Canada’s Trudeau under fire to step down as prime minister

TRENTON, Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing growing demands to step down, as he remains elusive to both the press and public.

More than 50 Ontario lawmakers from Trudeau’s own Liberal Party reportedly came to a consensus during a conference call on Saturday that called for the prime minister to resign, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported over the weekend. That represents about a third of the party, which has 153 seats in Parliament.

Meanwhile, New Democrat Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh, whose support allowed the minority Liberals to govern, said he will call for a vote of non-confidence at the earliest opportunity and that would trigger an election. The Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois joined in the chorus for Trudeau to quit. Trudeau was being blamed during a time of inflated food prices and housing shortages.

“The Liberals don’t deserve another chance,” Singh wrote in an open letter Friday, reported the CBC. “That’s why the NDP will vote to bring this government down.”

Trudeau’s future after nine years as prime minister was increasingly in peril after various polls showed the Liberals were far behind, with the prime minister himself getting an approval rating of only 28%, according to a year-end Angus Reid Institute poll.

Liberals began to whisper that Trudeau should go. Last week, the groundswell turned into a tsunami after Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned in a letter made public on the day, Dec. 16, that she was supposed to deliver the fall budget.

Freeland revealed that Trudeau informed her on Dec. 13 that she would be replaced and offered her a minor cabinet role instead. She refused the offer and posted her resignation letter on social media the following Monday.

“Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the Cabinet,” she wrote in the letter.

It was a political bombshell and Trudeau began the hide and seek game, remaining unavailable for comments.

Trudeau is said to be mulling over his political future during the Christmas holidays with family. He will then take a skiing vacation in British Columbia.