Some Liberal MPs issue a deadline to Trudeau: make up your mind to stay or go by Oct. 28

Some Liberal MPs issued a deadline to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday: decide in the next few days if you want to stay on as leader or face some unspecified consequences.

For weeks, anti-Trudeau MPs have been meeting in secret to convince caucus members to band together and push him out of the top job to save the party from electoral ruin.

After nine years in government, Trudeau's popularity has plummeted. The CBC Poll Tracker shows the Conservatives have a 19-point lead over the governing Liberals, a margin that suggests dozens of Liberal MPs could be out of a job after the next vote.

In that context, some 24 Liberal MPs have signed a document calling on Trudeau to go.

Sources said MP Patrick Weiler read a letter to Trudeau today during the party's caucus meeting on Parliament Hill, laying out the arguments in favour of the prime minister resigning now.

That letter included a demand: Trudeau should make a choice about his future before Oct. 28.

About 20 MPs none of them cabinet ministers also stood up in the Liberal caucus meeting today to urge Trudeau to rethink his pledge to stay on as leader into the next election, sources told CBC News.

"I didn't think they wouldput an ultimatum on the table. That shows they have a great deal of resolve here that was unanticipated," one MP told CBC News.

Sources said Trudeau looked uncomfortable at times as MPs questioned his leadership.

The prime minister also got emotional at one point as he toldMPsabout the toll his long political career has taken on his three children, sources said.

Sources said Trudeautold caucus he would take some time to reflect after hearing their concerns about his viability as leader.

When Trudeau emerged from the meeting, his only comment to reporters wasthat "the Liberal Party is strong and united."

WATCH: Trudeau leaves caucus after some Liberal MPs call on him to resign

Watch the moment Trudeau leaves the caucus room where some MPs called for him to resign

2 days ago

Duration 0:07

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Liberal Party is strong and united as he emerges from a meeting of the Liberal caucus Wednesday, during which some MPs raised concerns about Trudeaus leadership.

Trudeau could decide to press on as leader even if he's dealing with significant discontent in his caucus.

It's not clear what disgruntled Liberals would do if Trudeau simply ignores their demands to step aside by the specified deadline of Oct. 28.

Three MPs have come forward publicly to say they signed a caucus document committing them to making the case for Trudeau's resignation: Newfoundland's Ken McDonald, Prince Edward Island'sSean Casey and New Brunswick's Wayne Long.

McDonald, Casey and Long have all said that while they want Trudeau to go, they're not yet willing to leave the party and sit as Independents.

Speaking brieflyto reporters before the caucus meeting, Casey said he'd like to see a secret vote to decide Trudeau's future:"I wish there was a mechanismfor it, yes."

McDonald told CBC'sPower & PoliticsTuesday that he and other dissenters have also discussed voting against the government if there's another non-confidence voteand they don't see evidence that Trudeau and his team are taking their concerns seriously.

Asked by reporters Wednesday if he's still considering such a move, McDonald said he was,"but, right now, it's not something I would do."

"The prime minister has to start listening to the people," he added. "You have to try and get people back onside."

Long told reporters he's part of this movement to take on Trudeau because he thinks Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is a danger to the country and can be beaten by a different Liberal leader.

"The Liberal Party is an institution in this country, it's bigger than one person, one leader, and it's incumbent on us as elected officials that we put our best foot forward," he said.

Long, who isn't running in the next election, said that while the party needs "a change in leadership ... in the end caucus majority will rule" and he will respect whatever comes.

MPs emerged from the meeting saying it's ultimately up to Trudeau to decide what to do about his future after hearing about the considerable discontent first-hand.

"It's the decision of the leader of the party whether he stays on as leader. That is Mr. Trudeau's decision," said Liberal MP Yvan Baker.

"My sense is that Mr. Trudeau is still the leader," said MPJol Lightbound.

Other MPs expressed confidence in Trudeau'sability to take on Poilievre in the next election.

"We're 100 per cent behind Mr. Trudeau," said MP Francis Drouin.

"We're united to defeat Mr. Poilievre," said MP Kevin Lamoureux.

"I'm proud of this team and we'll fight Mr. Poilievre in the next election," said National RevenueMinister Marie-Claude Bibeau.

"It was a great discussion and what really matters in the end is we come out of this caucus meeting united," added Industry Minister Franois-Philippe Champagne.

WATCH: PM can 'handle the truth,' minister says

Everyone was quite honest during Liberal caucus meeting, says Miller

2 days ago

Duration 1:14

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can handle the truth. Miller described what happened during the national caucus meeting Wednesday, saying MPs were 'telling the prime minister the truth, whether he likes to hear it or not.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller saidhe doesn't expectTrudeau will step down.

Miller, who is a close personal friend of Trudeau, said some tensions have been "simmering" in caucus and he"respects the hell out of my colleagues who were brave and stood up and said things to [Trudeau's] face."

"This isn't a code red situation. The prime minister can sure as hell handle the truth," Miller said.

Asked if Trudeau should rethink his plans to stay on, Miller said that's up to him.

"He's quite clear about his intentions and I don't expect those to change," he said.

Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, who is known for being a caucus maverick, told reporters as he left the caucus room that he thinks there's a path forward for Trudeau if he and his team are open to some meaningful changes.

"The prime minister has to listen to the frustrations and, in some cases, very valid frustrations of caucus colleagues and incorporate that into changes moving forward," he said.

He said the Liberal Party's decision to essentially stop advertising is a problem.

The Conservatives have spent millions of dollars onTV, radio and online ads, while theLiberals have spent only a few hundred thousand, essentially ceding the field to the opposition, he said.

But Erskine-Smith said he hopes wayward MPs "stop the palace intrigue," although he conceded talk of Trudeau's future likely won't end today.

"I think we're likely to have a few more conversations," he said.

"My colleagues need to turn the knives outwards and not inwards and we need to focus on the most important thing, which is getting things done here in Parliament and taking the fight to Pierre Poilievre, because he's a disaster for this country."

While Trudeau considers his future, there's also a petition circulating that calls on caucus to force a "confidence vote" so that LiberalMPs and the party's national executive can have a chance to vote on the leadership question.

The petition says that if Trudeau fails to secureenough support in that vote, the party should pick an interimleader and launch a leadership race to be completed no later than June 1, 2025.

This initiative, called "Project Code Red," was organized not by MPs but by some Young Liberal members and former staffers.

"Remember this the very survival of the Canada we have built and, with the benefit of your sound judgment, will continue to build, is now at stake," the unsigned petition says.