Earlier in his mandate, Canadians were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt when he broke his promise on electoral reform, and when he was twice found guilty of breaking the Conflict of Interest Act, first on his vacation to the Aga Khan’s Caribbean island and then in the SNC Lavalin case, when he was found guilty of using influence “tantamount to political direction” when it came to a decision by the attorney general.
Voters were prepared to overlook the blackface scandal,
dancing the bhangra in India and paying
former Al-Qaida fighter Omar Khadr $10 million in compensation.
But trust is a non-renewable commodity and the accumulation of missteps means that the benefit of the doubt has been lost and mistakes are now magnified.
The most obvious way for Trudeau to win back some of his audience would be to repeal, or at least pause, the consumer carbon tax, an issue on which
McDonald voted alongside the Conservatives last year. It may be the most effective, market-oriented way to reduce emissions but it is political kryptonite.
McDonald told reporters that there are around 20 of his colleagues who have signed the fabled letter that calls on Trudeau to step down.
A grassroots petition called “Code Red”
has also started circulating that says the Liberal party needs to address “the current threats to its very survival … including growing hostility to our leader” because of the failure of the current policy platform to attract and inspire support from Canadians, particularly young Canadians.
The petition calls on the caucus and the party’s national executive to conduct secret ballots on Trudeau’s leadership.
But there were no signs of white smoke rising after the caucus meeting. As Garneau
pointed out in his new book, A Most Extraordinary Ride, the prime minister likes a fight and doesn’t like giving up.
Many of his MPs have tired of the prime minister’s self-congratulatory brand of political image-making
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Justin Trudeau stood up at the start of Question Period on Wednesday to thunderous applause from the Liberal benches and declared he was happy to have their confidence. Coming as it did just hours after an attempted coup inside the closed-door Liberal caucus meeting, Trudeau’s statement and the applause were nothing but theatre.
“I have to say, the Liberal Party and the Liberal government are totally united in holding the Conservative Party to account.” ???
The Conservatives aren’t the the current government who need to be held to account…but don’t let that stop you.
Maybe that’s part of the problem with Trudeau and his government at the moment, he’s got it all backwards. Given he’s the one running the government, the Opposition is supposed to hold the Liberals to account for their running of the country — not the other way around.
Trudeau survived the coup attempt by a group of Liberal MPs, but he and his party are wounded even if the rebels were defeated — both sides are bleeding. Estimates ranged from just three MPs signing onto demands for Trudeau to step down, to as high as 60, with several more guestimates in the middle.
Liberal coup hurts all involved, Parliament still paralyzed over scandal.
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