21 March 2019 - Justin Trudeau under pressure as MPs continue to quit
Celina Caesar-Chavannes quits Liberal caucus, will sit as independent MP
The Canadian Press (The Globe and Mail, 20/03/2019)
Celina Caesar-Chavannes has informed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that she’s leaving the federal Liberal caucus and will sit as an independent MP.
The Whitby, Ont., MP has been a vocal supporter of Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, two cabinet ministers who resigned over the SNC-Lavalin affair.
In an interview with the Globe and Mail last week, she also accused Trudeau of yelling at her angrily when she informed him that she would not be seeking re-election this fall – an accusation the Prime Minister’s Office has denied.
Trudeau Wasn't 'Hostile' Towards Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes, PMO Says
The Canadian Press (The Huffington Post, 09/03/2019)
A spokesman for the prime minister's office says Justin Trudeau had "emotional" conversations with Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes, but denies her claims the encounters were "hostile" or that Trudeau yelled at her.
Caesar-Chavannes told the Globe and Mail in an interview Trudeau was angry when she told him on Feb. 12 of her plans to announce she was not reoffering in the October federal election.
She alleges he yelled at her in that conversation and that she responded by shouting back at him, and says the prime minister later apologized.
LILLEY: Trudeau continues to have problems with women, and the truth
Brian Lilley (Toronto Sun, 20/03/2019)
Justin Trudeau continues to have problems with women in his Liberal caucus.
On Wednesday, Trudeau lost another prominent woman as Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes announced that she would leave the Liberal caucus and sit as an independent until she leaves Parliament come the election in October.
Caesar-Chavannes had previously announced that she would not run in the next election.
Canada's Trudeau under pressure as MP quits, budget criticized
David Ljunggren and Fergal Smith, Reuters (Euronews, 21/03/2019)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remained under pressure over a corruption scandal on Wednesday as a legislator quit his party's caucus and a pre-election budget aimed at swaying key voters appeared to offer too little to stem the tide of negative news.
The budget - the last before federal elections in October - lavished new spending on middle-class voters but ignored corporations. It also provided a little for key groups such as millennial voters who backed Trudeau in droves in Canada's 2015 election.
The decision by a legislator, who had defended a former minister at the centre of a political scandal, to quit the ruling Liberal Party and sit as an independent dealt a fresh blow to Trudeau's embattled government.