Liberals hold first post-election meeting on the eve of new spring session

OTTAWA — Liberal MPs are holding their first caucus meeting in Ottawa since their election win nearly a month ago, on Sunday afternoon to set the priorities for the new legislature. The House of Commons will be back for four weeks before the summer break. During that time, MPs will have to elect a new Speaker, hear King Charles III read the Speech from the Throne and the government is expected to table legislation on its key economic priorities. Those include enacting a middle-class tax cut, which the government has said would provide a family of four up to $840 of benefits, and knocking down internal trade barriers. Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged that those would be in place by Canada Day.

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But the Sunday caucus meeting will also be an opportunity to discuss internal matters. Liberals will have the opportunity to decide whether to adopt the Reform Act rules that would give them, amongst other things, the power to trigger a leadership review of their new leader, to expel or readmit a caucus member, or elect or remove a caucus chair. Several MPs said it is nothing against Carney, but that the move is informed by the lack of formal processes they had to expel former prime minister Justin Trudeau last year. Carney dodged questions about this possibility when asked about it a few days ago and simply said that these votes on the Reform Act will be taking place in caucus. Liberals will also have to decide who they will be supporting to run for Speaker. As of Friday, at least seven candidates — five Liberal MPs and two Conservative MPs — were in the running, but eligible MPs have until 6 p.m. to decide to remove their names. Carney, for his part, has a few busy weeks ahead of him after the start of the spring sitting. Carney will be meeting with the country’s premiers in Saskatoon on June 2, will be hosting U.S. President Donald Trump and other G7 leaders in Kananaskis, Alberta, from June 15 to 17, and will be attending the NATO Summit in the Netherlands from June 24 to 25. More to come. National Post calevesque@postmedia.com Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.