Liberal MP Ken McDonald (Avalon, NL) has done an about-face on comments to a Radio-Canada reporter when he said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should be subject to a leadership review. “The intent of my recent public comments was not to personally call for a leadership review and I am not calling for one now,” said McDonald in a Thursday statement provided to CBC News Newfoundland. McDonald broke ranks on Wednesday by calling for the Liberals to hold a leadership review of Trudeau. READ MORE: Liberal MP calls for leadership review of Trudeau“As a party, let's clear the air and if people are still intent on having the leader we have now, fine,” he said. “But at least give people the opportunity to have their say in what they think the direction the party is going.”With the current Canadian government, McDonald said it is becoming old. He added people are thinking it is time for a change. “I tell everybody: every leader, every party has a best-before date,” he said. “Our best-before date is here.”Radio-Canada reporter Laurence Martin asked if he felt there should be some sort of shakeup. “You want a leadership review?” said Martin. McDonald said he would be OK with a leadership review. In most circumstances in politics and especially with the Canadian government, he said there would be a leadership review if a party goes from a majority to minority government. That has not happened with the Canadian government. The Liberals fell to a minority government in 2019 and stayed the same in 2021. “And if there were a review like that, would you continue supporting Justin Trudeau or would you look for somebody else?” said Martin. McDonald said he would want to see the slate of candidates that would come forward and hear from them before making up his mind. “So it's not clear for you right now whether Justin Trudeau is the right leader for the Liberal party?” said Martin. While McDonald did not call for Trudeau to resign, he said the future was unclear for him. CBC/Radio-Canada asked 15 Atlantic Canada Liberal MPs to respond to McDonald’s comments on Wednesday. No Liberal MPs responded. Now he has taken a much different tone. “As I said, I believe that the prime minister is a smart politician, a great campaigner and I know he still has the best interest of Canadians at heart,” he said. “I will continue to support my caucus colleagues and the prime minister as I've done since 2015.”
