Trudeau should consider stepping down, P.E.I. senator says
Trudeau resignation 'prudent course of action,' says senator from P.E.I.
A new leader should ‘bring the party back to the centre of the political spectrum’
In an opinion piece published in National Newswatch, the senator from Prince Edward Island said Liberals owed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a debt of gratitude for leading the party from third party status to government, but given declining support in each successive election and poor polling numbers, it may be time for someone else to lead.
"The prudent course of action is for another Liberal leader to rise from the impressive Liberal caucus and safeguard those policies he was actually able to accomplish," wrote Downe.
"If the new Liberal leader is able to bring the party back to the centre of the political spectrum, Liberals have a chance of being re-elected."
He went on to list possible successors: Sean Fraser, Anita Anand, Mélanie Joly, François-Philippe Champagne and Jonathan Wilkinson.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre took note of the op-ed, quoting from it during question period Wednesday. Asked about it during a scrum, Trudeau was dismissive.
"Oh well," Trudeau said. "I wish him all the best in the work that he's doing."
Poll aggregator 338 Canada suggests the Conservative Party has a 14-point lead nationwide over the Liberal Party as of Oct. 29, with CPC support surging in much of the country.
Discussions to replace Trudeau have started
In an interview on CBC's Power and Politics Thursday, Downe took a softer approach to the question of whether Trudeau should step aside.
"I just think we should have a discussion about it," he said. "If he decides to go, then we're on a new course. Certainly the prime minister has earned the right to make his own decision."
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre quoted from Downe's op-ed during question period Wednesday. (Parliament of Canada)
Downe said there's still time before the next election to move the Liberal Party forward with a new leader, and that's why it's important to have this discussion now.
It is a discussion, he added, that is already underway among some Liberal MPs, and that is one of the reasons he chose to bring it up.
"It's just easier for me to do it than for people who have to have their nomination papers signed by the leader of the party," he said.
Downe said he is not working with any potential leadership candidate, and added he likely would not support one.
"Other people in the party can participate, but I've had my day in that area," he said.
Downe said should Trudeau decide to contest another election, he still has time to address the concerns Canadians have about his government, adding that he believes Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives are beatable.
But if Trudeau decides to go, that decision should be made in the next few months, he said.
If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stays on, he still has time to address the concerns of Canadians, says Downe. (Patrick Doyle/Canadian Press)
With files from Power and Politics
The next chapter for the Liberal Party
If the new Liberal Leader is able to bring the party back to the center of the political spectrum, Liberals have a chance of being reelected.
The Liberal Party of Canada owes Justin Trudeau a debt of gratitude. After Paul Martin, Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff, the Liberal Party’s share of the popular vote declined from the highs of Jean Chrétien’s 41.3% to Paul Martin’s highest of 36.7%, Dion’s 26.2 % and Ignatieff’s 18.9 %. We ended up in 3rd place in 2011 for the first time in Canadian history, and our share of the popular vote was the lowest ever received by the Liberal Party.
The worry in the Liberal Party of Canada was that it would suffer a similar fate as the United Kingdom’s Liberal Party, which was squeezed between the left and right and plummeted from being the governing party to fifth place in a single election, never to recover.
Justin prevented that by winning government in 2015.
He captured 39.5 % of the vote but his support has been in a downward spiral ever since with 33.1 % in 2019 and 32.6 % in 2021.
Today, notwithstanding that his support has hit record lows, many party members are also grateful that Justin’s greatest accomplishment as leader has been his success in recruiting multitalented Canadians to serve in parliament.
In his cabinet, outstanding ministers like Sean Fraser, Anita Anand, Mélanie Joly, François-Philippe Champagne, and Jonathan Wilkinson have served alongside former Ministers Jody Wilson Raybould and Jane Philpott. The Liberal Caucus also includes many other accomplished members.
The reason Canadians should be interested in the inner workings of the Liberal Party is because only the Liberal Party has a realistic chance of stopping a government led by Pierre Poilievre.
Poilievre is, notwithstanding his soft-focus ad campaign, very clear on what he intends to do and where he intends to steer Canada. His agenda is one all progressives will oppose.
Unlike Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who tried to move in baby steps to shift the country in his conservative image hoping for a long-lasting permanent move to the right in voting intentions, Poilievre, who saw firsthand how that plan failed, will likely move quickly and forcefully to change Canada if he forms government.
The opportunity for a Poilievre government was created by a lack of fiscal responsibility in the Trudeau government, and the damage it caused our economy is now showing up in the opinion poll numbers. Within the Liberal Party, many members who are in favour of fiscal responsibility—so we have the money to expand much needed social programs and grow the productivity and prosperity of our country—have given up on this current iteration of the Liberal Party.
Originally, these centralist liberals assumed that Justin and his crowd needed to be educated on the economic issues of the day.
