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 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s future shows no signs of being answered.
Instead, Wednesday’s caucus meeting ended with MPs emerging to once again claim unity against their common foe, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
The focus needs to be on how, under Mr. Trudeau, they can defeat him, MPs told reporters.
The close of that meeting was Mr. Trudeau saying he would reflect on their feedback, MPs told The Globe and Mail at the time.
But when Mr. Trudeau also said he intended to stay on as leader – over the objection of as many as two dozen MPs – that wall of solidarity appeared to crumble.
Several MPs said this week they believed a secret ballot was necessary so people would feel freer to speak their minds.
But MPs told reporters that this Wednesday’s meeting was instead devoted to a path forward for the party, with newly-minted campaign director Andrew Bevan attending to brief caucus on a plan.
With a minority government in power, the next election could come at any time, as none of the Opposition parties have committed to voting with the government.
On Tuesday, the Bloc Québécois made their position clear – they will now aim to bring down the Liberals after they refused to implement two of the Bloc’s key priorities.
