Liberal Party of Canada | Looking for options to elect a new leader

(Ottawa) Lawyers for the Liberal Party of Canada (PLC) have quietly begun studying ways that would allow the party to quickly organize a leadership race – an undeniable sign that Justin Trudeau is weighing all his options, including that of to tender his resignation in the coming weeks, has learned The Press.

These steps come as at least two influential ministers have politely indicated to the Prime Minister that he can no longer remain in office and that he must pass the torch, preferably after the holiday break, according to our information. But they also told him that this decision with serious consequences was his.

These ministers explained the general content of their meeting with the Prime Minister on condition of anonymity, in order to avoid being the subject of reprisals.

The constitution of the PLC imposes deadlines and rules which, in the current political context, chaotic and uncertain, are considered too restrictive to quickly elect a leader, in the event of Justin Trudeau’s resignation, as a growing number of people are demanding. Liberal MPs.

At a minimum, a leadership race must last four months, according to the PLC constitution. This includes in particular a period of 90 days which is granted to candidates who wish to run for the leadership of the party to obtain the support of at least 300 activists registered in three different provinces and to raise the necessary funds to pay the registration fees of the race.

“The caucus can appoint an interim leader if Justin Trudeau were to resign tomorrow morning. But the caucus cannot appoint a permanent leader who could lead the party during an election campaign. This comes down to activists at a conference. And it takes months to organize a congress. But we don’t have the luxury of time. We need to see how we can elect a leader quickly if necessary. The party’s lawyers are looking into it,” said a reliable Liberal source who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the move.

A second liberal source familiar with this matter confirmed to The Press that the lawyers were combing the constitution in order to propose a path that would allow the PLC to face an emergency situation in the event of the resignation of a prime minister who heads a minority government threatened with being overthrown in the Commons, after the resumption work on January 27.

“The lawyers have been looking into this since the beginning of the week,” said this second liberal source, alluding to the resounding resignation of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Monday and the political storm that it caused.

“It’s false,” according to a PLC spokesperson

A Party spokesperson, Matteo Rossi, however, vehemently denied that such a mandate had been formally given to the party’s lawyers.

“That’s not true. The deadlines to which you refer are clearly defined in the constitution of the Liberal Party,” said Mr. Rossi in a statement sent to The Presstaking care to attach a copy of the constitution in PDF format.

The fact remains that the PLC constitution is silent on the subject of an emergency situation where the party leader is also prime minister, leads a minority government at the end of his mandate and announces his departure.

At Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office, we declined to comment, referring our questions on this subject to party authorities.

According to Eddie Goldenberg, former close advisor to former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, it would be in the order of things for the party’s lawyers to examine ways that would allow the election of a new leader quickly, without having received a directive. formal for this purpose.

“It seems to me that it goes without saying that we want to prepare for all scenarios,” Mr. Goldenberg told The Press Thursday evening. “But no one consulted me on this,” he also quipped.

“Not a normal political period”

This is because Mr. Goldenberg affirmed, in a powerful text published Tuesday on the National Newswatch site, that Justin Trudeau must resign as soon as possible to avoid a historic defeat for the PLC in the next election.

“The Liberal Party executive must recognize that we are not living in normal political times. Normally, a prime minister would announce his retirement which would take effect after a leadership convention. This usually takes three to four months. Given the precariousness of the government’s position in the House of Commons and the fact that there is only a month left before the Trump administration takes office, three to four months is too long.” , he pleaded in this text.

“The Liberal Party executive must therefore demonstrate innovation and announce that the caucus and the cabinet will choose a new prime minister who will be in office as of January 6, and that given the current national and international situation, it there will be no normal congress before the next elections,” he also wrote.

Since the resounding resignation of Chrystia Freeland on Monday, the list of Liberal MPs who are publicly demanding the resignation of Justin Trudeau has continued to grow. Faced with growing discontent, the Prime Minister has decided to weigh his options. So far, he has given few clues about his intentions.

Over the past few days, Justin Trudeau has spent many hours on the phone, confiding in ministers that he was thinking about his future and the events that have occurred since Monday.