Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves after finishing for the day at the Liberal caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
NANAIMO, B.C. – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he can’t wait to get back to Ottawa to get into it” with Pierre Poilievre in the House of Commons, as he makes the case to his own party to put up a united front against the Conservatives.
The three-day Liberal caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C., was the first chance for Trudeau to address his MPs as a group since they lost a long-held Liberal riding in Toronto to the Conservatives.
The loss led to a fractious summer, and the focus of the gathering has been to reunite the party and turn their focus to the Tories.
Trudeau says there is a diversity of opinions within the caucus about the party’s approach, and even about his leadership, but he maintained that he’s focused on the things his government is doing for Canadians.
The Liberals will face their next test in just a few days with two more critical byelections in Montreal and Winnipeg.
Trudeau says people in those byelections, and in the next national election, will have to choose between Poilievre’s plan to cut services and the Liberal plan to invest in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
