Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada faced the stiffest challenge to his leadership from fellow elected Liberal Party members on Wednesday during a closed-door meeting where he was urged to resign to avoid torpedoing the party’s chances in the next election.
For more than a year, the Liberals under Mr. Trudeau have trailed the Conservative Party by double digits in polls, suggesting that the Liberal Party could face a crushing defeat in the next election, which must be held by next October.
Panic within the party intensified after the Liberals recently lost two special parliamentary elections in districts that had been considered their strongholds.
The growing dissatisfaction played out on Wednesday, when most of the 153 Liberal members of Parliament gathered in Ottawa for a scheduled caucus meeting.
While caucus proceedings are typically secret, Mr. Trudeau, according to Canadian news media citing unnamed sources, was presented with a letter signed by about two dozen caucus members calling on him to step down.
The letter has been circulating for several days, but has been a closely held secret.
About 20 Liberal members criticized Mr. Trudeau’s leadership after the letter was read aloud during the three-hour-and-17-minute meeting, according to Canadian news outlets.
CBC News reported that Mr. Trudeau told the closed meeting that he would reflect on the concerns raised.
None of the party members who spoke to the news media before or after the meeting would openly challenge Mr. Trudeau, and most said that they still supported his leadership.
Mr. Trudeau, walking quickly past a line of journalists outside the meeting room, said simply, “The Liberal Party is strong and united.”
Later, in the House of Commons, Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader and the prime minister’s chief political rival, repeatedly asked Mr. Trudeau if he would listen to those who want him to step down or call an election immediately.
“In our caucus, people have always been free to speak their minds,” Mr. Trudeau said.
Marc Miller, the immigration minister and a friend of Mr. Trudeau since high school, said after the party meeting that he did not expect the prime minister to quit.
“This isn’t a code red situation,” Mr. Miller told reporters. He said the prime minister can “handle the truth.”
He added, speaking of Mr. Trudeau, “He’s quite clear about his intentions, and I don’t expect those to change.”
Because Canadians vote only for their local member of Parliament, Mr. Trudeau’s political fortunes and those of the Liberal caucus members are entwined. If voters reject Mr. Trudeau and the Liberals, they will do so by tossing the current Liberal members from office.
Mr. Trudeau has repeatedly said that he intended to lead his party into the next election. In theory, an election can be triggered at any moment if the Liberal government, which does not control a majority of votes in Parliament, is defeated either through a no-confidence vote or on a major piece of legislation.
The Liberal Party has no mechanism to force Mr. Trudeau out. But if he were to step down, the party’s members would choose a successor.
While the specifics of what was said during Wednesday’s meeting are unclear, some analysts say it is likely to further weaken Mr. Trudeau’s standing.
“Maybe they walked in there and just let it rip and they feel better,” said Lori Turnbull, a political scientist and professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. “But I just don’t see how this ‘we’re one big happy family’ is going to last for any period of time.”
The Liberals have no obvious successor to Mr. Trudeau, and dumping an unpopular leader has not been a formula for success in Canada. After Brian Mulroney resigned as prime minister following a collapse of support in polls in 1993, the Progressive Conservatives, as they were then known, fell to just two seats from 156 in a general election months later.
While issues like the high cost of housing and inflation have helped fuel voter disaffection toward Mr. Trudeau, his long tenure may also be playing a role.
Mr. Trudeau has been in power for nine years, and no Canadian prime minister has led a party to four consecutive election wins in a century.
Professor Turnbull said that Mr. Trudeau and his advisers ultimately needed to find some way to placate dissidents if he wanted to continue to lead the party.
“Even if it’s just 24,” she said, referring to the number of Liberal members reported to have signed a letter seeking his resignation, “that’s 24 and that’s enough to put a leak in a boat. And that leak is going to keep going.”
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