Spooked by polls, Liberal MPs hope Trudeau hears their concerns as caucus gathers

Some Liberal members of Parliament heading into a national caucus retreat this week say they're facing blowback from voters at the doorsteps — and they hope the prime minister and his inner circle listen to their concerns before it's too late.

The Liberals are holding three days of meetings starting Tuesday in London, Ont., a key battleground region of southwestern Ontario, as their party faces its worst polling numbers since forming government in 2015.

The talks are set to focus on making housing more affordable and increasing supply, improving health care and fighting climate change, according to a senior government source.

Ahead of the gathering, several MPs told CBC News they don't feel the prime minister listens to their views or solicits their advice.

CBC News spoke to more than a dozen MPs and granted some confidentiality so that they could speak freely. They said they plan to use the next few days to urge the prime minister, his office and cabinet to offer a fresh plan to Canadians on the top issues of the day — because many don't believe the government's current communication strategy is working.

Some said they also want a plan to respond to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, whose party held its policy convention in Quebec City over the weekend.

Some, including members of cabinet, were willing to speak openly about the choices facing the government.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller said the Liberals are torn over how to counter what he called Poilievre's "garbage" attacks.

"There's a tension as to how to engage ... whether you fight fire with fire and bring yourself down to a level of politics that you yourself have sworn to your electors you would never engage," Miller said.

"There is a struggle and attention generally as to how to deal with a person like that, that Canadian politics, in particular, hasn't seen much of."

Sean Casey, Liberal MP for Charlottetown, said the Liberals need to respond to Poilievre in a measured, thoughtful way that shows humility, without engaging in rage-driven attacks.

"Pretty much anything that he [Poilievre] talks about in connection with the economy ignores global conditions, ignores the impact of geopolitics," he said.

"He would have you believe that emissions aren't going down when in fact they are, and would have you believe that a big part of the increase in cost of living is the price on pollution, which it isn't."

Casey and many other Liberals MPs said they don't know why their party allowed the Conservatives to rebrand Poilievre without offering a stronger counter-narrative.