledged some colleagues don’t agree.

“Any time there are voices of dissent we have to deal with them, we have to listen to them carefully,” Labor Minister Stephen MacKinnon said.

“We have to deal with them and present a unified face to Canadians.”

Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre goaded the prime minister about the potential revolt.

“The reality is he can’t administer the government because he’s too busy fighting for his job after nine years,” Poilievre said.

Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, said the shelf life of Canadian prime ministers has been about a decade for the past 75 years.

“Trudeau’s time is up. Scandals over the years have tarnished his image. He deflects or evades rather than answering straight-forward questions. There is a popular appetite for change. Most Canadians have tuned him out,” he said.

“He is the reason why the Liberals went from the wilderness to power in 2015, but it is no longer 2015.”

Trudeau’s father, Pierre Trudeau, swept to power in 1968 on a wave of “Trudeaumania” and led Canada for almost 16 years.