In his first address to party faithful since Monday’s byelection loss, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged the defeat but didn’t seem to waver from his usual message.
“We have a time where people are facing huge challenges and huge uncertainty around the world. We saw that on Monday night in Toronto-St. Paul’s,” Trudeau told Liberal supporters at a fundraiser with Liberal donors in Brampton, Ont., on Thursday evening.
It’s the first time he has been in the vote-rich Greater Toronto Area since his party lost Monday’s byelection in what was previously considered a safe Liberal riding.
Liberal candidate Leslie Church lost in Toronto-St. Paul’s to the Conservative’s Don Stewart after the Liberals held the riding for more than three decades.
Still, on Thursday, the prime minister repeated a similar refrain from the past months: that the Liberals are focused on finding solutions while accusing the Conservatives of stirring up anger. But he also appeared to rally the spirits of those gathered following the beyelection loss.
“When that next election rolls around, everyone starts … with zero MPs. Everyone starts that election with zero votes,” he said.
Trudeau received a standing ovation from the roughly 100 Liberal supporters in attendance, but otherwise the mood in the room appeared subdued.
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.
The loss in Toronto-St. Paul’s has fuelled conversations inside the Liberal caucus about the future prospects of the party, the tenability of Trudeau’s leadership and the effectiveness of the political team that surrounds the prime minister, sources have told CBC News.
On Thursday, Liberal MP Sophie Chatel dodged a question about whether she thinks Trudeau should stay on as leader.
“It’s not something that I feel comfortable to share. I think it’s discussions that are being done internally. I think ultimately it’s his decision, and I respect that,” she told CBC News during a media availability.
Quebec Liberal MP refuses to say if Trudeau should stay on as leader
Sophie Chatel, Liberal MP for the Quebec riding of Pontiac, would not say whether she thinks Justin Trudeau should stay on as the leader of the Liberal Party when asked by CBC News on Wednesday.
Avtar Minhas, a Liberal supporter who attended Thursday’s fundraiser, said Trudeau still has his support and said it would be a “very big setback” if the prime minister were to step down.
“He’s very capable of winning still, I believe,” Minhas told CBC News.
Bill Adair, another supporter who attended the fundraiser, shrugged off the Toronto-St.Paul’s loss.
“It’s one byelection, it’s one riding,” he said. But he seemed unsure about whether Trudeau should stay or go..
“I have no idea,” Adair said when asked if Trudeau should remain leader.
Trudeau gave no indication that he’d be stepping down, mentioning that he was looking forward to “the fight” in the next election.
A number of Liberal MPs have told CBC News that the national caucus needs to meet as soon as possible to discuss the fallout from Monday’s byelection loss in Toronto and that the gathering can’t wait until the retreat scheduled for the end of the summer. Those MPs spoke to CBC on the condition they not be named.
At least one MP has spoken publicly about a desire to hold a caucus meeting before the end of the summer.
“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,” Liberal MP Jenica Atwin told CBC News during a media availability Wednesday.
But Government House Leader Steve MacKinnon said Thursday that he didn’t think there was a need for an early caucus meeting.
“I know the prime minister is listening very closely to all of my colleagues,” he told reporters during a news conference Thursday.
“There are a great number of feedback mechanisms available to us and I think we’ll be availing ourselves of all of them.”
Sources told Radio-Canada Tuesday that officials from Trudeau’s team called caucus members Tuesday to get feedback on the party’s direction.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
