‘Great opportunity,’ says London, Ont. officials as Liberal caucus retreat kicks off

London North Centre Liberal MP Peter Fragiskatos said that he’s been pushing for the retreat to be held in London for quite some time.

As the federal Liberal caucus retreat kicks off in London, Ont., this week, regional government and city officials are hoping local issues might become a topic of discussion during the meeting.

Starting on Tuesday at RBC Place London, the Liberal caucus welcomed MPs to the Forest City as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally departed from India following technical issues with a government aircraft, delaying his departure by two days.

The caucus comes as Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives saw a summer surge in the polls, with a recent Abacus survey placing the Tories 14 points ahead of the Liberals.

Speaking with Global News Tuesday morning, London North Centre Liberal MP Peter Fragiskatos said that he’s been pushing for the retreat to be held in London for quite some time.

While few details have been released, discussion topics during the three-day retreat are set to include housing, homelessness, mental health and addictions, as well as the affordability crisis, among others.

Additionally, Fragiskatos believes that the city’s homelessness hubs plan may also be a topic of discussion.

“I think it will certainly come up,” he said. “The prime minister, and relevant ministers, are already aware of what London is calling for with respect to the hub model in the sport of housing that is attached to it.

The collaborative hubs plan was endorsed by city councillors earlier this summer, marking the first significant portion of the Health and Homelessness Whole of Community Response to clear a major hurdle in its implementation.