The Chinese characters for the word “crisis” are the same as for the word “opportunity.” There is no doubt today that the federal Liberal government is facing a crisis of incredible proportions. But if the Liberal Party is prepared to be bold and innovative, an incredible opportunity is staring it in the face.
Seizing this opportunity will first require the Prime Minister to recognize that his time is up. Canadians have decided that after ten years they want a new Prime Minister. There is no time to waste and Mr. Trudeau needs to announce this week that he will resign as Prime Minister effective January 6.
Second, the Liberal Party’s executive must recognize that we are not living in normal political times. In normal times, a Prime Minister would announce his or her retirement to take effect after a leadership convention. This usually takes three to four months. Given the precariousness of the government’s position in the House of Commons and given that it is only a month before the Trump administration takes office, three to four months is too long to wait. The Liberal Party executive must therefore be innovative and announce that the caucus and the Cabinet will choose a new Prime Minister effective January 6, and that given the national and international situation today, there will be no normal leadership convention until after the next election. If the new Prime Minister is elected, the convention will be a formality. If he or she is defeated, then there will be a real contest.
Third, Cabinet and the Liberal Caucus must grasp its responsibility to choose a new party leader and Prime Minister who is best placed to lead a government in which Canadians will have confidence. They have to do this in the next two weeks.
A couple of days ago, one might have suggested that the obvious choice to take on the role of leader would be Dominic LeBlanc. He has the respect of caucus, he has been a very good Minister and he has great political instincts. Another possible candidate might have been François-Philippe Champagne, who has also been an excellent Minister, is smart, knowledgeable and charming, and would also make a good Prime Minister.
Those might be safe choices. But this is not the time for safe choices. The political situation in Canada since the resignation of Chrystia Freeland yesterday is qualitatively different than what it was a week ago. As former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan famously said - “a week is a long time in politics.”
This is the time to do something unexpected and out of the ordinary that would capture the imagination and support of Canadians. That would be for Cabinet and caucus to actually reflect on how Chrystia Freeland has been received across the country in the last few days.
Since Chrystia Freeland announced her resignation from Cabinet, she has been recognized across the spectrum for her courage in distancing herself from Mr. Trudeau and some of his policies. She is no woke Trudeau 2.0. She is now looked at by many as an economic centrist who believes that growth is the essential prerequisite for redistribution. But beyond economics in this unprecedented time, she has been recognized, including by Canada’s Premiers, as the one best placed to captain Team Canada and confront Donald Trump. And Trump, by attacking her yesterday on social media, has recognized she would be a tough negotiator with Canada’s interests at heart. What Trump said in attacking Ms. Freeland is exactly why Canadians would want her to be Prime Minister as is the fact that the other leader who dislikes her most is Vladimir Putin. Imagine an election where the choice is who is best placed to negotiate with Donald Trump - Chrystia Freeland or Pierre Poilievre.
Then recognizing that collectively the G7 and the G20 will have to determine how to deal with President Trump, another question in an election would be who would be better placed to champion Canada’s interests, Chrystia Freeland who has attended all G7 and G20 meetings for many years and knows all the players or Mr. Poilievre?
Then a further election question might be who better positioned to influence the future of Ukraine - Chrystia Freeland with her deep connections to Ukraine or Mr. Poilievre?
In terms of domestic policy, we now know that Chrystia Freeland, independent of Mr. Trudeau and with her global economic credentials, does not buy into gimmicks or the type of catchy slogans which is largely all Canadians are getting today from Pierre Poilievre.
For these reasons and more, Cabinet and the Liberal caucus should seriously consider taking a step no one would have even thought about last week. Drafting Chrystia Freeland in the next two weeks is the bold and innovative choice that could turn today’s crisis into opportunity.
Many Canadians today are prepared to vote for Pierre Poilievre, not necessarily because they like him or want him but largely because he is an antidote to Justin Trudeau. For Canadians who want neither Mr. Trudeau nor Mr. Poilievre, a Freeland-led government might strike an ideal balance. Unquestionably, the results of the next federal election would be very different than they would be if Mr. Trudeau remained as Liberal leader.
It is up to the Liberal cabinet and the broader caucus to have the courage to seize the opportunity, and I sincerely hope that they do.
Eddie Goldenberg, C.M. was Chief of Staff and a long-time advisor to Prime Minister Chretien. He is now Senior Advisor at Global Public Affairs.