Trudeau says he’s talking to MPs individually following party’s by-election defeat

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s talking to Liberal MPs individually following the party’s recent by-election defeat, declining to commit to an in-person national caucus meeting.

Mr. Trudeau made the comments during a news conference in his Montreal riding of Papineau. It was his first news conference since last Monday’s Toronto-St. Paul’s by-election, which saw the Liberals lose the riding to the Conservatives for the first time in decades.

Since then, a group of Liberal MPs wrote a letter calling for a national caucus meeting to discuss the results. One caucus member, New Brunswick MP Wayne Long, signed the letter and also went further, calling on Mr. Trudeau to resign.

Asked about those calls from his own MPs, Mr. Trudeau said he’s been talking to MPs from across the country and the consensus is the party should keep focusing on priorities such as child care, housing and dental care. While the letter from the group of MPs called for new public messaging, Mr. Trudeau used the word continue nearly two dozen times as he repeatedly provided similar answers to a series of questions about the concerns expressed by his MPs.

“Let’s be very clear: last week’s by election loss, not to sugarcoat it, was challenging,” he said. “I’ve had lots of calls with different members of caucus from across the country, not just in the GTA, to talk about how we make sure we’re continuing our work, connecting with Canadians, to make sure we’re continuing to deliver for people. There are as always a range of perspectives and voices within the Liberal Party and listening to all those voices, and giving them all time to engage is really, really important. And that’s what we’ve been doing.”

Mr. Trudeau was asked several times whether he would commit to an in-person national caucus meeting but he answered by repeating that he was speaking with MPs individually. He also said he held a meeting with the chairs of the various regional caucus groups.