Liberal MP Calls for Freeland to Run for Party Leadership

Liberal MP Sean Casey rises in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Dec. 11, 2017. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

A Liberal MP has said he would support former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland should she choose to pursue the leadership of the Liberal Party.

The statement by Liberal MP Sean Casey comes a day after Freeland’s Dec. 16 resignation, a move that caused significant turmoil within the government, just prior to the presentation of the Fall Economic Statement.

Casey was asked in a scrum with reporters if he thought Freeland should run for leader. He said “yes,” adding that he didn’t believe the way Freeland resigned was a leadership launch, and that she “deserved better” from the prime minister.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Freeland on Dec. 13 he no longer wanted her to be finance minister, and instead offered her a different position in cabinet. Freeland resigned from cabinet with a letter posted to social media several hours before she was scheduled to deliver the Fall Economic Statement. The letter said stepping down was the only “honest and viable path” for her.

Freeland added that she had been “at odds” with Trudeau over the best economic path forward for Canada, and criticized the Liberal government’s “costly political gimmicks.” Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc was sworn in as finance minister later that day.

Casey described Freeland as an “intellectual heavyweight” within caucus, saying she'd had “significant influence at the table and with her colleagues.” He said the value of contributions from cabinet is “bound to go down” with Freeland no longer a member.

Casey previously called for Trudeau to resign in October amid news some in the caucus were gathering signatures to force him to do so. He told reporters during the Dec. 17 scrum he did not think Trudeau would resign his post.

“There’s not a single indicator, in anything that he says or does, that would tell me otherwise,” he said. “He seems to be absolutely committed ... I don’t believe for one second it’s an act. I think it’s real.”

Following her resignation, Freeland sent out an email to her team in which she said her decision was “not an easy one.” She said while the next few days would be challenging, it would “not be the end of the road.”

A Nanos Research poll from November asking Canadians who would be best to lead the Liberal Party found that the highest number of respondents, 26 percent, favoured “none of the above” when given several candidate options. Former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney had the highest support at 18 percent, followed by a two-way tie between Trudeau and Freeland who both garnered 11 percent support.

Former B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne tied for third place, receiving 4 percent. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Minister of Transport and Treasury Board President Anita Anand, and former Housing Minister Sean Fraser, who resigned from cabinet this week, all received 3 percent support.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was also sworn in as Finance Minister Dec. 16, received 2 percent support.