Gould stirs debate among Liberal MPs over whether they ‘lost trust’ of Canadians

Karina Gould, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, arrives to a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA — Liberal leadership contender Karina Gould opened up a soul-searching debate in her party’s caucus after declaring Canadians “lost trust” in the Liberals during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s later years in office.

Some lawmakers assembled for the Liberal caucus meeting in Ottawa on Friday bristled at that notion, while others said the party became too insular in recent years.

“No, I don’t agree with that at all,” said Housing Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, pushing back against Gould’s argument.

“Everyone’s posturing in the way that they think will make them most successful. Do I think everyone’s listening to the prime minister after nine years? Welcome to Canadian politics. You know, politicians get tuned out after nine or 10 years when they’re the leader of a country.”

“I don’t think we’ve lost touch,” MP Marcus Powlowski said.

MP Pam Damoff, a Gould supporter, said she does think Canadians have “lost trust in a lot of things since the pandemic and what Karina says has a lot of truth - that we need to rebuild trust.”

MP Patrick Weiler pointed up the chain for the source of the party’s problems.

“One of the challenges that we’ve had is there’s been too few people sitting in the Prime Minister’s Office and not enough engagement with Canadians and outside experts,” he said.

Gould, who is branding herself as a youthful candidate who can rejuvenate the party, said Thursday that Liberals need to be “honest about the fact that Canadians have lost trust in our party, and part of it is because I don’t think we responded to the issues that they were telling us mattered to them.”

MP Francis Drouin said that’s a challenge for any government after ten years and it’s “normal that sometimes you lose touch.”

Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that while he doesn’t share Gould’s viewpoint entirely, “given what’s been going on the last couple months, I can understand that sentiment.”

“We’ve been inwardly focused and that’s unfortunate,” Miller said. “We need to be talking to Canadians about what they’re worried about.”

MP Anita Vandenbeld, who is backing former finance minister Chrystia Freeland for the leadership, said Gould misdiagnosed the problem.

“People have lost faith in all politicians,” she said.

On Friday, Freeland called for four leadership debates and urged the other candidates to commit to running in the next election under the party banner -- no matter who wins.

In an open letter to the other candidates, Freeland said that the four debates, two in each official language, should be held as soon as possible.

“It’s really important to give all Canadians a chance to see the candidates in action, to hear what they have to say, to hear what they have to offer Canadians,” Freeland told reporters on Friday.

Emily Williams, a spokesperson for Mark Carney’s campaign, said Carney is “fully committed to running in the next general election” and “ready to lead the Liberal party to victory in 2025 and to build the party for years to come.”

Gould’s campaign replied that she agrees with both of Freeland’s suggestions. Gould resigned from her job as House leader to mount her leadership bid, and Trudeau on Friday appointed Steven MacKinnon to replace her in the role.

The candidates will be turning their eyes to battleground Quebec this weekend.

Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has an event planned for Sunday in Shawinigan, Que., former Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien’s hometown. Champagne is widely expected to endorse Carney at the event.

Freeland is scheduled to appear on the popular Radio-Canada program Tout le monde en parle on Sunday -- an informal talk-show setting where she can make her pitch to francophone Liberals.

She granted her first interview of the race to TVA in French, suggesting she’s planning a heavy push for votes in the province.

Candidates only have until Monday to sign up new members who can cast ballots, but the party said it won’t have anything to say about membership levels until then.

Northern Ontario Liberal MPs were set to back Carney for leader at a Friday news conference on Parliament Hill, but that event was abruptly scrubbed. Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu, who is backing his bid, said the event was cancelled over a scheduling conflict and it likely will be moved to a location in northern Ontario.

MPs Jaime Battiste and Chandra Arya, and former Liberal MPs Frank Baylis and Ruby Dhalla, all said they filed papers to run in the race ahead of the Thursday deadline.

Michael Clark, who sought to enter the race to reopen the abortion debate within the party, said in a video post that he failed to get enough signatures to qualify.

The party is currently reviewing candidate applications and will determine within a 10-day period who met the conditions to be on the ballot in March.

When asked Thursday and Friday who sent in the paperwork to run, the party refused to name names.

Candidates must also still pay a steep entry fee by Feb. 17 -- $350,000 in total.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2025.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press