By Promod Puri

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre isn’t hiding his frustration over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s refusal to step down immediately and he is running out of steam with more trouble on the horizon with economic wizard Mark Carney soon to take over from Trudeau, offering Liberal party real hope at being competitive in the upcoming spring election. 

Meanwhile Trudeau plans to stick around until the Liberal Party selects a new leader—a timeline that Poilievre sees as a strategic stall tactic.

For Poilievre, Trudeau’s decision “changes nothing.” High poll numbers mean little without an election on the horizon. He squarely blames Liberal MPs for failing to force Trudeau out the door, claiming their hesitance robbed Canadians of the chance for an instant election—one he’s confident would capitalize on his growing popularity.

Renewing his demand for a snap election, Poilievre didn’t mince words:

“Their only objection to Trudeau is that he’s no longer popular enough to win. They’re clinging to power to protect their pensions and paycheques, sweeping their ‘hated leader’ under the rug months before an election, hoping to trick Canadians into falling for it all over again.”

Poilievre’s challenge to the Liberals is clear: stop delaying, face the polls, and let Canadians decide.

And while they are doing just that with the leadership race underway, this doesn’t bode well for the Opposition Leader, who is staring down many negatives including foreign interference report to be released at the end of January that could really damage his image to Canadians, even those who support him, and he may be also looking at party revolt and a challenge to his leadership.

Promod Puri is a veteran journalist and author and founder of the first Indo-Canadian English language newspaper The LINK.