With personal attacks getting in the way of governing, especially during recent weeks, MP Lloyd Longfield understands why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is giving up the reins and opted to put Parliament on hold.
“Parliament wasn't working and so I think the combination of proroguing Parliament and getting a new leader hopefully will get us to a better place in the way Parliament's been functioning,” the Liberal MP said. “I'm disappointed it's come to this, but I can see why the Prime Minister made the decision he made.”
On Monday, Trudeau announced he will step down as Liberal party leader following a leadership contest, and that Parliament has been prorogued until March 24 in order to allow that to happen.
“This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election,” Trudeau said during a news conference in Ottawa.
Longfield said personal attacks against Trudeau have been growing externally and within the Liberal party.
“I wasn't part of that,” the MP said. “I mean, the Prime Minister has his own decision to make about when he wants to be stepping down. We have ways of dealing with that. But caucus infighting isn't the way to deal with that.”
During the prorogue, Longfield said there's plenty of work to keep him busy at his Guelph office.
With parliament set to return in March, Longfield anticipates the minority government will be brought down soon after, followed by a federal election in May or June.
As for who he supports as the next Liberal party leader – the person who will assume Prime Minister duties through the next election – Longfield said he supports former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland. She resigned from cabinet last month.
“I've worked well with her and if she's the candidate, I would be really happy,” Longfield said. “But again, I don't know who else would be running, but I'm definitely supportive of Chrystia Freeland.”
Longfield announced in 2023 that he won’t be running in the next federal election. He was first elected as Guelph’s MP in 2015.
Declared candidates for the Guelph riding include Janice Folk-Dawson for the New Democratic Party, Gurvir Khaira for the Conservative Party of Canada, Dominique O’Rourke for the Liberal Party and Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik for the Green Party.
For the first time, Guelph will not be fully encapsulated in a single riding. Rather, areas south of Arkell Road are included into the new riding of Wellington-Halton Hills North, which comes into being during the election.
