Liberal cabinet ministers are opposed to a Liberal party caucus vote via secret ballot on whether or not members support Justin Trudeau as their leader, while backbenchers say it’s the only way forward for an increasingly divided party.
On CPAC Liberal MPs were interviewed entering the House of Commons Tuesday. Some of the Liberal MPs revealed that they think a secret ballot to determine caucus support for the Prime Minister is the only way to clear the air and focus on Canadians while those closest to Trudeau said they opposed the idea.
During a press conference Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said she opposed the vote, saying it was not the caucus’s role to determine their party leader but insisted that the “vast majority” support Trudeau.
“Our party and our caucus have had many opportunities to decide our own rules for choosing a leader. Our Party decided on that, and our caucus decided on that, and in our rules, the leader is not chosen by secret ballot of caucus members,” Freeland said. “That’s just not how Liberals govern themselves. It’s not how we do things.”
Trudeau’s Health Minister Mark Holland echoed the point in an interview outside Parliament saying that he “absolutely” believes the “vast majority” of the caucus supports Trudeau but doesn’t want them to have a secret ballot to voice their opinion.
“The fact that a handful of members want something, there are lots of things I want in life that I don’t get. With all due respect, they don’t get to dictate to the rest of the caucus, nor to the party. Our party selects a leader through a process that’s approved by our convention and constitution,” Holland said. “In terms of being a caucus member, you don’t have the right to tell other caucus members what their process should be. No one individual can impose their will on the rest.”
Holland also pledged his complete loyalty to Trudeau saying he continues to believe he is the right person to lead the country.
Several MPs expressed a desire for the secret ballot vote to be held during a Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday, though they did not get their wish.
After the caucus meeting, Holland said he hadn’t heard “any conversations” about a future secret ballot vote presented.
During scrums following the meeting, Justice Minister Arif Virani, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, and Immigration Minister Marc Miller all expressed that the vote would be a waste of time that otherwise could be used to present a unified front against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Other Liberal MPs such as Taleeb Noormohamed echoed his colleagues saying the secret ballot would be inappropriate and that the caucus needs to be united against Poilievre for the next election.
However, several Liberal MPs expressed a different view. A few said that a secret ballot would be the only way to once and for all decide the level of support for the Prime Minister within the caucus so members could put the debate behind them.
“I wish there was a mechanism for it, because I think there’s a there’s an awful lot of people who aren’t saying what they’re hearing from their constituents but are motivated by something else,” Liberal MP Sean Casey said.
He said a secret ballot vote, which he hopes happens despite the absence of a mechanism to allow it, would bring finality to the discussion.
“If there’s a secret ballot, and there’s a convincing majority that vote with the Prime Minister, then we would all be duty bound to move on,” he said. “And similarly, if it went the other way, I think he would (be duty bound to move on.)
He said it would allow members to move past their “preoccupation with internal clarity matters” at a time when the country faces “significant issues” and an election is approaching.
Casey said that, given what he has heard from his own constituents, there was nothing Trudeau could say to convince him that he is the right choice to lead the party into the next election.
Liberal MP George Cahal said he also thinks a secret ballot would be important for members to provide their input to “clear the air” around the issue so that the party could move forward unified and supportive of its leadership.
He said if there is no vote the party runs the risk that conversations around caucus support for Trudeau will continue, which will send a message of disunity to voters.
“I will accept the results of caucus members. If we go that route, I will be happy to support everybody in our caucus, like I’ve done so,” Cahal said. “But I think having that mechanism is important, and that’s what we should be looking at doing.”
Liberal MP Brendan Hanley also supports a secret ballot vote on party leadership.
“We’ve heard expressed that the vast majority of caucuses behind our leader. I think we really need to settle this once and for all,” he said. “I think that the best pathway is to have a secret ballot and really resolve the question so you can really get on with what’s important.”