Thursday, October 24, 2024

Today's News: Afternoon of the Rubber Knives, Liberal Caucus Edition


You could almost hear Ottawa deflate this afternoon as the Liberal caucus "let's get rid of Trudeau!" frenzy squiffed out. Night of the Long Knives turned into the Fish-Slapping sketch.
CBC gives us the (un)exciting play-by-play:
...Sources speaking to Radio-Canada said that 24 MPs signed an agreement to call on Trudeau to step down as Liberal leader.
Two sources told CBC News that B.C. MP Patrick Weiler read out a separate document — which laid out an argument for Trudeau's resignation — during the meeting. MPs were given two minutes each to address the room during the three-hour-long meeting. About 20 — none of them cabinet ministers — stood up to urge Trudeau to step aside before the next election, sources said. But a number of MPs also stood to voice support for the prime minister.
The dissident MPs gave Trudeau until Oct. 28 to decide on his future, sources said.
Boy, sounds like they really drew a line in the sand for Trudeau, eh? 
Well, maybe not so much. 
The story continues:
But no consequences attached to that deadline were mentioned in the document read to caucus Wednesday.
The prime minister himself addressed the meeting and two MPs told CBC News that he became emotional when he talked about his children having to see "F--- Trudeau" signs in public.
At the end of the meeting, Trudeau said he would reflect on what he heard but didn't indicate that he would resign.
Several MPs left Wednesday's meeting indicating that they'd had an open conversation on which caucus members needed to reflect. Others said that the party is "united" in fighting the Conservatives and their leader Pierre Poilievre.
So, not exactly drawing another line in the sand either.  
In fact, apparently everybody is singing Kumbaya together now:
"It was a great discussion, the type of discussion that Canadians would be proud to see," Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said.
"What really matters in the end is that we come out of that caucus meeting united, resolved and delivering for Canadians."
"One thing that we're united on — everybody — is beating Poilievre," Tourism Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada said.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller acknowledged the frustrations of some MPs and said he respects those who voiced those frustrations directly to the prime minister.
"Fundamentally, this is something that has been simmering for some time and it's important for people to get it out," he said.
"This isn't a code red situation. The prime minister can sure as hell handle the truth."
Ontario MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said it was a "healthy conversation" but argued that Trudeau needs to take the message from disaffected MPs to heart.
"The prime minister has to listen to the frustrations — and in some cases the really valid frustrations — of his caucus colleagues and incorporate that into changes moving forward," he told reporters as he left the caucus meeting.
It's not clear what changes Liberal MPs are asking for, or if Trudeau promised anything. Erskine-Smith indicated that he thinks the Liberals need to focus on advertising
Aha! So what is really pissing off the back bench is those repetative Conservative "Mountain Pierre common man of the people" ads  Well, yeah, I can understand that -- they're driving us all around the bend.
Dale Smith describes how crazy it was in the House of Commons during Question Period today - QP: Free-wheeling, chaotic, and from an alternate reality
In the wake of that big caucus meeting where little seemed to happen, the prime minister was present for QP... Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he needled about 24 Liberal backbenchers signing the document, the Bloc supporting them, and demanded an election. Trudeau got up, for much applause from his caucus, the Conservatives got up with what was supposed to be sarcastic applause but just looked like more applause, and after it died down, Trudeau insisted (in English) that they were totally united and they were focused on delivering for Canadians.... Trudeau noted Poilievre only offers cuts and empty slogans and not investments in people and the green future. Poilievre turned to English to repeat his slogans, his concern trolling over the 24 backbenchers, lied about the privilege issue, and demanded an election. Trudeau recited his line about while the opposition is focused on politics, he is focused on Canadians. Poilievre again mocked the dissident Liberals, and Trudeau hit back with the Conservatives’ hanging out with white nationalists and Poilievre’s lack of a security clearance.
...it was a bit of an odd day, where everyone had all of this energy built up around the expectations about what would happen at that Liberal caucus meeting that went nowhere, so there was nowhere for that energy to go but into the theatrics of QP, and it was a boisterous and loud day. ...more than anything, what really struck me was just how much Poilievre basically was asking his questions from an alternate universe where the facts did not match reality, mostly because what facts he did use were taken so far out of context that they presented a completely false picture, whether it was because of the lack of culpability of premiers to these social ills, or his particularly skewed view of economics, particularly what happened with the Bank of Canada’s rate cut earlier this morning. The full-on assault on reality is in view if you care to see it, but most people don’t, and the government refuses to point it out...
Social media was wondering what gives:
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