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Former NDP Leader Mulclair Says Trudeau Should Retire

Published

4 months ago

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When all hell broke loose in the House last week, those with experience as parliamentarians couldn’t believe our eyes. Speaker Greg Fergus tossed out the Leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, Pierre Poilievre, on the flimsiest pretenses.

Fergus is highly partisan. We all knew that when Trudeau backed him in the election to replace Anthony Rota), who’d been forced to step down after introducing a former Nazi soldier in Parliament.

When Fergus got caught making a partisan video for an Ontario Liberal colleague, many calls were made for him to resign. He had egregiously breached the most basic rules requiring neutrality in the chair. He’d even made the video in his Parliamentary quarters, wearing his robes of office.

I pleaded that his error was serious, but it was a rookie mistake, and he deserved a second chance. Watching his dreadful performance with Poilievre last week, I regretted defending him.

After Poilievre’s ejection, Trudeau and the company were gloves off. During a campaign, they put on a full-court press worthy of a war room. Other pundits I spoke with were dutifully spun by whatever Liberal had contact with them. They thought they had finally caught a break in their Holy War against the evil Poilievre.

The usual Liberal supporters were out there spinning that Poilievre had done it on purpose to get thrown out. That was nonsense as it was unpredictable that someone who’d “simply withdrawn” the word “wacko” — as requested by the Speaker — would nonetheless be turfed.

Trudeau had called Poilievre “spineless” with impunity

It was unprecedented to throw out the Leader of the Opposition without a clear final warning and unambiguous instructions, especially after Trudeau had called Poilievre “spineless” with impunity.

If anything, getting Poilievre turfed seemed to have been concerted and planned, not by Poilievre, but by the Liberals in cahoots with their Speaker.

My vantage point into that desperate, full-bore Liberal effort to spin this against Poilievre came from an early morning call from a senior Liberal minister. In my line of work, as an observer and analyst of the political scene, knowing and being able to speak with ministers is part and parcel of doing your job well. Being able to call us, in return, is no doubt also part of theirs.

My interlocutor quickly understood that, with my years of experience, no one would convince me that Fergus was right. I was elected for three mandates to the rough-and-tumble National Assembly in Quebec City, where I served as Deputy House Leader, both in opposition and power. I also served as Official Opposition House Leader in Ottawa before assuming the same role Thilievre has today: Leader of the Official Opposition.

I mention all that to reinforce that I know the ropes and the important institutional roles involved. My senior Liberal changed tack when it was clear I thought Fergus had to go. They went all-in, making a negative and personal attack against Poilievre. It was brutal and came off as orchestrated, if not contrived.

It was not just an attack on Poilievre. It was a plea for me to acknowledge just how awful he was. He represents a clear and present danger for our institutions. It had an air of fin de régime, the end of Trudeau’s political era, and it wasn’t going out on a high note.

Trudeau is still lagging 20 points behind.

It may mark the beginning of the end, but Trudeau isn’t about to leave simply because Canadian voters have decided to give him his pink slip. He has options, and he knows it. Sure, hardly a day goes by without an article detailing the plans of one cabinet minister to replace Trudeau or an outside potential successor giving an eloquent speech to the Liberal faithful.

Polls are being published to show which possible new leaders have the most public favor. This is happening against a backdrop of Trudeau still lagging 20 points behind, with nothing to show for his mammoth pre-budget tour or from the budget itself.

However, Trudeau still holds many good cards in his hand. He brought the Liberal Party back to life after the Ignatieff debacle. They owe him everything. He’s not about to be given the boot. He’ll be the only one to decide when and if he’ll leave. He’s won three elections in a row, but he should have noted that Canadians cast more votes for the Conservatives in the 2019 and 2021 campaigns. The writing was already on the wall. He couldn’t, or wouldn’t, decode it.

I know several senior Liberals, both high-level volunteers and MPs with access to Trudeau, who has been encouraging him to consider this is his ‘legacy mandate,’ to be graceful and leave his place to someone else so that the party still has the time to give a new leader a chance in the next election. All say that Trudeau refuses to admit that he may be the problem, much less listen to their heartfelt advice.

Of course, it’s not in Trudeau’s nature to admit he and his hapless administration of Canada could be to blame. Now that the proof is in front of him daily in the polls, how long can he deny the obvious?

The writing may be on the wall, but it’s important to remember that Trudeau could still decide tomorrow to walk across the lawn from Rideau Cottage, where he lives, to Rideau Hall and ask Gov.-Gen. Mary Simon to call an election, and she’d have no choice but to do so.

Those senior Liberal organizers know it as well. The longer Trudeau dithers, the less likely there will be a push by frustrated potential successors to drink from a poisoned chalice. With no time to fully present themselves to Canadians, much less organize properly for an election, they’d be cannon fodder for Poilievre’s Conservatives.

