Trudeau’s office declines to comment on letter from Liberal MPs requesting national caucus meeting

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office declined to comment Sunday on a letter signed by several MPs calling for an immediate in-person national caucus meeting to discuss the party’s surprising by-election loss in Toronto-St. Paul’s.

A small group of MPs sent the letter to Liberal caucus chair Brenda Shanahan on Friday requesting the immediate meeting to discuss what they call the “extremely concerning” by-election results.

“This was a race the Liberal Party of Canada should not have lost. Our government has a strong legacy of achievement since 2015. The Liberal brand and our values resonate with Canadians,” states the letter penned by Calgary MP George Chahal, who did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.

The letter said many Canadians who have backed the Liberal Party are no longer supportive and have tuned out. It also said the voters in the Toronto by-election sent a clear message.

“If we claim to be listening, then our public responses are disconnected from reality,” it said.

Further, the letter said MPs have spoken with dozens of their caucus colleagues and said there is a clear consensus in favour of a national discussion “about how we serve the needs of the Liberal Party of Canada, our government and, most importantly, the people of Canada.”

A copy of an e-mail sent by Mr. Chahal said the letter was signed by him and eight other MPs, but he wrote that it is up to the signatories to identify themselves if they wish.

The letter was sent on the same day that Catherine McKenna, who served in both the environment and infrastructure portfolios in Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet, said in a statement that it’s time for the Liberals to select a new leader.

Also that day, New Brunswick Liberal MP Wayne Long sent his own letter to fellow MPs arguing that the voters are calling for a change of leader, and adding, “I agree.”

While Mr. Trudeau has held several public events since last Monday’s by-election, he has yet to answer questions from the media about the results.

Ms. Shanahan did not respond Sunday to a request for comment on the letter requesting a caucus meeting. Jenna Ghassabeh, a press secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, responded Sunday with an e-mail saying the office had nothing to add.

Videos posted on social media showed Mr. Trudeau dancing at a barbecue stand Friday evening during the Taste of Asia festival in Markham, Ont.

Several Conservative MPs mockingly shared the video, including deputy leader Melissa Lantsman.

“Sir, the caucus is asking for you to go. Trudeau: Tell them I’m busy,” she wrote in a post on social-media platform X, pointing to the dancing Prime Minister.

Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer called for a caption context.

“I’ll go first: Dance like nobody is calling for your resignation,” he posted, adding the hashtag “#wacko.”

Ottawa-area Liberal MP Chandra Arya said on social media Saturday that “the Liberal caucus is abuzz with discussion and engagement” and shared publicly what he wrote to his caucus colleagues with respect to Mr. Trudeau’s leadership.

“Hello Colleagues, As most of you may know I am not a member of PMJT Super Fans Club. In my view PMJT has taken the party and the government too far left of centre,” he said, using the acronym for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

He said he expressed these concerns to the Prime Minister in 2019 and his views remain the same.

“PMJT and his team have made several wrong policy/strategic choices,” he wrote. But he then followed that criticism by listing what he said are the government’s many significant policy successes, before concluding that Mr. Trudeau should stay on as leader, describing him as a patient and disciplined man who works hard and reads extensively.

Also on Saturday, Mr. Long, the first Liberal MP to publicly call for Mr. Trudeau to step aside for a new leader, told The Globe and Mail in an interview that he thinks the party can still win the next election – as long as it renews itself.

The New Brunswick MP said he did not send his letter to sabotage the party but to help it, arguing that many Canadians want to “reconnect” with the Liberal Party but don’t feel they can.

“I want to see us win the next election. And I think we can win the next election. For us to do that, we have to offer an alternative to Pierre Poilievre,” Mr. Long said, in reference to the Conservative Party Leader.

“Consistently, I continue to hear, ‘I want to vote for you but I can’t.’”

Mr. Long is a backbench MP with a reputation for speaking his mind, and he has already announced he will not run again in the next general election, expected next year.

He has signed on to the letter calling for an in-person caucus meeting.

Independent Senator Rodger Cuzner, who has nearly 20 years of experience as a Liberal MP from 2000 to 2019, said Mr. Trudeau should stay because he’s shown he’s a strong campaigner.

“It’s going to be a tough one. But you just put your head down and you stick to the game plan,” he said. “I know he’s determined and he’ll work his ass off. So, they write him off at their own peril, I believe.”

With a report from Campbell Clark