That naiveté was replaced with the realization that they were not a serious government when it came to the economy, that they simply didn’t care and would throw money at anything that crossed their mind. The resulting interest rate hikes, increasing cost of living, and huge debt didn’t seem to concern them.
The other group of Liberals who have hit pause on their support for the Party are those who expected government announcements to be followed by government action. Given the emphasis the Trudeau Liberals placed on deliverology in 2015, it is almost as if they were foreshadowing their weakness.
Inaction on delivery and lack of fiscal prudence have now returned with a vengeance to haunt this government.
There is a possibility that under our first-past-the-post electoral system, Justin and the NDP could squeeze enough seats to form a minority government. The questions for Justin Trudeau are: given the divisions in our country, is that the best result for Canada, and is it the best result for Justin personally?
The prudent course of action is for another Liberal Leader to rise from the impressive Liberal caucus and safeguard those policies he was actually able to accomplish, like the Canada Child Benefit.
If the next Liberal Leader is able to bring the party back to the center of the political spectrum, Liberals have a chance of being reelected.
Percy Downe is a lifelong Liberal Party supporter and former Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
Senator Percy E. Downe
- Province: Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown)
- Affiliation: Canadian Senators Group
- Telephone: 613-943-8107
- Fax: 613-943-8109
- Email: percy.downe@sen.parl.gc.ca Electronic card
- Staff: Murphy, David; Villeneuve, Marylène
- Personal Website: http://sen.parl.gc.ca/pdowne
Biography
Senator Downe was appointed to the Senate of Canada on June 26, 2003 and lives in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. He is the first graduate of the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) to serve in the Parliament of Canada.
Present Member of:
- Vice-Chair of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group
- Executive Member of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association
- Chair of the Canada-Kuwait Parliamentary Friendship Group
- Past Chair of the Canada-United Arab Emirates Friendship Group
- Liaison of the Canadian Senators Group
Formerly a Member of:
- Inaugural National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians
- Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Vice Chair)
- Standing Senate Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration
- Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament (Joint Chair)
- Standing Committee on National Finance
- Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs
- Standing Committee on Rules, Rights and Procedures of Parliament
Previous Career:
- Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada
- Director of Appointments, Office of the Prime Minister
- Executive Assistant to the Minister of Labour
- Executive Assistant to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
- Executive Assistant to the Secretary of State, Veterans Affairs and ACOA
- Executive Assistant to the Premier of Prince Edward Island
The first question I would have asked Jody.Wilson-Raybould is why did she snub the Senate committee on the corporate corruption bill
David Amos<motomaniac333@gmail.com> | Wed, Mar 13, 2019 at 11:32 AM |
| To: george.furey@sen.parl.gc.ca, nicole.eaton@sen.parl.gc.ca, diane.bellemare@sen.parl.gc.ca, grant.mitchell@sen.parl.gc.ca, larry.smith@sen.parl.gc.ca, martin@sen.parl.gc.ca, don.plett@sen.parl.gc.ca, joseph.day@sen.parl.gc.ca, terry.mercer@sen.parl.gc.ca, percy.downe@sen.parl.gc.ca | |
| Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>, mcu <mcu@justice.gc.ca>, "David.Lametti"<David.Lametti@parl.gc.ca>, "andrew.scheer"<andrew.scheer@parl.gc.ca>, "maxime.bernier"<maxime.bernier@parl.gc.ca>, "elizabeth.may"<elizabeth.may@parl.gc.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>, premier <premier@ontario.ca>, attorneygeneral <attorneygeneral@ontario.ca> | |
| Bcc: david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com | |
---------- Original message ---------- From: Catherine.McKenna@parl.gc.ca Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2019 14:00:37 +0000 Subject: Automatic reply: The first question I would have asked Jody.Wilson-Raybould is why did she snub the Senate committee on the corporate corruption bill To: motomaniac333@gmail.com Thank you for contacting my office. This automated response is to assure you that your message has been received by my office and will be reviewed as soon as possible. Due to the high volume of correspondence received, I am not able to respond personally to every inquiry. Please do not hesitate to contact my office at the coordinates below should you have any questions regarding the status of your query. Please note that your message will be forwarded to the Department of Environment and Climate Change if it concerns topics pertaining to the Minister of Environment and Climate Changes' role. For all future correspondence addressed to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, I ask that you please write directly to ec.ministre-minister.ec@ Best, Catherine McKenna, Member of Parliament, Ottawa Centre * * * Je vous remercie d'avoir communiqu? avec mon bureau. La pr?sente r?ponse automatique vous est envoy?e pour vous informer que votre message a ?t? re?u et qu'il