Trudeau meets with MPs and Liberal slump in polls will come up

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to meet with most of his party's MPs this afternoon as they try to reverse a slump in the polls.

Trudeau arrived in Ottawa on Tuesday night after mechanical issues with his plane delayed his departure from New Delhi.

Most of the 158 Liberal MPs will attend a national caucus meeting this afternoon in London, Ont., to plot out the party's strategy for the fall parliamentary sitting.

MPs also gathered in smaller groups Tuesday to take stock of Indigenous, rural and women's issues, and they are slated to meet this morning in regional groups.

The caucus retreat follows a summer that has seen the Conservatives rise in the polls over issues like housing and the cost of living, and Liberal caucus chair Brenda Shanahan says fellow MPs are having "very frank" conversations.

Various media reports have quoted backbench MPs as saying the party isn't communicating its accomplishments well and that Trudeau isn't listening to the concerns of MPs who are not in cabinet.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2023.