Gerry Butts says Trudeau less likely to remain leader since Freeland quit

By Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press on December 27, 2024.

OTTAWA – A former chief adviser and close friend to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he doesn’t think Trudeau will stay on to lead the Liberals in the next election.

Gerald Butts writes in a Substack newsletter today that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s recent resignation from cabinet dealt Trudeau a staggering blow that loosened his already tenuous grip on the party.

He says Trudeau was “unlikely” to lead the party into the next campaign before Freeland’s stunning departure and is “now much less likely to do so.”

Butts says it also means the next election will probably come sooner rather than later next year and is even more likely to result in a Conservative majority government.

Just a week ago, Butts joined the Liberal Christmas party confab in Ottawa alongside Trudeau’s longtime chief of staff and close confidant Katie Telford.

Butts says if Trudeau does step down, the party should hold a leadership race rather than anoint Freeland or anyone else as leader.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2024.

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