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Some Liberal MPs are insisting their caucus remains united despite Steven Guilbeault’s decision to quit cabinet over Prime Minister Mark Carney’s deal with Alberta that could lead to a new pipeline to the B.C. coast.
“The Liberal caucus is one that I greatly admire and respect. It crosses a lot of different cultures, a lot of different ideologies, a lot of different concerns but always co-operating for the interests of the common good,” Ontario MP Charles Sousa said Friday.
“I believe in the discussion that I’ve been having with them, and alongside my colleagues, we’re standing united.”
Sousa said the conversations taking place in caucus since Guilbeault’s decision to step down from cabinet, but remain a Liberal MP, are cordial and respectful and that “healthy debate is critical for us to succeed and do the right thing.”
Sources told CBC News earlier this week — before the agreement was signed — that some B.C. Liberal MPs were uneasy about the federal government backing a pipeline to northwest B.C. even though that province’s premier and some Indigenous communities are strenuously opposed.
But publicly, B.C. Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed insisted that the provincial caucus stands behind Carney.
“We’re united behind the prime minister, we’re united behind a government that believes that you can build a strong economy, that you can diversify our economy and out trading partners while also respecting climate change,” Noormohamed told David Cochrane, host of CBC’s Power & Politics.
When pressed about how his constituents might receive Thursday’s agreement between Ottawa and Alberta, Noormohamed insisted that a pipeline to the West Coast is still “theoretical” and that such a project would need consent from First Nations.