Trade Minister Mary Ng says she is “disappointed” by media reports of an internal revolt against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau within the Liberal caucus, reiterating her confidence in Trudeau’s leadership.
Media reports, in outlets such as the CBC and the Toronto Star, said a “growing number” of Liberal MPs were mounting efforts to pressure Trudeau to step down. Global News has not independently confirmed those media reports. A CBC report said fears around the Prime Minister’s dwindling popularity accelerated after the Liberals lost a byelection in a Montreal stronghold.
The report, which cited multiple sources, said some MPs are being asked to sign their names on a document which “amounts to a pledge to stand together in calling for Trudeau to resign”.
Mary Ng, who was on her way back from Laos with Trudeau where they were both attending a multilateral summit, spoke to reporters as their plane stopped to refuel in Hawaii.
“I would say that I’m disappointed because Canadians expect us to be focusing on Canadians,” Ng told reporters in Honolulu.
“I’m a Liberal MP and I have full confidence in Justin Trudeau as my leader,” she said.
When asked if Trudeau had enough caucus support to continue as Prime Minister, Ng said, “I would say, yes.”
Ng said there have been “robust conversations” in caucus, adding that having a “range of perspectives from caucus is very healthy and very good.”
One MP told The Canadian Press the number of MPs involved is not insignificant and that unlike previous rumours of a revolt, this one is real.
That MP is not among those involved in the revolt, the Canadian Press reported.
The revolt reportedly took shape while Trudeau has been away to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Laos.
Several other Liberals contacted by The Canadian Press Friday say they have not been approached to join the bid to remove Trudeau, and suggested the effort was being kept away from cabinet ministers who are perceived to be solidly behind the prime minister.
The Liberals survived two confidence votes put forward by the Conservatives since Parliament returned in mid-September, but the Bloc has given them until the end of October to meet demands to expand the old age security pension and protect supply management in international trade talks.
Trudeau has maintained his hold on the Liberal party even as his government’s slide in the polls became a free fall and his Liberal party lost two strongholds in Toronto and Montreal byelections.
The noise grew loudest in late June after the loss of the Toronto-St. Paul’s seat to the Conservatives, but an attempt to push him out then did not garner broader support from more than one or two MPs.
It quietened somewhat over the summer, only to come roaring back in September after the NDP pulled out of the supply and confidence deal, national campaign director Jeremy Broadhurst quit and the party lost a second critical byelection in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun riding to the Bloc Québécois.
–with files from Canadian Press