(London) The Liberals, gathered for a three-day retreat in London, Ontario, assure that they are in tune with the biggest concerns of Canadians, such as access to housing, and plead that they will arrive with possible solutions following “frank discussions” in caucus.
The ideas launched by the deputies since Tuesday in working meetings are put on the table in the context where a series of recent polls place the Liberals far behind the Conservatives in voting intentions.
Liberal strategist Greg MacEachern expects Justin Trudeau’s troops to set the table for possible housing measures to be presented at the start of the parliamentary session which is due to begin next Monday.
“I would expect that the first bill tabled by the government (…) concerns housing,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
He argued that the government has been very busy in recent years with the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so it is now trying to focus more on accommodation.
“They really missed the emergence of housing and affordability as an issue and I think now they’re really focusing on that,” he added.
The Minister of Innovation, François-Philippe Champagne, did not want to comment, in the press scrum, on the possibility that the first legislative piece put forward this fall would respond to these overriding issues.
” We’ll see. (…) I do not want to presuppose all the conclusions (of our meetings), but we will have the chance to talk together, to define the action plan,” he said.
Mr. MacEachern believes that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his inner circle, in addition to seeking to address Canadians, will also have to speak to their “internal caucus audience, which has made it clear that they are very unhappy.”
In fact, many have turned to various media, such as the CBC network, to report on condition of anonymity that they do not feel listened to by Mr. Trudeau.
“It’s not necessarily just about (MPs) being frustrated because they didn’t make it into the council of ministers. They are unhappy because that is what their constituents are telling them,” added Mr. MacEachern, who is also president of the lobbying firm KAN Strategies.
The national president of the Liberal caucus, Brenda Shanahan, did not confirm this feeling of discontent, but mentioned that “frank discussions” are taking place.
Mr. Champagne added, upon his arrival in London Tuesday afternoon, saying that he hopes for such conversations.
“We must always listen to our caucus colleagues. It’s important because the caucus is a representation of Canadians in different regions of the country, he said. So being attentive, spending the next few days together (…) will allow us to take stock as a team and focus on the issues that matter to (the population). »
Mme Shanahan said the entire caucus is “listening to (the) leader (and) ministers.”
Asked what is needed for the pre-sessional meeting to be a success, she responded that she was ensuring, as caucus chair, that “all voices are heard, that everyone has opportunity to speak directly to (the) leader (…) and to the entire government team.”
According to the woman who is also the MP for the Quebec riding of Châteauguay—Lacolle, the MPs have many proposals to submit, including in the area of housing.
“It is certain that it is a very important issue,” she stressed.
She, at the same time, defended the Liberals’ record since they came to power in 2015.
“It’s not just yesterday that this happened (and) that we took action against the housing crisis. We are the federal government that implemented the National Housing Strategy across the country,” she said.
The cabinet retreat began on Tuesday with meetings of different caucuses, including women, Indigenous people and elected officials from rural constituencies.
The majority of the 158 Liberal MPs will then all meet in a national caucus starting Wednesday afternoon, after having first met in regional subgroups. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to arrive in London for the start of the national caucus meetings.
This southern Ontario city is a strategic location for the Liberal caucus because it has a large university population and is full of young families that the government wants to court, MacEachern said.
