Departure of Justin Trudeau: relief and gratitude in the Atlantic

Between gratitude and relief, the political class in the Atlantic provinces reacted Monday to the announcement of the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The Canadian Prime Minister announced late this morning in Ottawa that he will resign from his post after the selection of a new Liberal leader. In the meantime, Parliament is prorogued until March 24.

Among Liberal ministers in the Atlantic, it is time for recognition.

Dominic LeBlanc, one of Justin Trudeau’s most loyal allies and also one of his potential successors, salutes the work accomplished by the Liberal government since it came to power in 2015.

The elected representative from southeastern New Brunswick – the first Acadian to occupy the position of Minister of Finance – has never let go of the Prime Minister despite the political crisis that has shaken Ottawa for several months and the numerous calls for the resignation of the leader liberal.

I will always be proud of everything we accomplished together for Canadians.

Serving alongside you in the House of Commons and in your Council of Ministers has been the honor of a lifetimewrites Dominic LeBlanc to Justin Trudeau in a publication on the social network X. Beyond politics, I will never stop being grateful for your friendship and support during my battle with cancer.

Same gratitude from the Acadian federal MP from New Brunswick and President of the Treasury Board, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, who thanks Justin Trudeau for the exceptional services he rendered to our party and our country.

His leadership and compassion have helped Canadians overcome many obstacles – including a historic global pandemic – and improved the lives of millions of people in our great countrywrites the elected representative of the region of Moncton on his account Facebook.

Ginette Petitpas Taylor also thanks Justin Trudeau for trust and support that he granted him. It was a singular honor to serve under his direction and leadershipadds the one who since 2015 has been Minister of Health, Official Languages ​​and Veterans Affairs, in particular.

Relief among Liberal MPs

Among Liberal MPs from the Atlantic provinces, the praise is just as numerous. But the relief is also palpable, given the unpopularity of their leader in the polls.

Serge Cormier, the MP for Acadie-Bathurst in northeastern New Brunswick, maintains that the Liberal government has implemented several social programs that make life more affordable for Canadians, such as daycare at $10 a day and a school feeding program.

This is the heritage that we do not want to lose with a conservative government.he said. Now we can focus on the next step, [c’est-à-dire] the choice of a new leader who will guide us towards the next elections.

This has been going on for over a year, all this hubbub. Will he stay, will he leave? Canadians, unfortunately, are unhappy. They have lost confidence in Justin Trudeau. So I think he made the right decision. But the legacy he leaves behind is an exceptional legacy.

Finally, our leader understood that it was time [de partir]adds René Arseneault, the MP for Madawaska-Restigouche in northwestern New Brunswick. Despite these great years and this great legacy to Canadians over the past 9 years, I think it was obvious […] that the country was demanding a change of leader.

The deputy of Charlottetown in Prince Edward Island, Sean Caseywho publicly called on his leader to resign, also believes that Justin Trudeau made the right decision for the country, for the party and for himself. However, he regrets that the Prime Minister has took so long to arrive at this conclusion.

Decision admirablethis Susan Holt

On the provincial scene in the Atlantic, the statements are even more nuanced.

New Brunswick Premier believes Justin Trudeau is making the decision admirable to leave in order to reduce political tension in Canada. If Justin Trudeau was the man of change the country needed in 2015, that is not necessarily the case in 2025, says Susan Holt.

We need something different. There are people waiting for this decision. Now we can move in a new directionshe said.

We want to see people in Ottawa who will continue to collaborate with New Brunswick. We have a lot of projects to [faire] move forward in the coming months. And we want to see stability in the negotiations with the United States.

Susan Holt says she felt Justin Trudeau’s emotion when he announced his intention to resign. I imagine it was a difficult decision to makeshe confides. It was clear when he spoke about his family and […] his children that it was a job that was close to his heart. And that’s what we want. We want a Prime Minister who will put all his heart into representing our country.

Often very critical of the Trudeau government, the Premier of Nova Scotia adopted a more conciliatory tone towards the resigning Prime Minister on Monday. I don’t need to agree with someone on every issue to respect the sacrifice it takes to run for public office and serveécrit Tim Houston in a statement.

Urgent issues will not disappear; they require sustained attention. Whether it’s President-elect Trump’s trade threats or the need for housing, we will continue to work hard with our federal counterparts.

Same story in Prince Edward Island, where the Prime Minister Dennis King puts aside his political differences with Justin Trudeau to salute his love of Canada and his desire to unite Canadians.

The elected islander even hopes to obtain a final concession from his federal counterpart before his departure. I will continue to work with the Prime Minister. I would still like to see the Confederation Bridge toll reduced. Maybe we can have a good negotiation and get something out of this?he suggests.

In the midst of a debate on the future of the hydroelectric power station Churchill FallsMonday, the Prime Minister of Newfoundland and Labrador in turn made a nuanced statement about Justin Trudeau.

The Prime Minister […] demonstrated great steadfastness in difficult times, such as the pandemicécrit Andrew Furey on X. We didn’t agree on every policy, but I’m proud of the progress we made together on issues like affordable child care and electricity rate mitigation.

With information from Jacques Poitras and Nicola MacLeodof CBC