Justin Trudeau says Monday he is “committed” to staying on as prime minister after the Liberals’ shocking Toronto-St. Paul’s byelection loss exactly one week ago.
“There’s always going to be lots of reflection after a tough loss, but there’s also so much to do,” Trudeau told CBC’s Heather Hiscox, answering questions about his future for the first time since the upset.
Before last week’s vote, a Conservative candidate hadn’t been competitive in the federal riding of Toronto-St. Paul’s since the 1980s. The party hadn’t won a seat in urban Toronto since the 2011 federal election.
Conservative Don Stewart secured the breakthrough, beating Liberal candidate Leslie Church by 590 votes. The Liberals won the seat in the 2021 election by well over 10,000 votes.
On Monday, Trudeau remained defiant amid criticism from some in his own party, insisting he is not backing down.
“I am committed to doing the work of building a better Canada every single day, so I look forward to next year’s Canada Day and I look forward to many more Canada Days,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau spoke as part of an annual Canada Day interview with CBC News. He refused to take any questions from media at his events last week.
Calls for Trudeau to resign
In the week since the byelection loss, current and former Liberal MPs have called for Trudeau to resign as leader of the party — at first privately with journalists, and now publicly.
On Friday, Liberal backbencher Wayne Long became the first Liberal caucus member to openly call for Trudeau’s resignation.
Liberal backbencher, former cabinet minister call on Trudeau to go
New Brunswick Liberal MP Wayne Long has circulated an email to caucus calling for Justin Trudeau to quit as party leader after a recent shock byelection loss in Toronto. This comes after a statement to CBC News from former cabinet minister Catherine McKenna called for “new energy and a new leader.”
“For the future of our party and for the good of our country, we need new leadership and a new direction,” the New Brunswick MP wrote in an email to the whole 155-strong Liberal caucus last week.
“The voters have spoken loud and clear they want change. I agree.”
The Saint John-Rothesay MP, who has spoken out against his government in the past, is not re-offering in the next election.
Joining the ranks of former caucus members calling for a new Liberal party leader is Catherine McKenna. She is the first person who served in Trudeau’s cabinet to call on him to quit.
“The Liberal Party isn’t about one person. It’s about the values it stands for and it’s about improving the lives of Canadians,” said McKenna, who served as a prominent Liberal cabinet minister under Trudeau from 2015 to 2021, in a statement to CBC News.
“The prime minister has a legacy to be proud of, but it’s time for new ideas, new energy and a new leader. There’s too much at stake in this election, especially on the economy and the climate.”
The Globe and Mail reported Thursday that two additional former MPs — Wayne Easter, who served from 2000 to 2001, and John Manley, who served from 1988 to 2004 — also feel that Trudeau must resign as party leader. Former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould added her “+1” to the Globe’s story posted on X.
David Herle, chief campaign strategist for the Liberals under former prime minister Paul Martin, told Power & Politics Thursday that Justin Trudeau should be asking himself, ‘What’s the risk of me leaving, what’s the risk of me staying?’ as some Liberal MPs are questioning Trudeau’s leadership following the party’s shocking byelection loss in Toronto-St. Paul’s.
On Saturday, Nepean MP Chandra Arya also posted on X, sharing publicly what he wrote to his caucus colleagues with respect to Trudeau’s leadership.
“In my view [Trudeau] has taken [the] party and the government too far left of centre,” wrote Arya. He went on to say the prime minister and his team “have made several wrong policy/strategic choices” over the years, without elaborating what they are.
Arya, however, ended his tweet reaffirming his support in Trudeau’s leadership: “I reaffirm my trust and confidence in [Trudeau] and look forward to fighting the next election under his leadership.”
Arya is among a large group of MPs, including several cabinet ministers, who have publicly backed Trudeau in recent days, insisting he is the one best placed to take on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Conservative candidate Don Stewart hugs a supporter as the results came in during the Toronto-St. Paul’s federal byelection on June 24. (Patrick Morrell/CBC)
Also over the weekend, Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, who represents the urban Toronto riding of Beaches-East York, said in a video Trudeau should put the question of his leadership to the Liberal membership.
“Let’s have members, activists, organizers and grassroots donors across the country decide,” he said.
MPs say Trudeau needs to meet with caucus
A growing number of Liberal MPs have also told CBC News that the national caucus needs to meet as soon as possible to discuss the fallout from the byelection loss, and are arguing the gathering can’t wait until the caucus retreat scheduled for the end of the summer.
Newfoundland and Labrador MP Ken McDonald, who has voted against his own party twice on the carbon tax, stressed the need for an urgent, in-person caucus meeting with Trudeau.
One Liberal MP, Jenica Atwin who represents Fredericton, told CBC News during a media availability Wednesday that “It’s almost a shame that we’re not gathering as a caucus until after the summer, but I think the focus right now is on our community members.”
The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on Monday on the calls for an in-person caucus meeting. Press secretary Jenna Ghassabeh told CBC News the office had nothing to add. Liberal caucus chair Brenda Shanahan did not respond to CBC’s request for comment.
Sources told Radio-Canada that officials from Trudeau’s team started calling caucus members to get feedback on the party’s direction after Liberal candidate Leslie Church’s surprise loss to Conservative candidate Don Stewart.
The fear now that the Liberals’ Toronto fortress has been breached is that few seats can be described as safe. Multiple Liberals have pointed with dread at the soon-to-be-called byelection in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun.
Conservative breakthrough in Toronto seen as message to Trudeau, Liberals
A Conservative byelection win in a Toronto stronghold is being seen by many as a message to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals that it’s time for major change in the party and who leads it.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
