Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a news conference in Vientiane, Laos on Oct. 11.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his new campaign team on Sunday, as members of his own caucus have begun a new effort to persuade him to step down rather than lead the Liberal Party into the next election.
More than a month after Liberal campaign director Jeremy Broadhurst quit his post, the party announced over the Thanksgiving weekend that long-time Liberal strategist Andrew Bevan will take over the role and Marjorie Michel will become deputy campaign director.
The Sunday morning announcement was seen as a response by some in the party to the latest move by Liberal MPs to gather signatures for a letter asking Mr. Trudeau to resign.
Four Liberal sources say this push is more serious than one started by New Brunswick MP Wayne Long earlier this year. After the party lost its Toronto-St. Paul’s stronghold in a June by-election, it was only Mr. Long who publicly put his name behind the call for the Prime Minister’s ouster.
The Globe is not naming the sources so they could speak freely without fear of repercussion.
Over the weekend, The Globe and Mail spoke with 18 Liberals, including 13 MPs. The vast majority of them denied any involvement in the campaign against the Prime Minister and many of them noted that rumours of an organized attempt have been circling in the Liberal caucus for months but never materialized and they were skeptical that this time would be different.
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In an interview with The Globe on Sunday, Mr. Long confirmed that there is talk within caucus of a letter and there is an effort to gather signatures from Liberal MPs. He said he will sign the letter and said he’s hopeful more colleagues will add their names this time around.
“The Prime Minister does need to step down for the good of the party,” said Mr. Long, who is not running again in the next election. “I’m a proud Liberal, I’m a part of the Liberal Party of Canada. It’s not the Justin Trudeau Party of Canada.”
“It’s incumbent on me and my colleagues to make sure that we present a viable alternative to what I deem a very beatable Pierre Poilievre, but we’re not going to have that happen with Justin Trudeau as our leader.”
Wayne Long, MP for Saint John-Rothesay speaks in Saint John, N.B., on Jan. 17.Michael Hawkins/The Canadian Press
Mr. Long said there is more urgency for change now than there was in July when the party had just lost the Toronto by-election. He said that’s in part because it has since lost a Montreal riding and also because the minority government is in a more precarious position after losing the automatic support of the New Democratic Party, increasing the likelihood of a snap election.
“There’s heightened awareness of the dire situation we’re in,” Mr. Long said, saying that it permeates the behind-the-scenes talks among Liberals in caucus, and in the backrooms of the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on Sunday on the moves within caucus.
According to Nanos Research polling, the Liberals are now tied for second place with the NDP, with the Conservatives ahead by about 20 points. Most polls over the past year have shown the Liberals significantly trailing the Tories.
So far, no other MP has publicly tied their names to the latest effort. In September, Quebec Liberal MP Alexandra Mendès said based on what she heard from constituents, she doesn’t believe the party can win another election with Mr. Trudeau as leader.
Some MPs were angered by their dissenting colleagues and said they stood behind Mr. Trudeau. They cautioned that simply changing leaders would not be a magic bullet to reverse Liberal fortunes.
Still, almost all of the MPs who spoke to The Globe said there is anxiety and frustration within caucus. They also said there has been no sense of urgency exhibited by the PMO to make changes in the face of bad polling, lacklustre fundraising, and the loss of key ridings in Toronto and Montreal – cities that make up the core of Liberal support.
Mr. Bevan and Ms. Michel now have the task of finding a way to hold onto the party’s base and win over voters in swing ridings.
Mr. Bevan is currently the chief of staff to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. He was previously the top adviser to former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne from 2013 to 2018 and to then-Liberal leader Stéphane Dion from 2007 to 2008.
His deputy, Ms. Michel, is currently a deputy chief of staff to Mr. Trudeau. In the past two federal elections, she led the Liberal Party’s campaign operations in Quebec.
The party did not immediately say when the two would leave their posts in government, with Liberal Party spokesperson Parker Lund only saying Sunday that it will happen in “the coming days.”
The announcement, just 48 hours after news of the effort by some Liberals MPs broke, is a “tacit concession to the internal frustration,” said Liberal strategist Scott Reid.
He said it showed at least some acknowledgment from the PMO “that further inaction is not the right recipe.” He described Mr. Bevan as “one of the smartest, most skilled political advisers in the country.”
But the appointments won’t fix the root problem facing the Liberals, Mr. Reid cautioned. Those issues revolve around the Prime Minister’s leadership and what Mr. Trudeau’s pitch to Canadians will be in the next election.
He added that unlike past PMOs, which dealt regularly with internal dissent, this one has not. Mr. Reid, who served as director of communications to then-prime minister Paul Martin, said that presents more risk for Mr. Trudeau because he’s in uncharted waters.
He said the burbling discontent from Liberal MPs reflects a significant amount of frustration and anxiety over where the party is heading and its re-election prospects. Mr. Reid said the Liberals have endured yet another bad month “because nothing has gotten better, and some things have gotten worse.”
Liberal MPs are resisting PMO control, he said, “and that’s an unprecedented exercise for the Prime Minister.”