Trudeau has his cabinet in line but is losing control of regular MPs

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remains huddled with his cabinet in Halifax in a retreat that began Sunday and continued Tuesday. His ministers are continuing to laud Trudeau’s leadership and say they have confidence in him to win the next election, slated for October 2025, but backbench caucus Members of Parliament are telling CBC News that they have grave concerns about a future without change in the Trudeau government.

The byelection loss this summer to the Conservatives in the once-safe seat of Toronto-St.Paul continues to resonate with the Liberal caucus, many of whom see it as an omen of things to come. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Jolie would not answer questions from reporters about how the replacement of President Joe Biden by Vice President Kamala Harris affects Trudeau and his leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada.

“Listen, I think when it comes to politics, it's all about trust, and whether people trust the work you're doing as a government. And I think the challenges we're facing are real and we're not the only country facing these challenges, but we have to be better at it to make sure that we're delivering results, period. And so the proof is in the pudding,” Jolie said.

Although he said he supported Trudeau’s leadership, Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault went on a personal rant during a news conference, given the Edmonton MP's ongoing struggle against conflict of interest charges from the Official Opposition Conservatives.

“I've been reflecting on the summer, on the personal on personal attacks in politics. I don't know if you know that there was a very nasty car parked outside of my house for over six weeks that was affiliated with, definitely, the Conservatives,” Boissonnault began.

“They would switch their cars every three, four days to comply with bylaws. Hateful slogans on the car. The police did their job. That car is no longer there, but we've got rising rhetoric in this country that is putting at risk good people being in politics, and we're in full recruitment mode,” he continued.

“I want to see excellent people of all genders, of all races and backgrounds in politics and I think we all have a responsibility to make sure that we're letting people know that this is a noble profession, that we're here in the service of Canadians,” the minister said.

But the MPs that CBC spoke with, on the condition of anonymity, were more concerned about potentially losing the next election because Trudeau is increasingly out of touch with ordinary Canadians.

"I think he just needs to shake things up a bit and be fresh again because right now we're looking like an old and tired government," said one Liberal MP.

Some of those MPs are also looking for Trudeau to publicly admit he’s failed with some initiatives and then propose a new direction that might help the Liberals avoid an electoral disaster that will come if they remain about 20 percentage points behind Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives. The anonymous MPs said Trudeau is a great deal more frank in his appraisal of Liberal fortunes in private than he is in public.

Another Liberal MP said that while Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is borrowing not only housing policies from Trudeau and using his “sunny ways” approach to politics, Trudeau has lost his voice with Canadians. One Liberal MP said they still believe Trudeau has to resign. Two others said it was too late to replace him and no one else would do better against Poilievre.

Multiple Liberal MPs are also pushing for a major cabinet shuffle to get rid of some of the more controversial and unpopular ministers who are a drag on public support.