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Why Trudeau should step aside for a renewal of the Liberal Party of Canada · Kvetch & Release

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  There are still proverbial shockwaves being felt right now across the country, especially for
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  the Liberals after that Toronto Saint Paul by election where the seat that they held
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  for thirty years, most recently under Carolyn Bennett was lost to the Conservatives,
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  who themselves was said that they didn't expect that they were going to win the
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  seat. It's causing a lot of inward looking. One person who has had
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  some thoughts about the Liberal Party of Canada as well as the need for renewal
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  is Andrew Perez, principle at Perez Strategies, and he's also a strategist involved
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  with the Liberal Party of Canada in different capacities for fifteen plus years. He
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  joins me right now to discuss what needs to be done for the Liberal Party
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  of Canada to I don't know, Andrew, is it a question of becoming
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  more relevant again? What's your prognosis of the situation that was a huge loss.
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  Well, first, thanks John for having me on your show. Yes,
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  I mean, look, this is a government that's been in power for
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  nearly nine years, and I want to be clear that you know, not
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  all the blame lies that justin Trudeau's fault, but justin Trudeau's foot rather,
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  but when you've been in power for nine years, three terms looking for a
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  fourth term, that's pretty unprecedented in Canadian politics. We know that the COVID
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  nineteen pandemic and the affordability crisis have really impacted Canadians in some respects, the
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  government's handled those crises well. In other respects, it certainly has I think
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  related to affordability in housing, and so there's been a myriad of factors I
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  think in the last I would say year that has led to a prolonged pulling
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  plump for Trudeau, whereby you know, he's disten the twenty points behind the
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  Conservatives, and really I think that culminated in losing an historically safe Liberal seat
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  to the Conservative. It was a stunning upset. But let's be clear,
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  we're not just having this discussion because we lost the by election by five hundred
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  votes. This was just yet another proof point in the last year year and
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  a half that to me suggests we need real renewal, some radical change within
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  the party related to policies and approach it and that includes the leadership as well.
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  You actually had a column come out in the Toronto Star on April the
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  first, so, you know, a couple of months before the by election
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  here it was titled I've been a Liberal for twenty years. My party has
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  lost its way under Justin Trudeau. What are some of the issues with where
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  he took this party? Why is it that some people might be feeling alienated?
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  Sure? Well, I think you know, the Prime Minister has accomplished
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  some substantias policy wins over the last nine years. You know, you can
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  look at the Canada Child Benefit that lifted millions of children out of poverty,
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  and numerous other you know, renegotiating the Canada US Free Traded Agreement during the
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  first Trump administration, and there's been a number of other wins. I mean,
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  I would also point to overall, I think the government handled COVID well.
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  Where I'm more critical is related to economic stewardship, managing the debt and
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  the deficit. I've said on Twitter, look the idea behind national Pharmacare and
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  dental care, childcare. These are all noble ideas that I support in principle.
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  I think the challenge is, given the fiscal situation, it's challenging to
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  bring in some of these programs that are extremely expensive. We don't have the
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  revenue, and often this government is fond on making promises and the communications are
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  there, but the delivery and the execution of these policies doesn't always happen.
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  So I think at this point a lot of Canadians, unfortunately, they're done
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  listening to this Prime minister. They're sick of looking at his face, they're
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  sick of listening to him. Part of that isn't necessarily his fault. It's
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  the longevity of his prime ministership and these challenges rub up against any longtime leader.
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  But the other slip side too is I don't think the government has been
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  able to manage policies and issues effectively over I would argue the last eighteen months.
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  So let's say that he takes your advice here and he's listening to AM
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  eight hundred CKLW, which of course we hope is the case. And let's
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  say that he decides to step down. When you look at the current slate
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  of ministers, of members of the party, of speculated people who might be
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  outside of the party right now, who'd be your pick? Well, it's
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  hard to say. I'm still reflecting on the options, John, and I
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  think it's still very early days. It remains to be seen whether Trudeau will
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  in fact step down this summer, and so I don't yet know that we
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  have a full sense of who the candidate would be. There are certainly numerous
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  senior ministers like uh, you know, Anita anand fal Swasso, Leap Champagne,
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  Christia Freeland, Dominique Club Law. My my issue with ministers from within
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  the government is I fear that they're too closely tied with this Prime minister in
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  this government, and that is going to be hard to gain traction. They
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  won't be able to genuinely put a new stamp on the party and and really
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  telegraph that renewal. So I think we probably have to look from without the
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  outside the government, outside the cabinet. The only two names that I'm hearing
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  right now, and I'm sure you've heard at least one of them Mark Kearney,
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  the former government governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England,
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  and also Christie Clark, who was the premier of the BC Liberal Party premier
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  for a five year period. And your your listeners may know about the BC
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  Liberal Party now now now they've changed their name to BC United, but they
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  traditionally been a coalition party of liberals and conservatives. So those are the two
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  names I'm hearing right now. Look, it's I'm certain there'll be several cabinet
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  ministers who will end up running. I just I just think they are going
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  to face challenges when they inevitably try to distance themselves from this government, and
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  the media and critics will say, but you were around the cabinet table for
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  eight or nine years, how can you truly represent change? So I think
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  we probably have to go outside the government. But I'd be curious to hear
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  if there will be more names coming or would work over the coming weeks and
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  months. It'll be something that we absolutely keep our eyes on, and I'm
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  sure Andrew, you and I will get a chance to speak about it again
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  as we watch it all unfold. Thank you so much for your time and
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  your expertise. Thank you, John, I appreciate it. Have a great
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  day. Andrew Perez is a principal, the principle at Perez Strategies as well
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  as a liberal strategist. Want to know what you think about this one?
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  You can call or text in five one, nine, seven nine two CKLW
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  do you think that Prime Minister Trudeau should step down and allow for renewal and
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  rebirth of the Liberal Party of Canada. Or do you think that he's the
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  best shot that they have and that these types of conversations need not occur.