As Liberal leadership wrangling persists, Poilievre says ‘not fair’ to oust Trudeau now

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre thinks it would be “not fair” for the Liberals to oust Prime Minister Justin Trudeau now, as in his view they are “morally obligated” to keep him.

Poilievre’s comments come ahead of another potentially significant Liberal caucus meeting Wednesday, during which members are expected to continue discussions around the party’s leadership and the next election.

“I think the Liberals are morally obligated to keep Justin Trudeau,” Poilievre told 580 CFRA’s The Morning Rush host Bill Carroll in a radio interview on Tuesday.

When asked whether a change in Liberal leadership would affect the Conservative’s election strategy, Poilievre said it wouldn’t, but “it’s not fair for them to just put on a new coat of paint to pretend like they’re something different.”

“Let’s not kid ourselves. All the Liberal MPs went along with the carbon tax,” Poilievre added. “They’re all to blame for his catastrophic record, and they should all have the integrity to stand by him.”

Poilievre said the Liberals should not “slink away” from their record, and that “they should run on it with Justin Trudeau as the leader.”

There’s been mounting dissention within the Liberal caucus for weeks, culminating in a longer-than-typical meeting last Wednesday, during which a number of MPs told Trudeau he needed to reflect on his future at the helm of the party.

Many then expressed disappointment when he told reporters less than 24 hours later that he wasn’t going anywhere, and intends to lead the party into the next election.

Trudeau’s short reflection time did not quash caucus concerns. Rather, a growing number of Liberal MPs are now calling for a secret ballot vote to truly put the issue to rest.

Liberal MP Rob Oliphant joined that list on Tuesday, telling reporters he thinks a secret ballot could be “helpful” and “ensure that caucus’ opinion has been heard by the prime minister.”

And Liberal MP Sean Casey, who’s openly been calling for Trudeau to step down, told reporters on Tuesday he doesn’t believe the leader would survive a secret ballot.

Enacting that mechanism is not currently in the Liberal caucus’ arsenal nor the party’s constitution.

Other Liberal MPs say they are still looking for senior Liberal members to present a clear path towards re-election. In an effort to address some of these outstanding concerns, Wednesday’s caucus meeting is expected to include a presentation about campaign readiness.

“We have things to show in terms of the campaigns we’re doing, what we’re working on,” said Tourism Minister, and Liberal national campaign co-chair, Soraya Martinez Ferrada on her way into Tuesday’s cabinet meeting. “People want to be reassured that we got this, that we’re ready to campaign, and that’s what we’re going to do tomorrow.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said that what last week’s caucus meeting “confirmed” for her, was that after a “candid and extensive exchange,” the “vast majority” of MPs still support Trudeau.

“They support him as our leader today, and they support him as the guy who’s going to lead us into the next election,” Freeland said. “Our party and our caucus have had many opportunities to decide our own rules for choosing a leader. Our party decided on that, and our caucus decided on that, and in our rules, the leader is not chosen by secret ballot of caucus members.”

“That’s just not how Liberals govern themselves,” she added, echoing earlier comments from Ferrada that a secret ballot mechanism is not part of the Liberal Party of Canada’s constitution.

There is no formal mechanism for the Liberal caucus to oust Trudeau. Unlike the Conservatives, the Liberals have not adopted the Reform Act. Under the Act, 20 per cent of caucus members are needed to sign an agreement to trigger a leadership review, and then a majority of caucus is needed to remove the leader.

With files from CTV News’ Rachel Aiello