Robyn Urback
Globe and Mail, Jan. 6, 2025
Had Prime Minister Justin Trudeau done what his caucus, members of his party, the polls, the Canadian people, his horoscope, and that guy screaming obscenities outside the Winners at Parliament Hill all suggested six months ago and stepped down then, there might have been a way for the Liberal Party to avoid total annihilation. The by-election in the St. Paul’s riding in Toronto back in June was about as clear a sign as the electorate is capable of delivering outside of a normal election that there is no way back – not without a change at the top – but Mr. Trudeau, nevertheless, persisted.
Had he resigned in June, there might have been a way for the party to save the furniture (furniture that took several highly paid outside consultants and seven months to procure, but I digress). But now it’s too late: the cabinet bench has been hollowed out, handfuls of MPs have said they will not seek re-election and the party’s poll numbers are at an all-time low. The so-called natural governing party is now facing the prospect of an electoral execution unlike anything it has experienced in its 150-year-old history. And that will come only after the conflict and chaos over leadership decisions, which now must be expedited, induced by Mr. Trudeau’s belated departure. The Liberal Leader has destroyed the party he resuscitated over 10 years ago, in large part because he couldn’t let go. Not until it was much too late.
Had Mr. Trudeau resigned six months ago, he wouldn’t have inadvertently revealed his caucus to be composed primarily of frightened little amoebas, who would only call for their leader’s resignation anonymously: out of the public eye. Months ago we learned that an undisclosed number of MPs signed a letter asking Mr. Trudeau to step down, and yet when Mr. Trudeau blew them off, they meekly bowed their heads and carried on as usual. Even after the abrupt resignation of former finance minister Chrystia Freeland last month, most Liberal MPs cocooned themselves in relative caucus anonymity, asking for the Prime Minister’s resignation only as part of the Atlantic, Ontario or Quebec caucuses. ...SOURCE