As Trudeau confronts an anxious caucus, some Liberals say he needs to act swiftly

The email from national caucus chair Brenda Shanahan rejecting calls for an early in-person Liberal caucus meeting landed in MP's inboxes around 5 p.m. on the fourth of July.

Citing "scheduling logistics," Shanahan officially dismissed public demands from Liberal MPs for an urgent gathering to discuss the fallout from the byelection loss in Toronto-St. Paul's.

In the words of one Liberal MP, it went over "like a fart in church."

"If you can't even meet with your own caucus … how can you convince a country?" the MP said.

In addition to inspiring fragrant similes, Shanahan's email pointed to another challenge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his staff face as they attempt to ride out the current wave of caucus unrest.

Shanahan urged MPs discussing next steps after the byelection loss to respect caucus confidentiality and not leak to the media.

Her email was promptly leaked to the media.

Those in Liberal circles arguing against holding a full in-person caucus meeting say it would create a media spectacle. MPs would gather to vent, express frustration and point fingers. It would all get leaked to journalists and fuel a negative news cycle the Liberals are desperate to avoid.

But in the absence of such a meeting, MPs have been phoning or texting reporters to vent, express frustration and point fingers. Much of it is still getting leaked to the media without the pressure-release-valve effect an in-person meeting might provide.

CBC news has spoken with more than a dozen Liberal MPs, cabinet ministers, political staffers, campaign workers and organizers in the days since the surprise byelection loss to get a sense of the mood within the party.

Trudeau's supporters argue that much of the anonymous agitation comes from a small group of well-known contrarians who are either not running again or resent being left out of cabinet.

They argue a substantial number of Liberal MPs — if not a clear majority — still support Justin Trudeau's leadership and are content to ride this out.

Even some of the prime minister's harshest internal critics agree with that assessment. But they point to another substantial portion of the caucus — those in the middle who aren't looking for Trudeau to resign but are looking for some kind of demonstrable change.

Those critics argue the prime minister has to get his caucus settled before he can work on his connection with voters. Their blunt assessment is that Trudeau can't win over the country if it isn't clear he can win over his caucus.