(Ottawa) The Prime Minister will remain in office until a successor is appointed as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada (PLC). He met with Governor General Mary Simon on Monday morning to extend the legislative session until March 24, thereby extending the life of his government.
Posted at 9:13 a.m.
Updated at 10:03 a.m.
Mr. Trudeau thus put an end to the speculation that had been rife since the resounding resignation of the Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, on December 16, the same day she was to present her economic update. He had summoned the press outside Rideau Cottage, his residence, at the end of a reflection on his political future.
“As you know, I am not someone who easily backs down from a fight, especially a fight that is so important for the party and for the country, but I do this job because the interest of Canadians and the well-being of our country, our democracy is close to my heart and it has become clear that I cannot be the leader in the next elections because of internal battles,” he admitted.
He did not want to give his version of the facts on the departure of Mme Freeland of the Cabinet simply said that he would have liked her to stay to take on “one of the most important files” between now and the next elections, that of Canadian-American relations, before adding that he was not going to share the content of private conversations.
The Prime Minister carried out a cabinet reshuffle a few days after the departure of his Finance Minister, but he did not respond to questions from the media. He took some time to reflect during the holiday season, but the situation was becoming more and more untenable for him. He has in turn lost the support of the three largest caucuses within the Liberal delegation, that of the Atlantic, that of Ontario and that of Quebec.
The Liberal Party of Canada (PLC) will therefore have to launch a leadership race quickly to find a successor to Mr. Trudeau. The political party’s lawyers were already studying ways to do this before the Prime Minister’s announcement.
-His potential successors would already be active. Among them, the former governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, Mme Freeland who remains an MP and plans to run again in the next federal election.
The prorogation of Parliament extends the life of the Liberal government at a time when the three opposition parties – the Conservative Party, the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party – have indicated that they will withdraw their confidence in the government, leaving the possibility of an election in the spring.
Mr. Trudeau defended this three-month pause citing the paralysis of parliamentary work for several months. “Parliament needs a resetneeds to calm down a little to get back to work for Canadians and not engage in constant petty politics”, he justified.
Further details will follow.
With Maryse Tessier, The Press
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