EDITORIAL: Silence of the Liberal lambs

Published Sep 03, 2024  •  2 minute read

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to media at the Federal ministers cabinet retreat in Halifax, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. Photo by Kelly Clark /The Canadian Press

Federal Liberal MPs these days remind us of the crew of the Titanic, heading for the iceberg, oblivious to the impending disaster.

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Next week, the national Liberal caucus will meet in Nanaimo, B.C. from Sept. 9 – 11 — finally getting around to a meeting some of them had urgently called for in early July, in the wake of their shocking by-election loss to the Conservatives in the Toronto-St. Paul’s riding.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau killed the idea of an emergency caucus meeting in July — saying he would be talking to Liberal MPs throughout the summer — with national caucus chair Brenda Shanahan declaring it would be “impossible” to hold because of “scheduling logistics”.

Now it’s September and the Liberals continue to face a double-digit deficit in the polls compared to Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives that has been locked in place for a year.

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So now would be a golden opportunity for the Liberal caucus to speak truth to power behind closed doors to the PM and PMO about the dismal state of Liberal political fortunes under Trudeau, based on what they’ve been hearing from their constituents.

Our advice would be don’t hold your breath based on the silence of the Liberal lambs to date.

So far, the public voices within the Liberal Party calling for Trudeau to resign and prompt a leadership race have been few and far between, coming mainly from fringe elements within the party.

There has been no mainstream Liberal revolt against Trudeau either by his caucus or cabinet ministers, however privately they may be grumbling to themselves about wanting him to leave.

With the federal election still a year away, assuming the governing deal between NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and the PM holds, Trudeau remains in firm control of his party and thus of his political future, and Trudeau says he intends to run in next year’s election.

Of course, Trudeau has to say that, as would any party leader, because the moment he says anything different he becomes a prime ministerial lame duck.

The point is that whatever Trudeau’s decision about his political future, he will be the one to make it, not because of what any Liberal MP or cabinet minister says in public or in private.

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