Trudeau will play his head again this week

Photo: Sean Kilpatrick The Canadian Press Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa, October 16

Nojoud Al Mallees – The Canadian Press in Ottawa

Posted at 6:22 p.m.

• Canada

Another week, another round of imminent challenges to the leadership of the country and the Liberal Party of Canada loom for Justin Trudeau.

The prime minister, whose presence at the helm of the party has drawn criticism and calls for his resignation from within his own ranks, faces two deadlines in the coming days: one from Liberal MPs who want him to resign and the other from the Bloc Québécois, which is threatening to call an early election.

Dissatisfaction with Mr. Trudeau's leadership has been growing for months, amid persistently disappointing approval ratings and two recent byelection losses in longtime party strongholds.

At the Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday, 24 MPs delivered a letter to the prime minister calling on him to resign and giving him until Oct. 28 to respond.

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Mr. Trudeau told those MPs he would consider what they had to say during the three-hour meeting, but a day later he told reporters he would remain Liberal leader.

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“We're going to continue to have big discussions about how best to go after Pierre Poilievre in the next election, but that's going to happen with me as leader in the next election,” he said, as a group of Liberal MPs gathered at the news conference applauded.

Liberal MP Sean Casey, who signed the letter, told reporters later Thursday that he was “moving on” following the premier's comments.

“It’s a decision he had every right to make, and he made it. I did my job by expressing what I was hearing from my constituents,” Casey said. “Now I have to focus my energy on winning my seat, not on internal party issues. As far as I’m concerned, that’s over.”

Lori Turnbull, a political science professor at Dalhousie University, said the challenge for dissident Liberal MPs is that there’s nothing they can do to force the prime minister to change his mind.

“The problem is there’s no other option than to leave caucus and/or vote to defeat the government,” Turnbull said. “Which would mean they would end up precipitating an election with Trudeau as leader, which they don’t want to do.” »

Meanwhile, the Bloc has given the Liberal government until October 29 to pass two bills that would increase old age security benefits for seniors and strengthen supply management.

If the Liberals don't comply, Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet said his party would enter into talks with other opposition parties to bring down the minority government.

Most Liberals voted against a Bloc motion earlier this month calling on the government to give a royal recommendation to a bill that would increase pensions for people under 75 by 10 per cent.