That disgruntled Liberal members of Parliament lack the ability to remove their leader is entirely their own fault. It is they who decided to deny themselves the ability to do so.
It also, unfortunately, made signing on to the provisions optional for all parties. Only the Conservatives chose to do so and, indeed, they used it to remove their previous leader, Erin O’Toole, following the 2021 election. The bill allows for MPs to petition for a confidence vote on their leader which, in Mr. O’Toole’s case, resulted in a thumbs down, the appointment of an interim, and a vote by party members for a new leader—in this case Pierre Poilievre.
It is a sensible and necessary check on the power of the Prime Minister’s Office, prevents the prime minister and his staff from running amok, and ensures MPs must be treated as something more than garden gnomes whose sole function is to show up, stay out of trouble, and vote as the party whip instructs them.
A small group of Liberal MPs, alarmed by their government’s unprecedented lack of popularity, tried in October to force Mr. Trudeau to resign. The same group, with perhaps a few more adherents, spoke out again following the shock resignation of Chrystia Freeland from cabinet in response to Mr. Trudeau’s decision to remove her as finance minister.
But their options are extremely limited.
Without access to the rights they denied themselves within the Reform Act, their only option is to vote against their own government in a confidence vote and force Mr. Trudeau to call an election. With the Conservatives enjoying a lead of more than 20 points in the polls, such a move would be the political equivalent of strapping on a suicide vest because most of them would lose their seats.
So all they can do is be angry. Or they can be frustrated. They can even protest by voting against some of their government’s legislation that doesn’t involve a confidence vote, but if they do so they risk being removed from caucus by Trudeau and would then most certainly not retain their seats.
Other than moral suasion, they have no power whatsoever. And they are ineffectual because they voted to be so.
We could all enjoy the irony were it not for the fact the nation may now suffer the consequences of their obsequious behaviour. Their decisions to happily adopt the role of garden gnomes have given Mr. Trudeau and his Chief of Staff Katie Telford what amount to dictatorial powers within an allegedly democratic parliamentary system.
They could have put a check on the powers of their leader. They didn’t, and the bed they now lie in is the one they made.
So now, the jobs of many thousands of people are at risk from the 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports threatened by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has turned Canada into a sort of running gag through his social media posts, referring to it as the great (51st) state of Canada and to its prime minister as a mere governor. Mr. Trump is well known for his brash presentation, but he has never so freely mocked any nation as he has Canada in recent weeks.
Clearly, he senses weakness. Despite efforts by provincial premiers to appeal to the Americans for reason, Mr. Trudeau, who is struggling to maintain the respect of his own nation, remains the target.
The prime minister may yet choose, after reflecting on his dilemma, to step aside and let a replacement lead the Liberals into an election that will give whoever wins a mandate to negotiate with Mr. Trump. But even then it will be too late. The president-elect takes office in a matter of weeks and he is clearly in a hurry. Even a resignation by Mr. Trudeau at this stage—and the evidence to date indicates he is disinclined to make that move—means it will be months before Canada is equipped to deal with what amounts to an existential threat to its economy.
Had Liberal MPs not so enthusiastically emasculated themselves, the story might have been very different. But they did and the country will pay dearly for their subservience.
