
Leadership candidate sparks debate among Liberal MPs over whether party ’lost trust’ of Canadians
‘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 Karina Gould said
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.”
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