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OTTAWA – Liberal MP Wayne Long has become the first member of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s caucus to call for his resignation.
Long, a New Brunswick MP, penned an email letter to his caucus colleagues on Friday afternoon saying that after this week’s disastrous byelection loss in Toronto—St. Paul’s, it is time for Trudeau to step down.
Another MP from Newfoundland appeared to support his message.
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“After reflection on this week’s defeat in Toronto—St. Paul’s and then seeing the response, I want you to know clearly and directly where I stand,” Long wrote in an email sent Friday afternoon and obtained by the National Post. “For the future of our party and for the good of our country we need new leadership and a new direction.”
Long, who is not running for re-election, said the Liberals need to listen to what voters are saying.
“The voters have spoken loud and clear. They want change. I agree,” he wrote.
Newfoundland MP Ken McDonald responded to the emailed message in a reply-all, writing “well said!”
Trudeau has repeatedly said he has no intention of stepping down, including after this week’s humiliating loss.
The Liberals lost the byelection in the downtown Toronto riding on Monday. The riding was considered a safe Liberal seat with the party having held onto it for more than three decades. Under former MP Carolyn Bennett, the party routinely won the seat with 20 point leads and even in the 2011 election, where the party was reduced to third-party status, it won St. Paul’s with an eight-point margin of victory.
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Nationally, the Liberals have been trailing the Conservative party by double digits for more than a year.
Long was the first sitting MP to say Trudeau should resign, but several former cabinet ministers have said it is time for him to go. Long has a track record of breaking ranks with his party, he spoke out against small-business tax changes and earlier this month, criticized the government’s ban on open-pen salmon farms.
National Post
rtumilty@postmedia.com
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