Liberals excited over renewed ‘momentum’ after confronting Trudeau

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OTTAWA — The fact that a party running under the Liberal banner pulled off a decisive win in Monday’s New Brunswick election seemed to put a spring in the step of at least a few Liberal MPs, even as they headed into a tense caucus meeting on Wednesday morning.

“Go Susan Holt!” one Liberal MP shouted as she filed into the West Block of Parliament Hill for the meeting, pumping her fist in the air, referring to the victorious New Brunswick Liberal leader.

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New Brunswick Liberal MP Wayne Long said Monday’s result shows that the Liberal brand still holds appeal with voters, and can be revived at the federal level — once Prime Minister Justin Trudeau exits the picture.

Long added that he thought Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was “absolutely beatable” with the right party leader in place.

“The Liberal party is an institution in this country,” Long told reporters on the steps of Parliament. “It’s bigger than one person and one leader.”

Long is one of three Liberal MPs — joined by Sean Casey and Ken McDonald — that have come forward to say they’ve signed a much talked about letter urging Trudeau to step down in the face of widespread unpopularity across Canada.

All three MPs hail from Atlantic Canada.

Dozens of Liberal MPs are reported to have signed the letter.

For his part, Long assured reporters that he hadn’t gotten cold feet heading into Tuesday’s meeting.

“I don’t think it’s any secret to anybody what my views are, that we do need a change of leadership,” Long said.

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“In the end… I’ll be able to look in the mirror and say my piece, and we’ll see what happens.”

Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne tried to spin the New Brunswick result as a shot in the arm to the Liberal caucus.

“This morning, we’re going to regain momentum,” an upbeat Champagne said to reporters.

“That’s what we need to do, focus on the issues that matter to Canadians and win the next election.”

Champagne reaffirmed his support for Trudeau to lead the party into the next federal election after a Tuesday cabinet meeting.

But Holt noticeably distanced herself from Trudeau in a 33-day campaign that was heavily focused on local issues, such as community health care.

She told reporters on the campaign trail that she’d never even met the prime minister in person.

National Post
rmohamed@postmedia.com

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