sera examin? le plus rapidement possible. En raison du volume ?lev? de correspondance re?ue, je ne peux r?pondre personnellement ? chaque demande. N'h?sitez pas ? contacter mon bureau aux coordonn?es ci-dessous pour vous renseigner sur le statut de votre demande. Veuillez noter que votre message sera transmis au minist?re de l'Environnement et du Changement climatique s'il concerne des questions qui ont trait au r?le de la ministre de l'Environnement et du Changement climatique. Nous vous prions d'envoyer directement toute correspondance future adress?e ? la ministre de l'Environnement et du Changement climatique ? ec.ministre-minister.ec@ Cordialement, Catherine McKenna, d?put?e, Ottawa Centre ---------- Original message ---------- From: Newsroom <newsroom@globeandmail.com> Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2019 14:00:37 +0000 Subject: Automatic reply: The first question I would have asked Jody.Wilson-Raybould is why did she snub the Senate committee on the corporate corruption bill To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com> Thank you for contacting The Globe and Mail. If your matter pertains to newspaper delivery or you require technical support, please contact our Customer Service department at 1-800-387-5400 or send an email to customerservice@globeandmail. If you are reporting a factual error please forward your email to publiceditor@globeandmail.com< Letters to the Editor can be sent to letters@globeandmail.com This is the correct email address for requests for news coverage and press releases. ---------- Original message ---------- From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com> Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2019 10:00:31 -0400 Subject: The first question I would have asked Jody.Wilson-Raybould is why did she snub the Senate committee on the corporate corruption bill To: JUST@parl.gc.ca, Arif.Virani@parl.gc.ca, Iqra.Khalid@parl.gc.ca, Ali.Ehsassi@parl.gc.ca, Ron.McKinnon@parl.gc.ca, Michael.Cooper@parl.gc.ca, dave.mackenzie@parl.gc.ca, Michael.Barrett@parl.gc.ca, "lisa.raitt"<lisa.raitt@parl.gc.ca>, rfife <rfife@globeandmail.com>, Newsroom <Newsroom@globeandmail.com>, "David.Akin"<David.Akin@globalnews.ca>, "steve.murphy" <steve.murphy@ctv.ca>, joan.bryden@thecanadianpress. Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca, "Carla.Qualtrough" <Carla.Qualtrough@parl.gc.ca>, pierre-hugues.boisvenu@sen. serge.joyal@sen.parl.gc.ca, peter.harder@sen.parl.gc.ca, "Beverley.Busson"<Beverley.Busson@sen.parl.gc. <kathleen.roussel@ppsc-sppc. <Nathalie.Drouin@justice.gc.ca <Katie.Telford@pmo-cpm.gc.ca>, "hon.ralph.goodale" <hon.ralph.goodale@canada.ca>, "Catherine.Tait" <Catherine.Tait@cbc.ca>, "Catherine.McKenna" <Catherine.McKenna@parl.gc.ca> <Bill.Morneau@canada.ca>, "hon.melanie.joly" <hon.melanie.joly@canada.ca> Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail. "Jody.Wilson-Raybould"<Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc. <editorial@thecanadianpress. "darrow.macintyre"<darrow.macintyre@cbc.ca> Seems that everybody but CBC reported this N'esy Pas? https://nationalpost.com/pmn/ https://www.ctvnews.ca/ ---------- Original message ---------- From: Newsroom <newsroom@globeandmail.com> Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2019 17:53:56 +0000 Subject: Automatic reply: YO Pierre Poilievre RE SNC-Lavalin Need I say HMMMM? To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com> Thank you for contacting The Globe and Mail. If your matter pertains to newspaper delivery or you require technical support, please contact our Customer Service department at 1-800-387-5400 or send an email to customerservice@globeandmail. If you are reporting a factual error please forward your email to publiceditor@globeandmail.com< Letters to the Editor can be sent to letters@globeandmail.com This is the correct email address for requests for news coverage and press releases. ---------- Original message ---------- From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com> Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2019 13:53:49 -0400 Subject: Re: YO Pierre Poilievre RE SNC-Lavalin Need I say HMMMM? To: pierre.poilievre.a3@parl.gc.ca David.Lametti.a1@parl.gc.ca, Jody.Wilson-Raybould.a1@parl. maxime.bernier@parl.gc.ca, andrew.scheer@parl.gc.ca, charlie.angus@parl.gc.ca, Amarjeet.Sohi.a1@parl.gc.ca, hannelie.stockenstrom@ Hartland.Paterson@snclavalin. tony.clement.a1@parl.gc.ca, scott.bardsley@canada.ca, mcu@justice.gc.ca, JUSTWEB@novascotia.ca Cc: david.raymond.amos333@gmail. justin.trudeau.a1@parl.gc.ca, coi@gnb.ca, MRichard@lawsociety-barreau. Newsroom@globeandmail.com, Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca, sfine@globeandmail.com https://www.nationalobserver. Wilson-Raybould snubbed Senate committee on corporate corruption bill By Joan Bryden in News, Politics | February 17th 2019 Jody Wilson-Raybould, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, seen in the foyer of the House of Commons, in Parliament in Ottawa on June 20, 2018. File photo by Alex Tétreault Former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould angered senators by refusing to give testimony on a change to the Criminal Code that is now at the centre of allegations that she was improperly pressured to help SNC-Lavalin avoid criminal prosecution. The Criminal Code amendment was stuffed into an omnibus budget implementation bill last year and got little scrutiny from MPs on the House of Commons finance committee. But when it got to the Senate, the upper chamber's legal and constitutional affairs committee was tasked with scrutinizing the provision, which allows prosecutors to negotiate remediation agreements, a kind of plea bargain, in cases of corporate corruption. The committee held extensive hearings last May and heard from an array of expert witnesses, including Justice Department officials, who suggested that some questions were best put to the minister of justice. The committee invited Wilson-Raybould but she did not show up. In her stead, the government sent her parliamentary secretary, Liberal MP Marco Mendicino, and Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough. "It's very unusual to study a bill, especially in the criminal domain, and to not have the minister responsible appear before the committee," Conservative Sen. