Hours after the shock resignation of his second-in-command, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was barely clinging on to power even as over a third of the ruling Liberal Party’s MPs called for a change in leadership.
Canadian media outlets reported on Monday evening that Trudeau has not yet decided whether he will remain as PM or resign.
The number of rebel MPs who have sought his ouster have grown to nearly 60 of the 153-strong caucus in the House of Commons.
At a caucus meeting on Monday evening, Trudeau faced renewed calls for a quick departure after Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland made the bombshell announcement in the morning that she was quitting the Cabinet.
In a letter posted on social media, Freeland said she and the PM themselves “at odds about the best path forward for Canada”.
“On Friday, you told me you no longer want me to serve as your Finance Minister and offered me another position in the Cabinet. Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the Cabinet,” she said, adding pointedly that she favoured “eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognise the gravity of the moment”.
That was the breaking point for several MPs as they sought Trudeau’s resignation.
Anthony Housefather, MP from Quebec, told the network CTV, “Incumbents have a certain shelf life in a social media age, I believe the prime minister has passed that shelf life.” Several MPs sought Trudeau’s resignation at the Monday evening caucus meeting.