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:
Boy, sounds like they really drew a line in the sand for Trudeau, eh?...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.
Well, maybe not so much.
The story continues:
So, not exactly drawing another line in the sand either.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.
In fact, apparently everybody is singing Kumbaya together now:
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."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