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu observed at the time. "I would like to know why the minister of justice is not here herself." Qualtrough said it was her "understanding" that Wilson-Raybould "wasn't available." Qualtrough, who is responsible for the government's broader corporate-integrity agenda, acknowledged that she was "not technically, obviously, representing Justice," but nevertheless "felt myself capable to offer you some perspectives on our government's position on these matters." Senators on the committee were sufficiently miffed by Wilson-Raybould's no-show to make an "observation" about it in their final report: "The committee notes it did not have the opportunity to hear the testimony of the minister of justice on the proposed amendments that are under her ministerial mandate, although she was invited to appear." Independent Liberal Sen. Serge Joyal, the chair of the committee, said in an interview that he actually spoke to the government's representative in the Senate, Peter Harder, to see if he could persuade Wilson-Raybould to appear at the committee — to no avail. "The members were rather frustrated by that," he said. Joyal said the recent controversy over Wilson-Raybould's role in the SNC-Lavalin case puts her refusal to testify in a different perspective. "Now, of course, in retrospect ... I can understand that she might not have been at ease with the overall issue of remediation agreements and didn't want to submit herself to questions in relation to that." Wilson-Raybould, who was demoted to the veterans-affairs post in January, resigned altogether from cabinet on Tuesday. That followed an anonymously-sourced newspaper article that alleged she was improperly pressured by the Prime Minister's Office last fall to instruct the director of public prosecutions to negotiate a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin rather than pursue a criminal prosecution that could cripple the company. The Montreal engineering giant has been charged with corruption and bribery in relation to government contracts in Libya; if found guilty it would be barred from bidding on government contracts in Canada for 10 years. She has thus far refused to comment on the allegation, citing solicitor-client privilege. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has denied there was any undue pressure and insists he specifically told Wilson-Raybould the decision whether to prosecute was hers alone as attorney general. The budget bill was not the only time Wilson-Raybould snubbed the Senate's legal and constitutional affairs committee. Throughout last fall, the committee tried repeatedly to get her to testify on the government's access-to-information reforms — specifically on a provision that would require judges to publicly disclose their expenses, which some senators fear could undermine judicial independence. Joyal said Wilson-Raybould "systematically" refused repeated invitations to testify, even though the committee offered to be flexible on the timing to accommodate the minister's schedule. The only response it received was that the minister was unavailable, he said. "We're having a great deal of difficulty scheduling the minister's appearance before our committee," Boisvenu remarked during an Oct. 3 committee meeting. "It's a habit of hers." Unlike the budget bill, on which the committee was under pressure to report by a specific deadline, Joyal said he warned Harder that in the case of the access-to-information bill, the committee would sit on the legislation until it heard from Wilson-Raybould. "No minister, no bill." Indeed, he said the committee was on the point of passing a motion to that effect when Wilson-Raybould was shuffled out of the justice portfolio in January. Within two weeks, he said, her successor David Lametti agreed to testify. He is now scheduled to appear on Thursday. Wilson-Raybould has appeared before the Senate on other bills, notably those on medical assistance in dying and legalization of cannabis. But her selective approach to which bills she chose to defend publicly raises potential questions about cabinet solidarity. Joyal, who served as a minister in the cabinets of Pierre Trudeau and John Turner, said disagreements are common around the cabinet table. But once a consensus decision is made, every minister is required to stand by it, whether or not he or she personally agrees with it. In the case of a minister who personally disagrees with a bill that falls under his or her responsibility, Joyal said: "If the decision of the government is to proceed with the bill, you have no choice than to stand by the bill. And if you don't want to stand by the bill, well, the option is to resign from the portfolio. It's quite clear." | |