Freeland should replace Trudeau

Dear Editor:

Whatever the rights or wrongs of the SNC-Lavalin affair, Justin Trudeau should recognize that he has become an electoral liability for his party and resign as party leader. If he doesn’t do this soon, the Liberals will lose a significant amount of support in the fall election.

If he were to resign, I reckon that Chrystia Freeland would likely be appointed as interim leader and would front the party’s electoral campaign. It is unlikely that the party would want to hold a leadership convention until after the election. Freeland is well respected for her handling of the foreign affairs portfolio and it is highly likely that the party’s support would swiftly climb out of the doldrums under her leadership.

The Conservatives shot themselves in the foot by choosing Andrew Sheer as leader because he is a largely unknown quantity to the electorate at large, even to some of his party’s own supporters.

They will also suffer from having allowed Maxime Bernier to form an opposing party. he NDP’s support appears to be eroding. If Trudeau remains as leader, there will be a significant decline in voter turnout from voters who feel that there is nobody worth voting for.

Trudeau would not lose very much by resigning other than suffering a dent in his ego. He would probably get re-elected in his own riding and would likely remain in cabinet as a significant player. He would just have to accept the demotion that would follow his resignation, just as Jody Wilson-Raybould did. Brian Butler Penticton