Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walks to Question Period through the House of Commons foyer on Parliament Hill, on Oct. 29.Blair Gable/Reuters
A call from some Liberal MPs for a secret-ballot vote on Justin Trudeau’s future shows no signs of being answered and was not raised by the Prime Minister at his weekly party caucus meeting.
Instead, MPs were briefed about plans on how they will fight the next election, and were urged to stay focused on that rather than on internal dissent.
But while the pitch from new campaign director Andrew Bevan mollified some who’ve expressed frustration about having no direction on the coming campaign, others remain unsure that Mr. Trudeau is the best person to lead them into the election.
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The Prime Minister made it clear at the meeting that he intends to do that – and his decision is final, MPs told The Globe and Mail.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that the Prime Minister is convinced he is the best leader to take us into the next election,” said New Brunswick MP Wayne Long, who has called for him to resign since the summer.
“I’m more convinced now than I was last week that he is determined to stay.”
Since the party’s last caucus meeting a week ago – in which 24 MPs asked Mr. Trudeau to resign via a letter – 11 Liberal MPs have publicly said they would support a secret ballot, and many went into Wednesday’s meeting with the expectation that it would be on the table.
But four MPs told The Globe that Mr. Trudeau urged MPs to move on from the internal divisions and dissent, stop focusing on themselves and start focusing on Canadians. The Globe is not identifying the MPs who were not authorized to speak publicly about closed-door caucus meetings.
Canada's Minister of Health Mark Holland speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 29.Blair Gable/Reuters
Supporters of Mr. Trudeau said they considered the issue closed Wednesday.
“I think we have absolute trust and faith in the Prime Minister, and people expressed concerns last week,” said Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations.
“I believe this matter is over.”
Others said it isn’t.
B.C. MP Patrick Weiler said there remain “unresolved questions” from last week’s meeting. On Wednesday, he said those issues still need to be addressed.
“I’m sure there are a lot of folks that are not quite satisfied,” he said.
Mr. Weiler was the Liberal who read out the letter to Mr. Trudeau asking, on behalf of him and other colleagues, that the Prime Minister resign his post.
He said he supports a secret-ballot vote and believes “it is an important mechanism to bring unity within the party.”
But the Liberal MPs have no internal mechanism to force such a vote and ministers and other backbenchers have roundly rejected the idea. Wednesday’s caucus meeting ended with more MPs emerging to once again claim unity against their common foe, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith takes questions from reporters as he arrives for a meeting of the Liberal caucus, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 5.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
On Wednesday, Mr. Bevan also showed MPs the first ads under development.
Two of the MPs said the advertisements highlight the Liberal government’s record on issues such as housing and health care, and cast Mr. Trudeau in a positive light. MPs said the ads include some contrast with the Conservatives.
The Liberals’ decision to not run a major ad campaign since Mr. Poilievre won his leadership two years ago resulted in the Conservatives having the airwaves and digital space largely to themselves with a heavy rotation of Conservative messaging. The lack of ads is a key point of contention for many Liberals worried about their party’s position with the electorate.
Toronto MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said he supported the roadmap presented by Mr. Bevan and said it’s now a question of implementation.
“When you look at the outsized spending on advertising that’s between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party, we have to close that gap,” he said.
He said MPs were also given a fundraising update that showed “quite strong” numbers.
More Liberal MPs demand secret vote on Trudeau’s future, as cabinet ministers reject request
All federal parties have to submit their third-quarter fundraising numbers to Elections Canada by Thursday. In the first two quarters of this year, the Conservatives raised almost three times as much as the Liberals, $20.5-million compared with $6.9-million.
With a minority government in power, the next election could theoretically come at any time. The Conservatives, and now the Bloc Québécois, have made it clear they are ready to topple the Liberals, but NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters on Wednesday he’s not there yet. What it will take will be a case-by-case decision, he reiterated.
The chances that a non-confidence motion could pass anytime soon are unlikely, however, given that the House of Commons continues to debate only a single issue – a matter of parliamentary privilege connected to the Liberals’ refusal to fully disclose documents in connection with a spending scandal. Until that matter is resolved, no further business can advance through the House.