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Michael McLeod not in favour of proroguing Parliament

NWT MP says he would have preferred 'to hold on' and pass a budget before making decision to suspend business
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NWT MP Michael McLeod said would have liked to have seen a budget passed before Parliament was prorogued. Devon Tredinnick/NNSL photo

With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau proroguing Parliament earlier this month, there have been plenty of opinions on whether it was the either the right or wrong thing to do.

The MP for the NWT chimed with his thoughts in on Friday and said he would have done things differently.

Michael McLeod was at the legislative assembly to announce more than $10 million over five years for future wildfire preparation in the NWT. During his announcement, McLeod was asked by NNSL Media for his thoughts on Parliament not sitting.

"My personal position would have been to try to hold on and get a budget introduced [and] passed so that some of the agreements that we've been working on, some of the initiatives that we've been lobbying for over the last eight [or] nine months, could be made public and money could start flowing," he said. "But that's not the case."

Trudeau announced his resignation on Jan. 6 with Governor General Mary Simon also agreeing to suspend business at the House of Commons until late March.

McLeod said in fairness, he thinks the prime minister didn't have many options for going forward.

"It was a loud voice from across the country that was insisting a leadership review take place at the very least," he said. 

The Liberals are now busy looking for a new leader with two major names - Mark Carney and Chrystia Freeland - considered the front-runners. The federal government also has its hands full with the threat of 25 per cent tariffs from the United States. At the local level in the NWT, the party still has not announced who their next candidate will be.

"Going forward, lots of phone calls, lots of people campaigning and very soon, we'll see who the new prime minister is," said McLeod.

NNSL Media also asked McLeod who he would endorse as Trudeau's successor. He said he'll make that announcement soon.

"My position has been to try to wait until I hear from everybody," said McLeod. "There's still some new people entering the race. I want to ensure that people are coming to me for support. I want to be able to see what they know about the North, what their vision for the North is and maybe even have some commitments made."

Additional candidates include Chandra Arya, an MP in Ottawa who threw his hat in the ring just days after Trudeau announced his resignation. Karina Gould, another Ontario MP, also announced her candidacy while Nova Scotia MP Jaime Battiste and former MPs Frank Baylis and Ruby Dhalla are in the ring as well.

Parliament is prorogued until March 24. During that time, the NWT Liberals have promised to announce its candidate for the next federal election after a new federal leader is chosen on March 9 and before Parliament returns, according to David Monroe, chair of the territorial party's board of directors



About the Author: Devon Tredinnick

Devon Tredinnick is a reporter for NNSL Media. Originally from Ottawa, he's also a recent journalism graduate from Carleton University.
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