It is time for reflection for the federal Liberals, who will have to replace Justin Trudeau in view of a probable federal election in the spring. Acadian MPs have agreed to share their perspectives on the leadership race.
Members of the Liberal caucus will meet on Wednesday to discuss next steps following the resignation of their leader, while their party is lagging in the polls. Although Acadian MPs René Arseneault and Serge Cormier say they are relieved by Justin Trudeau’s decision to resign, they are also concerned about what the future holds for the party.
Mr. Trudeau said he would resign after a leadership race to replace him at the head of the Liberal Party. In March, MPs will then return to the chamber, where the Liberal Party will likely suffer a defeat in a confidence vote, which would lead to an election being called.
The problem is that the next leader of the Liberal Party will have very little time to make themselves known to the electorate before the country is catapulted into an election. He would also have to widen the significant gap between the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party of Pierre Poilievre in the polls.
This short delay before the election worries René Arseneault, MP for Madawaska-Restigouche. Examples of this type of chieftaincy have not “given good electoral results” throughout history, according to him.
“We only have to think of Kim Campbell who arrived as a savior at the last minute because [Brian] Mulroney clung to power, to John Turner after Pierre Elliott Trudeau, to Kamala Harris after Joe Biden had waited so long. There is still a history of this,” he says.
In this context, he believes that Justin Trudeau should have resigned earlier, but adds that there is no point in “looking at what should have been done before”, and that he wants to focus on the future.
Serge Cormier, MP for Acadie-Bathurst, also says he is happy with the leader’s decision. He claims that behind the scenes, he was one of the MPs who had been “politely” asking him to leave his post for about a year.
Despite the short time before the election and the poor performance of Justin Trudeau’s party in the polls, he judges that his party has “totally” a chance of winning the next elections. He believes that having a new leader could rally voters who had lost confidence in his party.
Choose a chef quickly
Serge Cormier claims to respect the leader’s decision to resign after the leadership race, as well as his party’s constitution, which defines the voting method for the election of a new leader. However, he believes the party would have benefited from appointing an interim leader chosen by the caucus, rather than engaging in a longer process involving the selection of a permanent leader by the members.
“Normally, it should happen like this. But these are not normal times. We are probably three months away from an election. Tariffs will probably be imposed in a few weeks. We have a relationship with the United States that we must build as quickly as possible.”
He says he will respect the party’s decision, but that he would like the option of quickly appointing an interim leader to be explored.
“I am one of those who would perhaps have preferred that,” also affirms René Arseneault. He too believes that in the context of Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs and the short timetable before the election is called, the rapid appointment of an interim leader would have been beneficial to the party.
However, he says this is a hypothetical question since the constitution does not allow the selection of an interim leader as long as Justin Trudeau remains leader.
Serge Cormier and René Arseneault would both like their Acadian colleague Dominic LeBlanc to become party leader, but he has not yet specified whether he will be a candidate. He did not respond to our request for an interview Tuesday.
Focus on the relationship with the United States
René Arseneault believes that the person who replaces Justin Trudeau will have to try to “inspire the confidence” of Canadians by standing up to Donald Trump, in the context of threats of tariffs and the American president’s assertions that Canada will become the 51st State.
“It’s crazy, Trump’s speech, right away. […] People are concerned about this because on January 20, Trump is coming. […] There will be tens of thousands of job losses in Ontario, Quebec, the Atlantic, Western Canada, it will hurt the entire North American economy.”
He affirms that the next leader of the party will have to manage this issue well and demonstrate diplomacy.
