Justin Trudeau Insists He Will Lead Liberals into Next Election Despite Growing Dissent

Toronto: Dismissing a request from some Liberal party members, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau affirmed Thursday that he would lead the party into the next federal elections. He said that there were “robust conversations” about what's the best way forward, he said, “That will happen with me as leader going into the next election,” adding that he has the support of the vast majority of the 153 Liberal Party members of the House of Commons.

This comes as on Wednesday, Trudeau met with his Liberal members of Parliament for three hours, where he learned that over 20 lawmakers from his party signed a letter asking him to step down from the top post. 

Reacting to this, Sean Casey, one of the Liberal lawmakers who signed the letter asking Trudeau to step down, said that he was disappointed the PM didn't take the time to reflect but said he now considers the matter done and he's moving on. Casey said Trudeau listened but he wasn't swayed.

"This was a decision he had every right to make and he made it. I did my job in voicing what I was hearing from constituents and now I have to direct my energy to winning my seat and not internal party matters. As far as I'm concerned it is closed," Casey told media. 

The Liberals in Canada recently suffered upsets in special elections for seats representing in two districts in Toronto and Montreal that the party has held for years, raising doubts about Trudeau's leadership.

The federal election could be held anytime between this fall and next October. To win, the Liberals must rely on the support of at least one major party in Parliament, as they don't hold an outright majority themselves.

Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition Bloc Québécois said the party will work with the Conservatives and the New Democratic Party, of NDP, to bring down the Liberals and force an election if the government doesn't boost pensions.

The Liberals trail the Conservatives by 38 per cent to 25 per cent in the latest Nanos poll. The poll of 1,037 respondents has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. 

Trudeau channelled the star power of his father in 2015 when he reasserted the country's liberal identity after almost 10 years of Conservative Party rule. But the son of late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is now in trouble. Canadians have been frustrated by the rising cost of living and other issues including the country's emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Inputs from AP)