Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rebuffed the idea of stepping down amid slumping poll numbers and the rise of the country’s opposition Conservatives.
During a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, when asked whether he would resign as his party’s leader, Trudeau told reporters he had more work to do.
“The next elections are two years away. I’m continuing to do my job. There’s a lot of important work to do, to deliver for Canadians in these difficult moments. I remain enthusiastic and relentless with regards to this work,” he said, speaking in French.
Trudeau led the Liberal Party to victory in 2015’s federal elections, ending nearly a decade of Conservative-led governments. But he has since seen his support slip amid growing frustrations over high inflation, soaring housing costs and other issues.
An Abacus Data poll from late August found that 56 percent of Canadians believed Trudeau should step down and let someone else lead the party, compared with 27 percent who said he should run again.
The Angus Reid Institute, another Canadian research firm, put Trudeau’s disapproval rating this month at 63 percent.
Trudeau announced a major cabinet shuffle in July amid drooping support [File: Blair Gable/Reuters]
The findings come as the right-wing Conservative Party of Canada has seen a jump in support under its new leader Pierre Poilievre, a populist career politician who took over the helm of the party in September of last year.
Abacus Data said last week that a recent national survey showed public perceptions of Poilievre were improving, while the Conservatives had 40 percent support among voters compared with 26 percent for the Liberals.
That is the Conservative Party’s largest lead over the Liberals since the 2015 election, the firm said. “The primary driver, in our view, is the negative impression people have of the Liberal government and Prime Minister Trudeau,” it added.
The drop in support for Trudeau has been a focus of Canadian media reports ahead of a Liberal Party caucus retreat this week.
Several Liberal parliament members told the public broadcaster CBC News — on condition of anonymity — that “they don’t feel the prime minister listens to their views or solicits their advice”.
Others have called on the government to better communicate its policies amid relentless attacks from Poilievre, who has blamed Trudeau for the country’s ills.
“Did any prime minister ever inherit a richer legacy? Did any prime minister ever squander it so thoroughly?” Poilievre said during a speech at a Conservative Party convention last weekend, referring to Trudeau’s takeover from his predecessor, Conservative Stephen Harper.
“After eight years, Justin Trudeau is not worth the cost and he is not worth the country that we know and love,” he said to raucous applause.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre frequently hits out at Trudeau and the Liberals [Blair Gable/Reuters]
Immigration Minister Marc Miller told the CBC this week that Liberals are unsure how to respond to Poilievre.
“There’s a tension as to how to engage … whether you fight fire with fire and bring yourself down to a level of politics that you yourself have sworn to your electors you would never engage,” Miller said.
“There is a struggle and attention generally as to how to deal with a person like that, that Canadian politics, in particular, hasn’t seen much of.”
On Wednesday, Trudeau sought to focus on the issues before he joined the Liberal retreat in London, Ontario, calling on Canadian cities to do more to address a housing crisis and pledging federal government support.
“We have two good days of conversations [ahead] with the deputies, in which we’ll have very frank conversations,” the prime minister told reporters in French when pressed again on when a party leader should step down.
“But I can tell you that the team is ready to confront all the challenges we face as a country,” said Trudeau, pointing to rising costs of living and housing. “There’s work to do, and we’re staying focused on that.”
The next Canadian federal election is scheduled for October 2025, but Trudeau could trigger a snap vote before then.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
