Yukon MP joins chorus of Liberals calling on Trudeau to resign

Yukon MP Brendan Hanley is joining more than a dozen of his Liberal caucus colleagues who say Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should step down.

Speaking to CBC's Yukon Morning Wednesday, Hanley called Trudeau a "transformational leader" but said the Prime Minister now needs to go.

"I don't see any viable path forward with the prime minister staying as our leader," Hanley said. "I think now is the time to allow for a leader to take over and to really bring a different vision and a new energy to the party."

Hanley said he told Trudeau at a caucus meeting this week that his constituents, as well as party supporters and donors in the Yukon, now feel the Liberals need new leadership. He's calling for a secret-ballot vote among Liberal MPs on whether Trudeau should stay.

It's been a chaotic week in federal politics after Chrystia Freeland resigned as finance minister, just hours before she was to give the government's fall economic update.

Hanley said Freeland's departure came as a shock and is a major blow to the Liberals. But he admits he doesn't know if Trudeau will heed calls to resign.

"I sense that [Trudeau] is in deep reflection right now," he said. "I could see it on his face, how shaken he was. He was clearly not expecting this decision from Minister Freeland." 

In her resignation letter, Freeland took shots at "political gimmicks" in the form of the government's GST holiday and proposed $250 rebates. Hanley said the holiday is "a welcome little break and at relatively affordable cost."

But he said he's less sure about the rebates.

"The checks are a much bigger expense and will require a lot more consideration in terms of whether that's a worthwhile spend," Hanley said. "You know, we have to maintain fiscal responsibility. I think that's what Minister Freeland was really calling out for, particularly in a time when we really have to focus on an upcoming change in the U.S. administration."

That administration and its threatened 25-per-cent tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods entering the U.S. are triggering calls for a "Team Canada" approach among the country's premiers and business leaders. In her letter, Freeland said the government's spending risks undermining its ability to respond to the fallout from any such tariff.

"It's more than just the tariffs," Hanley said. "It's going to be four years of an unpredictable Trump administration that we really need to be well prepared and unified to face together."

As for his own political future, Hanley said he plans to run again regardless of who's leading the federal Liberals.

"I'll continue to be a voice within caucus and make sure that I'm making the views of Yukoners well known here," he said.