The Liberals I speak with still clutch at the hope that a lot of Singh’s NDP vote will drift over to them when progressives sense the impending doom of a Poilievre Conservative victory. The fact that a considerable cohort of NDP MPs has either quit or announced their intention not to run indicates that there may be far fewer votes to purloin than there may have been before the NDP-Liberal deal and before Poilievre’s ascendancy.

In the meantime, if last week’s shenanigans are any indication, Canadians can expect a brutal, personal knock-down, drag-out fight between the leaders of the two parties that have governed Canada since Confederation. It’s going to get ugly.

By Tom Mulcair, Leader of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada between 2012 and 2017

 

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Trudeau’s Grapples With a Mass Exodus of Senior Staff

Published

1 day ago

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2024-09-11

By

Trudeau
Five chiefs of staff for Liberal ministers have quit - Image Counter Signal

The minority Liberals are returning to a precarious position in the House of Commons, having lost the automatic support of the New Democratic Party, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is currently grappling with an exodus of senior staff.

According to six Liberal sources who each confirmed some of the names of those leaving, five of his 38 ministers are losing their chiefs of staff in quick succession, with several already gone. These chiefs of staff include the top advisers at Global Affairs, Heritage, Environment, National Revenue, and Mental Health and Addictions.

According to the sources, a number of employees had been contemplating their departures for months, while others had been entertaining the idea for an extended period before ultimately making the decision. Some of the sources stated that five out of 38 is a significant decrease, despite the fact that the Liberals have frequently encountered turnover among their ministerial staff since assuming office in 2015.

The Globe and Mail is refraining from disclosing the sources due to their inability to disclose an internal staffing change.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office downplayed the importance of the departures. Hundreds of political personnel are responsible for providing support to our government, cabinet ministers, and members of Parliament. Turnover is a typical aspect of the employment process for the personnel who perform this critical function, according to Mohammad Hussain, the press secretary for the PMO.

Trudeau’s loss of its top executive

Peter Wilkinson, the director of staff to Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, is departing the office less than two years after his appointment. Senior staff member Jamie Kippen, who has served as the chief of staff to Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault for an extended period, has already completed his final day. Jude Welch, the director of staff for Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, has already departed.

Sarah Welch, the chief for Ya’ara Saks, the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, and Frédérique Tsai-Klassen, the chief to Minister of National Revenue Marie-Claude Bibeau, are also departing. According to the sources, the majority of the senior staff who are departing do not currently have a position lined up. However, they are eligible for severance payments that are calculated based on their years of service.

The party’s loss of its top executive, national campaign director Jeremy Broadhurst, a prominent senior Liberal for the past two decades, coincides with the exodus of top staff in ministerial offices. He was previously the national campaign director in 2019 and a senior adviser in the PMO before returning to the party last year.

Mr. Broadhurst tendered his resignation on Thursday, mere days prior to Mr. Trudeau’s scheduled meeting with his caucus in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Three Members of Parliament informed The Globe that they are anticipating the Prime Minister’s presentation of a credible strategy to regain the support of Canadian electors.

Senior staff members have resigned

According to two senior officials, it is unlikely that Mr. Trudeau will designate a replacement for Mr. Broadhurst at the caucus meeting. Nevertheless, an official in the PMO stated that the caucus will be provided with a comprehensive roadmap for the upcoming election. The two officials who were prohibited from disclosing the internal planning are not being identified by The Globe and Mail.

In addition to the anticipated resignation of Transportation Minister Pablo Rodriguez and the departure of Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan in July, all of the senior staff members have resigned.

Mr. O’Regan was a significant political ally of Mr. Trudeau. Mr. Rodriguez is anticipated to declare his departure from the federal Liberals in order to participate in the provincial party’s leadership race, as he currently occupies the most significant political position in Quebec for the government.

“I believe it is a sign of the end of government,” Lori Turnbull, chair of the public and international affairs department at Dalhousie University told the Globe and Mail. She said senior staff members are aware that their departures will only exacerbate the perception and reality of the current state of Trudeau and the government.”

“There is a perception that the Trudeau government has reached its conclusion and that the upcoming election will result in a loss.” The departure of senior staff indicates that even those who are committed to Team Trudeau can perceive the impending doom.

“It raises the question of whether we would witness the same departures in the event that a new leader were selected,” she continued.

The second-in-commands for each office have already been appointed to numerous top-level positions; however, the most critical position at Global Affairs has yet to be permanently replaced.

As of Sunday, Alexandre Boulé has assumed the role of interim chief for Ms. Joly, according to her office. In the interim, deputy chief of staff Joanna Dafoe will succeed Mr Kippen at Environment, and deputy Michael Lartigau will succeed Mr Welch at Heritage.

