Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer says the Tories will focus their criticism on Liberal policies in the lead-up to the next election, as the Liberal Party goes through its leadership race.
“It’s clear that the country has had enough Liberal policies. Nothing has really changed in terms of what the Liberal Party will be offering,” Scheer told a press conference on Parliament Hill on Jan. 7.
As more Liberal MPs began publicly calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign in late 2024, and after Trudeau announced his intention to resign on Jan. 6, the Conservatives have been focusing their messaging on emphasizing that all Liberal MPs are tied to the Trudeau government’s policies.
Scheer said that with Trudeau planning to resign, the Liberal Party is set to undertake a leadership contest with candidates who have supported his policies. “We’re going to continue to highlight that, regardless of who the Liberal leader happens to be,” he said.
“Canadians didn’t get tired of looking at Justin Trudeau’s face,” Scheer said. “It’s not like they got sick of his voice. They’re suffering under his policies. The reason why so many Canadians are so angry at this government is because of the misery that Canadians are experiencing.”
Trudeau announced on Jan. 6 that he intends to resign as prime minister and Liberal leader once the party has chosen a replacement.
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Trudeau said that while he loves Canada and has never been “someone who backs away from a fight,” he could not continue as leader of the party if he was forced to fight ongoing “internal battles.”
Trudeau had faced calls to resign from regional caucuses comprising a majority of Liberal MPs since former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland abruptly resigned from cabinet on Dec. 16.
Trudeau said in his Jan. 6 speech that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s vision “is not the right one for Canadians” and that the next Liberal leader will carry “the progressive Liberal standard” into the next election.
Trudeau had met with Governor General Mary Simon earlier in the day to ask her to prorogue Parliament until March 24, which she granted. He said the move was needed as the House of Commons had been “paralyzed for months.”
The Conservatives last year led a filibuster of House proceedings over the government not fully complying with a House order to hand over all federal green fund scandal documents. The Liberals say privacy considerations prevent them from doing so.
The Tories say the Liberal government prorogued Parliament to give its party more time for the leadership race, with Scheer saying that the Liberals “put themselves ahead of the Canadian people.”
The Conservatives had planned to work on a non-confidence motion in the House of Commons public accounts committee the week of Jan. 6, to be tabled when the House was set to return from holiday break in late January.
A Nanos Research poll done the week ending Jan. 3, the Friday before Trudeau announced his intention to step down, indicated that the Conservatives held 45.2 percent voter support, more than 20 percentage points more than the Liberals’ 22.5 percent and the NDP’s 16.4 percent.
