Dissatisfied with national opinion polls suggesting the Liberal Party is on track to lose the next election, some Liberal MPs took to the microphone at today’s national caucus meeting and called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to vote for the party. is expected to ask for its dissolution.
After nine years in power, Prime Minister Trudeau’s popularity has plummeted. The Conservatives have a 19-point lead over the ruling Liberals, according to the CBC Poll Tracker, and the gap suggests dozens of Liberal MPs could lose their jobs after the next vote. .
The prospect of a collapsed election has led some Liberal MPs to organize an effort to oust Trudeau from the party’s leadership.
CBC News reported that more than 20 Liberal MPs met in secret and signed a document pledging to remove Trudeau from the party’s leadership.
Three members of Congress have publicly identified themselves as having signed the letter: Ken MacDonald of Newfoundland, Sean Casey of Prince Edward Island, and Wayne Long of New Brunswick.
All three MPs have long been critical of Trudeau. The names of other members of Congress who signed the letter may also be released today.
No one seems to know what will come out of this potentially fractious caucus, or whether a letter bearing the names of disgruntled MPs will prompt Trudeau to change his mind.
Prime Minister Trudeau could decide to retain his leadership position even if he faces significant dissatisfaction with his caucus. He has repeatedly said he will lead the party into the next election.
Mr. Macdonald, Mr. Casey and Mr. Long all say they want Mr. Trudeau to resign, but have no intention of leaving the party to sit as independents just yet.
A move to oust Trudeau could result in seismic shifts in federal politics, or it could simply fizzle out, like previous efforts to challenge him.
It’s not just the polls that suggest trouble looms for the Liberals. Liberal MPs are also concerned that Trudeau and his team will lose two by-elections in the historically solid Liberal elections in Toronto and Montreal.
Liberal candidates in another recent Winnipeg regional by-election had the party’s worst showing in Canadian history.
The party’s national campaign chief resigned in early September. It took several weeks for the party to announce a replacement.
Four more members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet have announced or are expected to announce soon that they will not run again in the next election, people told CBC News.
The news comes after MP Pablo Rodriguez left the caucus as an independent to run for Quebec Liberal Party leader.
Still, Prime Minister Trudeau has the support of his cabinet.
Immigration Minister Mark Millar called the effort to oust Trudeau “rubbish” and said he would rather get his team together to fight his main opponent, Conservative leader Pierre Poièvre.
Immigration Minister Mark Miller says the time focused on efforts by some Liberal MPs to oust Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is being spent “on Pierre Poièvre and what he wants to do for this country.” “It’s a time when we don’t have time.” Miller said Trudeau has the support of “the vast majority of the caucus” and the entire cabinet.
“Time spent on this garbage is time not spent on Pierre Poièvre and what he wants to do for this country. That’s very dangerous,” Miller told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting. I think so,” he said.
Housing Minister Sean Fraser said: “I’m a member of his cabinet and obviously support him.”
Echoing Miller’s comments, Fraser said the real problem is Poièvre.
“We are at odds with someone who is campaigning on a promise to deny women access to free contraception. “We don’t even have security clearance to investigate the allegations,” he said. Poièvre’s decision to forego obtaining the credentials needed to view top-secret documents has been controversial.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson predicted this latest attempt to oust Prime Minister Trudeau would fail.
“At the end of the day, we will have a robust discussion and, in my opinion, express our support for the prime minister and proceed with the election,” he said.