Marianne Dandurand has succeeded Ms. Tsai-Klassen as the superintendent of National Revenue.

The office announced on Sunday that the position of chief to the Mental Health and Addictions minister is still vacant.

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Trudeau Courts Canadian Separatists Party to Stay in Power

Published

2 days ago

on

2024-09-10

By

The Bloc Québécois is ready to give the Trudeau government
The Bloc Québécois is ready to help Trudeau for concessions for Quebec - CBC Image

Just days after Canada’s NDP party cut ties with Canada’s liberal party Justin Trudeau has approached the Bloc Quebecois a Canadian separatists party to maintain his grip on power in Canada. Trudeau is facing pressure to resign as nearly 78 Percent of Canadians disapprove of his leadership.

The Bloc Quebecois expressed its willingness to collaborate with the Liberals in order to secure support during confidence ballots in the wake of the supply and confidence agreement with the NDP expiring on Sunday. The BQ has formulated a list of demands in response.

Bloc House Leader Alain Therrien expressed his satisfaction that his party has regained its balance of power in the House at Trudeau’s expense in an interview conducted prior to Monday’s party caucus retreat in the Outaouais region.

He referred to the circumstance as a “window of opportunity” now that the Liberals are genuine minority government.

In the interim, Premier Danielle Smith of Alberta has explicitly stated that she does not wish for the Liberals to join forces with the Bloc Quebecois in order to preserve their position of authority.

Although the Liberals may collaborate with the Bloc Quebecois, Smith stated that it “does not have a mandate to negotiate with Quebec separatists at the expense of Alberta, the West, and the rest of the country.”.

Smith tweeted on Monday, ““If the Liberals go down this path, we need an election to be called immediately”.

The NDP has expressed its willingness to contemplate supporting Trudeau on a “vote-by-vote basis,” while the Conservatives have promised to introduce a motion of no confidence in the current government.

Despite the fact that Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives have pledged to hold numerous confidence votes in order to precipitate a general election, the Bloc’s approach is to leverage their newly acquired status to achieve what they perceive as significant benefits for Quebec.

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Judge Sides With Special Counsel Over Trump’s 2020 Election Case

Published

5 days ago

on

2024-09-07

By

Judge Trump Trial
Judge in Trump's 2020 election case sides with special counsel - File Image

The federal judge supervising former President Trump’s case in the aftermath of the 2020 election spelled out the timeline for the prosecution’s next actions following the Supreme Court’s declaration that Trump is immune for “official acts.”

Hours after the two parties met in her courtroom earlier Thursday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued an order that generally supported special counsel Jack Smith’s timing proposal.

Former President Trump faces four counts in connection with his alleged efforts to alter election results, including conspiracy to defraud the United States. Trump pleaded not guilty to the allegations again, but waived his appearance in court on Thursday CBS News reported.

The judge’s order rejects Trump’s lawyers’ proposed timeline for extending pretrial hearings into the spring or fall of 2025, well beyond the November presidential election.

Smith and his team had pushed for immunity conversations to take place alongside motions and other matters raised by the former president’s legal team.

Chutkan ordered federal prosecutors to send over all necessary information to Trump’s team by September 10, and Smith’s team had until September 26 to submit an opening brief detailing their views on presidential immunity. Smith’s prosecutors stated in court Thursday that the immunity motion will include fresh material not found in the indictment. Chutkan’s order allows the material to become public before the November election.

The judge set an Oct. 17 deadline for Trump’s team to respond to the special counsel’s claims and file their own motion to dismiss the indictment on immunity grounds. The administration will then have until October 29 to submit their response.

Chutkan stated in her two-page order that once the filings on the immunity issue are received, she will determine whether additional proceedings are required.

The judge also ordered Trump’s lawyers to file a petition by September 19 that includes “any specific evidence related to presidential immunity” that the former president feels prosecutors wrongfully concealed.

The decision also indicates that Trump has until October 24 to petition the court to enable him to file a move to dismiss the case based on accusations that Smith’s appointment and financing are unconstitutional. The special counsel’s team has until October 31 to file documents contesting this request.

The criminal case in Washington, DC, had been delayed several times as courts considered Trump’s immunity from prosecution. From 2017 to 2021, Trump claimed “absolute” immunity for any actions he took as president.

On July 1, the Supreme Court delivered a ruling denying any claims to absolute immunity while allowing extensive “presumptive immunity” to any “official” activities the president may take.

The ruling did not specify what constitutes a “official” or “unofficial” activity, but it implied that conversations with government officials, such as the vice president, would be exempt from prosecution.

As a result, the verdict was interpreted as expanding presidential power beyond what the US Constitution allows.

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