Justin Trudeau’s allies dismiss leadership challenge as ‘utter silliness’ despite grumbling in Liberal caucus

OTTAWA—There was no sign the governing Liberal caucus was ready to stage a vote on Justin Trudeau’s leadership Wednesday as MPs gathered to consider the next federal election amid a public rift over whether the prime minister should resign.
One week after that discord flared up behind closed doors, several cabinet ministers and MPs signalled they are growing frustrated with ongoing questions about Trudeau’s standing as they try to focus on beating back Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s challenge to their hold on power.
“It’s utter silliness to be focusing on anything than the threat that Pierre Poilievre presents to the country,” said Immigration Minister Marc Miller, who has previously described efforts to oust Trudeau as “garbage.” 
“We’re sleepwalking and paving the way for a really toxic guy to take over the political atmosphere in Canada and this is contributing to it,” he said, adding that the dissent “really needs to end.” 
Ahead of Wednesday’s caucus meeting, several MPs — including New Brunswick’s Wayne Long, Etobicoke Centre’s Yvan Baker, Markham—Stouffville’s Helena Jaczek, Calgary’s George Chahal, Willowdale’s Ali Ehsassi, Quebec’s Alexandra Mendès and Vancouver’s Patrick Weiler — confirmed they want the Liberal caucus to hold a secret ballot vote on Trudeau’s leadership. 
Several cabinet ministers and MPs shot down the idea on Wednesday, but after the morning caucus meeting Weiler told reporters that he expects many of his colleagues still have leadership concerns that they want Trudeau and the party to address. 
“Until that’s addressed, that’s going to be lingering, so I’m sure there are a lot of folks that are not quite satisfied,” he said. Several sources told the Star Weiler was the one who kicked off last week’s airing of demands for Trudeau to resign.
This time around, much of the meeting was focused on the Liberals’ strategy to square off against Poilievre, with veteran Liberal staffer Andrew Bevan delivering his first presentation to caucus as the party’s national campaign director.
The Star reported earlier this week that the Liberals are preparing advertisements, including some that target Poilievre. In recent months, several MPs have told the Star they want to see stronger communications from the party, including ads that target a Conservative leader that many of them paint as a “far-right” politician who would cut government programs. 
Beaches-East York MP Nate Erskine-Smith said Bevan’s plan laid out the “right” path forward and that it was now a matter of putting it into practice. 
“When you look at the outsized spending on advertising, it’s between the Conservative party and the Liberal party. We have to close that gap,” Erskine-Smith said after the meeting.
“The fundraising numbers are quite strong for the Liberal party, which was well received, I think, today. But we obviously have to put that money in play in an effective way, and I think Bevan started to articulate a plan that made sense on that front.”
Elections Canada returns show the party raked in more than $10.2 million in the first nine months of this year, compared with $9.8 million over the same period in 2023. 
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon declined to discuss details of Bevan’s presentation, but said “everyone agrees we do have to do a better job presenting the contrast to Canadians and offering them a clearer, sharper choice.” 
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, meanwhile, said the Liberals needs to emphasize campaign preparation. 
“Once the prime minister made his decision to say he’ll be the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in the next federal election, now our role is to win the confidence of Canadians,” Champagne said in French.
Ottawa MP Mona Fortier, who is working to produce the Liberal party’s platform, told the Star she has “three deadlines” in mind: one three weeks away in case of a sudden surprise election that she suggested she does not expect, one next spring — when the government will have to introduce and pass a budget — and one in the fall of 2025, as is scheduled in law.
Fortier said she is scrambling to co-ordinate suggestions from caucus and from the party, where a separate platform development process is underway. In addition, Fortier said, the work of former central banker Mark Carney — who is acting on a request by Trudeau to make recommendations for the economic platform — needs to be incorporated.
Meanwhile, with no clear indication from the dissenting MPs about what they’ll do next, cabinet ministers and publicly loyal MPs tried to present a face of solidarity and insisted the question of Trudeau’s leadership is settled. 
Health Minister Mark Holland said a “huge number” of MPs remain behind Trudeau, and the “entire caucus” is “united to defeat Poilievre.”
Others suggested the situation was overblown, with longtime Liberal MP Judy Sgro stating the number of anti-Trudeau MPs was “decreasing” in a caucus that broadly supports its leader.
“A lot of this is propaganda that’s ongoing,” said Sgro, adding that she’s served under five Liberal leaders and that “most of the time they’re unpopular, but we still manage to win.”
After comparing Poilievre to U.S. presidential contender Donald Trump, who popularized the term “fake news,” Milton MP Adam van Koeverden suggested the media is fuelling the story for attention. 
“It’s a small number,” van Koeverden said of the dissenting MPs. “It continues to be an issue because it’s a fun and exciting headline.” 
Following two byelection losses in Liberal strongholds this year, Erskine-Smith said Wednesday there will be byelections in the future where, depending on their outcomes, the question of Trudeau’s leadership may be “revisited.”
But there remains a question of how long the Liberal minority government can survive, with the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois each now working to try and declare non-confidence in Trudeau’s administration in order to trigger an election. 
The NDP, however, has enough seats to save the government again in such a scenario. On Wednesday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters he would not work with the Tories or the Bloc on their parliamentary “games” to defeat the government.