The Liberal Party of Canada’s lawyers are making contingency plans in the event of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation so that the party can elect a new leader “if necessary,” according to a media report.
La Presse reported that “two influential ministers” anonymously told the French news outlet that they informed Trudeau it was time to go.
However, time is a luxury the Liberal party can ill afford.
The Liberal Party of Canada’s constitution indicates that a leadership race must last at least four months.
Contestants must submit a written nomination three months before the leadership vote, which must be signed by 300 Liberal party members – 100 each from at least three different provinces or territories. Even before this, a leadership contest cannot begin until 28 days after the leader announces their departure.
“A convention takes months to organize,” an anonymous Liberal source told La Presse. “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.”
A separate lawyer told La Presse that the party’s lawyers are analyzing the constitution in detail, trying to find a way to deal with Trudeau’s resignation that risks the party being overthrown in the House of Commons when it resumes on Jan. 27.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced on Friday that he would be introducing a non-confidence vote when the House of Commons resumes.
“The lawyers have been working on this since the beginning of the week,” the second Liberal source told La Presse.
However, a Liberal party spokesperson told La Presse that the claims were untrue and that none of their lawyers were looking into it, as it was clearly defined in the constitution.
Liberal party members also spoke to the Globe and Mail anonymously. One confidant told them that Trudeau believes he can no longer continue as prime minister.
However, a different source told them he doesn’t want to leave and is prepared to remain the party’s leader.
A third source told the Globe and Mail that Trudeau was prepared to resign on Monday, but that newly-appointed Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc and Immigration Minister Marc Miller talked him out of it.
Three different sources told the Globe and Mail that Trudeau will decide in the new year.
An interim leader can be appointed after the prime minister’s resignation. According to the party’s constitution, they would be afforded all of the powers of the party leader.
Former chief of staff to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Eddie Goldenberg, published an op-ed with National Newswatch, in which he said that Trudeau must resign by Jan. 6. He said that normalcy must be thrown to the wind due to the precarious situation the Liberal government finds itself in.
“The Liberal Party executive must, therefore, be innovative and announce that the caucus and the Cabinet will choose a new Prime Minister effective Jan. 6 and that given the national and international situation today, there will be no normal leadership convention until after the next election. If the new Prime Minister is elected, the convention will be a formality. If he or she is defeated, then there will be a real contest,” said Goldenberg.
He added that a week ago, Dominic LeBlanc or François-Philippe Champagne would have been the clear choices for Trudeau’s replacement. However, he said that Chrystia Freeland’s bold resignation from cabinet has made her the front-runner.
Freeland said in her resignation that the Liberals should focus on “eschewing costly political gimmicks” that Canadians “can ill-afford” while facing President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs.
“Many Canadians today are prepared to vote for Pierre Poilievre, not necessarily because they like him or want him but largely because he is an antidote to Justin Trudeau,” said Goldenberg. “For Canadians who want neither Mr. Trudeau nor Mr. Poilievre, a Freeland-led government might strike an ideal balance. Unquestionably, the results of the next federal election would be very different than they would be if Mr. Trudeau remained as Liberal leader.”
The growing list of Liberal MPs calling for Trudeau’s resignation will likely be added to following Friday’s cabinet shuffle. Liberal MP Sean Casey suggested as much when he said the cabinet shuffle kept approximately 30 candidates for new cabinet positions from speaking publicly against Trudeau.
Trudeau has allegedly cancelled all end-of-year interviews with the media and said he would not address reporters following the cabinet shuffle.