(Ottawa) Members of the Liberal Party of Canada (PLC) are meeting in Ottawa to prepare strategies for their political party before the resumption of work in the House of Commons next Monday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces criticism from members of his caucus as the Liberals continue to lag significantly in opinion polls to the Conservative Party (CCP).
This meeting of the Liberal caucus comes after the federal Liberal cabinet held a retreat in Montreal to plan the government’s priorities for the coming months. This includes preparing for the possibility of another Donald Trump presidency in the United States and trying to slow the influx of international students into Canada, which is already putting pressure on Canada’s housing supply.
The Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc, also announced his intention to organize a summit on car theft in Ottawa at the beginning of February. This is a government response to MPs who say they have heard a lot about stolen vehicles from their constituents in recent weeks.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) warned last year that car theft had reached crisis proportions in the country and that the phenomenon continues to worsen. Ontario and Quebec are particularly hard hit, with the number of stolen vehicles jumping about 50% in both provinces in 2022. During the first six months of 2023, auto thefts increased again, by 31%. in Ontario and Quebec, 17%.
The Liberals therefore enter the next session experiencing significant difficulties in voting intentions. Current polls suggest an election held today would cut the number of Liberal MPs in half, including two-thirds of their Ontario caucus.
The government was dealt a further blow on Tuesday when a Federal Court judge ruled that its use of the Emergency Measures Act to end the so-called Freedom Convoy protests in 2022 was unreasonable. The government quickly announced that it would appeal this decision.
The Liberals began three days of caucus meetings Wednesday with breakout sessions, including meetings of the women’s caucus, rural caucus and indigenous caucus. Regional caucuses are scheduled to meet Thursday morning before Prime Minister Trudeau addresses all Liberal MPs to kick off a general caucus meeting in the afternoon.
Another full day of caucus meetings is scheduled for Friday.