Disgruntled Liberal MPs gather in Ottawa with a chance to unload on Trudeau

OTTAWA — Disgruntled Liberal MPs are finally getting a chance to express their ire on Wednesday as the party’s caucus meets for the first time since a new effort to oust Prime Minister Justin Trudeau broke into public view.

Dozens of MPs have signed a letter asking the prime minister to step down for the good of the country. While many ministers and MPs affirmed their support for Trudeau, it might be a different story when the whole caucus gathers behind closed doors on Wednesday.

Until now, Liberal MPs Sean Casey, Ken McDonald and Wayne Long — all from Atlantic Canada — have confirmed that they signed the letter. McDonald and Long are not reoffering in the next election but are still calling on the prime minister to leave.

Long said before the meeting he expects a “very robust, frank and difficult discussion” inside the Liberal caucus.

“I’m looking forward to expressing my views. I don’t think it’s any secret to anybody what my views are, that we do need to change the leadership, but in the end, caucus majority will rule, and I’ll be able to look in the mirror and say my piece,” he added.

Long pointed to the election results in his home province of New Brunswick which saw a majority Liberal government, and said it is proof that Liberals can still win.

“We can beat Pierre Poilievre in the next election,” he said. “I don’t want to see what we’ve built, what we’ve done over the last nine years, be reversed because we didn’t do what we need to be done.”

Quebec Liberal MP Sophie Chatel would not say if she signed the letter nor if she trusts that Trudeau is the right man for the job.

“I think that the caucus and the prime minister will have lots to think about in the coming days and I hope, at the end of all this, we’ll take the best decision,” she said.

Her Quebec colleague Sameer Zuberi said this is the first of many conversations inside caucus.

“This is the first time that we’re talking about it. It’s a major conversation. I’m sure it’s going to be an ongoing one,” he said.

British Columbia MP Ken Hardie says he entering the meeting with an open mind.

“There’s all sort of wheels within wheels turning right now.”

“I’m just going to go in there and I’m going to make my mind a blank and just soak it all in.”

But ministers and MPs who have publicly supported Trudeau said this is a rough patch to go through and expressed confidence that they would get out of this as a team.

Toronto-area Liberal MP Judy Sgro said she supports Trudeau “one hundred per cent” and blamed the dissenters for damaging the Liberal Party of Canada’s brand.

“When you look divided, you look weak,” she said, adding that the dissenters could have had a private meeting with Trudeau to outline their “fears and concerns.”

“It was not necessary to do what is going on today.”

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the point of Wednesday’s meeting was to “regain momentum”

“You’ll see, it’s going to go well.”

National Revenue Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, who just announced she is not running again to run for Sherbrooke mayor, said “to win, we’ve got to stick together.”

MPs also weighed on the idea of having a secret ballot vote inside caucus and at the national executive to decide on Trudeau’s fate, as suggested by grassroots Liberals.

Toronto-area Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said any kind of secret ballot vote on the prime minister’s leadership could not happen right away, but said there could be a benefit in finally ending the division.

“That won’t happen today, that will be way too rushed, frenetic and clumsy,” he said.

In June, Erskine-Smith said he would favour a leadership review for Trudeau where he would have to get the nod from party supporters. He said a caucus vote could achieve the same objective.

“The more that we have this parliamentary palace intrigue, the less we can have the more important conversation, so we have to have some finality,” he said.

Ottawa-area Liberal MP Chandra Arya dismissed the entire effort arguing there is no need for a secret ballot because most MPs clearly stand with the prime minister.

“Just about a dozen guys might be a bit unhappy, half of them are not running again. Why should we bother? But they are free to speak and we are free to listen,” he said.

Andrew Bevan, the Liberals’ newly appointed campaign director, was seen entering the meeting.

A principal concern of Liberal MPs has been that the prime minister has no plan for turning around polls that shows his party has been behind as much as 20 points behind Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for more than a year now.

National Post

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