P.E.I. MPs express sympathy for Freeland amid calls for prime minister to step down

Two Liberal MPs on P.E.I. are weighing in about the state of the party and whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to step down as the fallout from Chrystia Freeland's resignation as finance minister Monday continues.

Freeland told a stunned nation that Trudeau had planned to replace her as finance minister, but not before she was expected to deliver the fall economic statement in the House of Commons that would reveal the government overshot its spending projections by more than $20 billion.

Malpeque MP Heath MacDonald, who once served as a finance minister in the P.E.I. government, said Freeland was put in a difficult position.

"I can't imagine being asked or told a couple of days prior to being put on a national stage to address the fall economic statement, that the PM basically has lost confidence in you but expected you to carry on," he said in an email response to CBC.

Charlottetown MP Sean Casey went so far as to say there was a long-running campaign to undermine Freeland, who was also the deputy prime minister.

The people conducting this campaign are either loyal to Justin Trudeau or to Mark Carney, a special adviser to the prime minister and a former Bank of Canada governor, but "don't have the courage to say their names," Casey said during an interview Tuesday on Island Morning.

"It has not been productive, it has not been fair," he said. "It's undoubtedly part of the reason why she has taken the decision that she has."

Freeland posted her resignation letter online Monday morning, just hours before she was set to deliver the economic statement. By the evening, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc had been sworn in as the new finance minister.

2 P.E.I. Liberal MPs weigh in on calls for Justin Trudeau to step down

3 days ago

Duration 3:01

Sean Casey and Heath MacDonald say they don't like the way the prime minister handled finance minister Chrystia Freeland's resignation.

While Casey said he believes Trudeau is not and has never been part of that campaign, Casey brought his concerns to the prime minister at a caucus meeting Monday night. 

"I said to the prime minister that, 'You have the power and the influence to stop that. Please call the dogs off.'" 

Casey was among the first MPs to call for Trudeau's resignation in October of this year. Since then, several other Liberals have publicly called for the prime minister to resign. 

"The caucus is united in their view that Pierre Poilievre would be very, very bad for Canada," Casey said. "For many people, the best way to ensure that doesn't happen is for Justin Trudeau to move along." 

Despite these calls for his resignation, "the prime minister has made it very clear that he's staying," Casey said. 

"He has the right to make that decision ... As I'm fond of saying, he has the right to be wrong." 

'It's really hard to support him'

MacDonald said P.E.I. has done "extremely well" under Trudeau's leadership and policies, with more than $1 billion in transfers, but it's gotten increasingly hard to support Trudeau.

"This is politics and it's not personal. Every politician is faced with these decisions at some point in their career."

MacDonald has been away from the chaos in Ottawa while recovering from two eye surgeries. He said it has given him time to reflect on what he calls a "crucial time in our history."

"As any team that will be successful the majority of the team must have faith in your leader and the system, but I'm not sure that is the case with the Liberal caucus today."

As outspoken as he has been, Casey said he will continue to work with the Liberal Party even with Trudeau at the helm.

"This is a fight worth fighting and I'm up for it," Casey said.

"I think that a Pierre Poilievre prime ministership would be very bad for Canada and very bad for Prince Edward Island, and I owe it to my constituents to do everything I can to stop that. And I will." 

People in Freeland's Toronto riding say they support her resignation from cabinet

4 days ago

Duration 3:21

People who spoke to CBC News in Chrystia Freeland's riding of University-Rosedale in Toronto say they were surprised to hear that she'd resigned from cabinet, but that it was the right move to make.

While a federal election is set to take place before October 2025, Casey said Canadian politicians should prioritize orchestrating a response to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's tariff threats. 

"The energy of the decision makers and the political leadership should be solely focused on protecting Canada's interests against the looming tariffs," he said.  

"We are in a situation right now as a country where the biggest single threat to our economy is to our south. That's where our focus needs to be. Not on an election — at least not yet."

CBC News also reached out to Egmont MP Bobby Morrissey and Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay, MP for Cardigan. Morrissey did not weigh in on whether Trudeau should resign, saying that is the leader's decision to make, but did respond in an email with: "I expect the leader to always put what is in the best interest of the country first."

CBC did not hear back from MacAulay.