Special national Liberal caucus meeting called for next week after regional chairs meet: sources

A special meeting of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national Liberal caucus has been called for next Wednesday, sources say.

A special meeting of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national Liberal caucus has been called for next Wednesday, sources say.

The Liberal caucus' regional chairs met Friday afternoon to discuss Trudeau's continued leadership, and next steps. The prime minister was back in Ottawa today but has yet to signal he's ready to address the snowballing calls for his resignation.

During that virtual call, regional caucus representatives were set to ask national caucus chair Brenda Shanahan to consider calling a meeting of all Liberal MPs.

That request has been granted, and it's set to be a lengthy meeting, with Trudeau set to face his MPs for the first time since telling them that he'd be reflecting on his political future over the holidays.

This comes as some MPs are pushing for the prime minister to be presented with a more formal request for his resignation, or to at least put a timeline on deciding on whether he intends to stay on as party leader.

According to a copy of an email sent by Shanahan to the national caucus, the "special hybrid meeting" will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, with MPs "encouraged" to attend in-person in West Block, or virtually over Zoom.

"When accessing National Caucus by Zoom, members are expected to be alone in a closed confidential space, face visible at all times on screen," reads Shanahan's email, noting the conventionally confidential nature of caucus deliberations.