At a press conference earlier today, Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland said that there are no plans to replace Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada following the devastating byelection loss.
As many now know, the Liberals narrowly lost Toronto—St. Paul’s to the Conservatives last night following a nail-biting count that continued into the early hours of the morning.
Importantly, given the fact that Toronto—St. Paul’s has been a Liberal staple since 1993, anything other than a decisive victory would have been considered a loss.
The actual loss of a Liberal stronghold riding, even by a small margin, spells absolute doom for the Liberals in the upcoming federal election. It means that not a single Liberal MP is safe.
This hasn’t been lost on anyone following the situation, and Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland was in noticeably low spirits throughout the press conference today, apparently dreading questions from reporters. However, it was unavoidable.
Specifically, one reporter asked, “Can the Prime Minister still stay on to lead the Liberal Party into the next election given that you just lost one of the safest seats in the entire country last night?”
“Yes. He certainly can,” Freeland said, confirming that Trudeau would stay despite everyone from CBC to Rebel News speculating about his possible resignation.
“Can you explain why? Because everyone we’re hearing behind the scenes believes that the result last night means catastrophic losses across the country. If you cannot win in Toronto under Justin Trudeau, why should anyone believe that you can win anywhere else under him?
Initially, Freeland dodged the question, saying that they were focused on “getting results for Canada.
However, after several more questions, Freeland finally admitted, “This is a disappointing result; we take it seriously. We know that things are hard for people in Canada, and we know we have to work even harder delivering for Canadians, winning back the trust of Canadians. That’s what we’re all committed to do[ing].”
So far, Justin Trudeau hasn’t commented on his possible resignation, merely commenting that it isn’t the result he wanted to see in the byelection and congratulating both the Liberal and Conservative candidates.
