A Successor for Trudeau?

by Eduardo del Buey

A Liberal Leadership Option for Canada

Many Canadians today are wondering who will succeed Justin Trudeau as Liberal Party Leader and Prime Minister until the next election.

On Friday morning, while discussing the cabinet shuffle, pundit Scott Reid told viewers on CTV that Canada is like a plane that has lost two engines and whose pilot is missing, yet everyone is talking about who got bumped up to business class.

Ridiculous but true!

And it's sad because I don’t see anyone in “business class” — the Canadian ministerial cabinet — who can stop a massacre of the Liberal Party at the polls in 2025.

Any Cabinet Minister associated with Prime Minister Trudeau’s government is a non-starter. The opposition — and many Canadians — will portray them as part of the problem, not the solution.

Can anyone reverse the current trend and help the liberals avoid complete annihilation in 2025?

I can’t see anyone in the party leading them anywhere close to this outcome.

However, some people outside the party could if only the Liberals chose to think outside the box.

The person I consider a credible candidate for the position is Jean Charest, former federal Conservative leader and cabinet minister who became Liberal leader and a formidable Quebec Premier.

His recent interview on CBC underscored his clarity of vision regarding Canada’s place in the world. He also demonstrated his command of unconventional thinking and his ability to identify and prioritize strategies.

Mr. Charest is media savvy, well-known nationwide, and respected across party lines.

Mr. Charest rebuilt the former Progressive Conservative Party from zero after its 1993 drubbing. He then successfully crossed party lines to serve very effectively as Quebec’s Liberal Premier from 2003 to 2012.

He is fluently bilingual, has world-class contacts in key political and financial capitals worldwide, and has the gravitas to provide a credible challenge to the incoming Trump administration that will undoubtedly be a litmus test for any aspiring Canadian federal leader.

In 2022, he ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the federal Conservative Party but gained the votes of mainstream conservatives who opposed the party’s shift away from the center-right and loss of its Progressive Conservative roots.

Recently, he has been speaking about the lackluster Canadian response to Mr. Trump’s insulting attacks on Canadian identity and independence. He has underscored his ability to manage a convincing narrative against the backdrop of the Liberal Prime Minister's lackluster federal response.

His decision to continue speaking out on critical issues underscores his interest in serving the public good.

He has not left the Conservative Party; rather, the Conservative Party has left him. He could be available to bring the Liberals back to the center, where the votes are.

Indeed, he could bring disaffected conservatives and liberals back to the Trudeau-less party to fight against the increasingly right-wing Conservative Party and provide many Canadians with a viable alternative.

As a successful former provincial premier, he understands the workings of Canadian federalism and would bring tremendous experience and knowledge in forming a Team Canada approach between the federal and provincial governments to deal with the challenges Canada faces from the incoming Trump administration.

Given the current polls, he would likely not win an election, but he would provide a cushion for the Liberals’ fall from grace and a stronger base from which to rebuild.

He would also remain in the public eye, which is where he apparently wants to be, and continue to play an effective role in Canadian public life.

Do the Liberals have the creativity and strength to think outside of the box and elect someone from beyond the party to this key role?

Could they convince Mr. Charest to run, perhaps win the leadership, and come across once again as a “Captain Canada” figure?

He relished this role when, during the 1995 referendum campaign on Quebec separatism, he pulled out his Canadian passport at a massive Montreal federalist rally in the last days of his campaign to promote his Canadian identity.

This led “no” voters to vote accordingly a few days later, and it played a key role in preventing Canada's breakup.

Canadian identity is close to his heart and is crucial in this time of uncertainty when the current Liberal leader preaches against national identity or patriotic fervor and Canadian values appear to be failing.

Will the Liberal rank and file vote against this trend by electing a leader who is proud of his Canadian identity and his Quebecois roots?

I know I am thinking outside of the box, and some may question my proposal.

But are the Liberals capable of doing so and limiting the damage to their brand in the next election?

Let’s see.

What do you think?