Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepares to speak during a news conference in Vancouver on June 25.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced new pressure Friday over his leadership of the Liberal Party, with one MP and a former member of his cabinet calling on him to resign, while another MP said party members should be given a say on whether he stays.
Catherine McKenna, who served in both the environment and infrastructure portfolios in Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet, said in a statement Friday that the Liberal Party “isn’t about one person” and that the “Prime Minister has a legacy to be proud of but it’s time for new ideas, new energy and a new leader.”
The leadership questions follow the party’s stunning by-election defeat this week in a Toronto riding the party has held for decades.
Later on Friday, New Brunswick MP Wayne Long sent a letter to caucus members outlining his views on why he believes Mr. Trudeau should resign. He is the first member of the caucus to make such a statement publicly.
“For the future of our party and for the good of our country, we need new leadership and a new direction,” Mr. Long wrote.
The result in Toronto-St. Paul’s, held by former Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett since 1997, has fuelled concern among Liberals that the party is heading toward a disastrous result in the next general election, scheduled for fall 2025.
Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith, who represents the urban Toronto riding of Beaches-East York, said Liberal Party members should be given a say on the future of the party’s leadership.
In a social-media video released on Friday, Mr. Erskine-Smith, who is not seeking re-election, said while he understands voter frustration with Mr. Trudeau, the public also needs to know who might be willing to replace the Prime Minister should he step down.
“The decision ultimately depends upon who is in the bullpen warming up,” he said. He then mused about whether former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who has hinted he may be interested, would be a better option.
“Carney’s got a lot to learn about campaigning and it’s not yet clear to me at least what his version of a progressive direction for this country means.” he said. “There are smart and charismatic people in the current cabinet, too.”
Mr. Erskine-Smith said party members should have a say on the matter, but did not explain how that would work.
“Let’s have members, activists, organizers and grassroots donors across this country decide,” he said. “That’s what I would do if I was the prime minister. Rally the troops. Tell us why you want it and what comes next.”
Several prominent voices with historical ties to the party have gone further than Mr. Erskine-Smith and want Mr. Trudeau to step down, including Jean Chrétien-era cabinet ministers John Manley and Wayne Easter as well as former B.C. premier Christy Clark.
On Thursday, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne would only repeat an equivocating response when asked whether Mr. Trudeau is the right person to lead the Liberals into the next campaign. “The leader is the leader,” he told The Globe and Mail several times.
The Prime Minister is also being given the benefit of the doubt by some party veterans, such as Lloyd Axworthy, who told The Globe that while this is a moment of “reckoning” for the Liberals, Mr. Trudeau should stay on.
Mr. Axworthy, a Liberal MP from 1979 to 2000, said in an interview that the government has another year or so of runway ahead of election and “they should be using the time to change course in many ways.”
“I think it’s time that there be a little bit more of a reckoning,” he said.
Mr. Axworthy, who served as a foreign affairs minister under Mr. Chrétien, said this moment is not only about responding to the by-election results but realizing what the party is doing now “is not connecting.”
“I think they have to start thinking in more expansive, bigger terms and give Canadians something really fresh and important to think about in terms of where the country is going,” he said.
Mr. Axworthy said MPs need to be in their ridings talking to people about how they want to confront big issues such as climate change, artificial intelligence and nuclear weapons.
He also said the Liberals could revive a former promise on electoral reform and that issues of this kind get people talking about something more than the “day-by-day crossfire.”
In the 2015 campaign, Mr. Trudeau promised it would be the last election under current first-past-the-post system. In 2016, a parliamentary committee studied electoral reform but no changes were ever adopted.
Mr. Trudeau is heading into the Canada Day long weekend having yet to answer questions from the media about his party’s upset by-election loss. Earlier this week, in prepared remarks, he said he heard Canadians’ concerns and frustrations.
With a report from The Canadian Press