Internal calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign as Liberal leader were aired out behind closed doors Wednesday as Liberal MPs met on Parliament Hill.
All party caucuses meet weekly when the House of Commons is sitting. Liberal MPs who want Trudeau to step down used Wednesday’s meeting to deliver their grievances to the prime minister in person.
Here’s what happened behind the scenes, what MPs said after the meeting and what could happen in the coming weeks.
What happened in the caucus meeting?
Sources speaking to Radio-Canada said that 24 MPs signed an agreement to call on Trudeau to step down as Liberal leader.
Two sources told CBC News that B.C. MP Patrick Weiler read out a separate document — which laid out an argument for Trudeau’s resignation — during the meeting.
Weiler pointed to the boost that Democrats gained after U.S. President Joe Biden backed out of the presidential race and suggested the Liberals could see a similar rebound.
(CBC News/Radio-Canada has reached out to Weiler for comment.)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says ‘the Liberal Party is strong and united’ as he emerges from a meeting of the Liberal caucus Wednesday, during which some MPs raised concerns about Trudeau’s leadership.
MPs were given two minutes each to address the room during the three-hour-long meeting. About 20 — none of them cabinet ministers — stood up to urge Trudeau to step aside before the next election, sources said. But a number of MPs also stood to voice support for the prime minister.
The dissident MPs gave Trudeau until Oct. 28 to decide on his future, sources said. But no consequences attached to that deadline were mentioned in the document read to caucus Wednesday.
The prime minister himself addressed the meeting and two MPs told CBC News that he became emotional when he talked about his children having to see “F— Trudeau” signs in public.
At the end of the meeting, Trudeau said he would reflect on what he heard but didn’t indicate that he would resign.
What was said after the meeting?
Several MPs left Wednesday’s meeting indicating that they’d had an open conversation on which caucus members needed to reflect. Others said that the party is “united” in fighting the Conservatives and their leader Pierre Poilievre.
“It was a great discussion, the type of discussion that Canadians would be proud to see,” Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said.
“What really matters in the end is that we come out of that caucus meeting united, resolved and delivering for Canadians.”
“One thing that we’re united on — everybody — is beating Poilievre,” Tourism Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada said.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can ‘handle the truth.’ Miller described what happened during the national caucus meeting Wednesday, saying MPs were ‘telling the prime minister the truth, whether he likes to hear it or not.’
Immigration Minister Marc Miller acknowledged the frustrations of some MPs and said he respects those who voiced those frustrations directly to the prime minister.
“Fundamentally, this is something that has been simmering for some time and it’s important for people to get it out,” he said.
“This isn’t a code red situation. The prime minister can sure as hell handle the truth.”
Ontario MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said it was a “healthy conversation” but argued that Trudeau needs to take the message from disaffected MPs to heart.
“The prime minister has to listen to the frustrations — and in some cases the really valid frustrations — of his caucus colleagues and incorporate that into changes moving forward,” he told reporters as he left the caucus meeting.
It’s not clear what changes Liberal MPs are asking for, or if Trudeau promised anything. Erskine-Smith indicated that he thinks the Liberals need to focus on advertising.
The Conservatives have spent millions of dollars on TV, radio and online ads, while the Liberals have spent only a few hundred thousand, essentially ceding the field to the opposition, he said.
Some MPs, including Erskine-Smith, said infighting might be causing the party more harm than good.
“My colleagues need to turn their knives outwards and not inwards,” Esrkine-Smith said.
Ontario MP Charles Sousa suggested internal dissent would only help the Conservatives.
“I think the caucus recognizes that we have to stay united. We can’t fall prey to the fearmongering … the other guys, they can smell blood, they can smell fear. We can’t let that be the case,” Sousa told reporters after the caucus meeting.
“We need to focus on the most important thing, which is getting things done here in Parliament and taking the fight to Pierre Poilievre.”
While a number of MPs wouldn’t offer any comment on the meeting, others left saying that everyone in caucus will have to reflect on what was said.
“We heard every angle, every aspect of this and what it’s left us with is something to go away and think about,” B.C. MP Ken Hardie said.
What happens next?
Despite the pressure on Trudeau, the decision on whether to stay or go ultimately rests with him. He has said repeatedly he wants to lead the party into the next election; it remains to be seen if Wednesday’s meeting will make him reconsider.
“It’s the decision of the leader of the party whether he stays on as leader. That is Mr. Trudeau’s decision,” MP Yvan Baker told reporters after the caucus meeting.
P.E.I. MP Sean Casey, who has publicly called on the prime minister to step aside, said Wednesday that he wished caucus could have a secret ballot vote on Trudeau’s leadership.
“I wish there was a mechanism for it,” Casey told reporters on his way into the caucus meeting.
The Liberal caucus could have had a secret ballot option if MPs had agreed to adopt the provisions in the 2015 Reform Act — legislation meant to make party leaders more accountable to their caucus members.
Under the act, if 20 per cent of caucus members sign a petition calling for a leadership review, a vote is triggered. If a majority of the MPs vote against the leader, they are forced to step down. This measure was used to oust former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole in 2022.
But the Reform Act states that parties must vote on whether to adopt its measures after each general election and the Liberals have never done so. Even if the Liberals did have the Reform Act option at their disposal, the 24 MPs who signed the document wouldn’t be enough to force the vote.
The Liberal Party does have a “leadership endorsement” ballot option built into its constitution. This mechanism allows registered Liberals to vote on whether they still support the current leader at the party’s national convention — but the vote is only triggered if the party loses a general election.
New Brunswick MP Wayne Long, another vocal Trudeau detractor, was asked ahead of Wednesday’s meeting if he thought a signed letter from MPs would make a difference.
“I don’t know … I signed it because I believed in what the letter said and I believe in not standing in the shadows. I believe in standing up and doing what needs to be done,” he told reporters outside of Parliament.
“It’s incumbent on me and all my colleagues to do what we think is best for our party. And what’s best for our party is a change in leadership.”
