The Trudeau Liberals are kicking off another cabinet retreat on Sunday — their second in five months — where the party will re-strategize on improving their polling numbers after their last effort failed catastrophically.
This time in Montreal, federal cabinet ministers will prepare for their January 29 return to parliament, marking the end of their 6-week holiday break.
The retreat comes just two weeks after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got caught lying about paying for his Jamaican vacation over Christmas and New Year’s, only to later admit that he was gifted the $84,000 luxury trip.
Liberals remain down significantly in polls
Following the Jamaican revelation, Abacus Data’s CEO David Coletto said “His net favourability score of -34 is the worst we’ve ever measured.”
A whopping 59% of the latest Abacus Data poll’s respondents said they have a negative impression of Trudeau, with only 25% indicating they have a positive impression of him.
Moreover, 41% of respondents said they planned to vote for the CPC in the next federal election, compared to just 24% saying they’ll choose the Trudeau Liberals.
August retreat may have hurt Liberals more than helped
Federal Liberal cabinet members gathered just five months ago in Charlottetown, P.E.I, on August 23, after Trudeau pulled off a massive cabinet shuffle.
The Liberals entered the August 2023 retreat when the PM’s disapproval rating was at 49%, and approval rating at 42%.
The Counter Signal’s Editor-in-Chief Keean Bexte covered the Liberal’s P.E.I retreat with on-the-ground coverage, which depicted Trudeau’s cabinet members spending their time enjoying oysters, ice cream, and cigars, while avoiding his questions at all costs.
Six days later, on August 29 2023, Trudeau’s disapproval rating went up to 59%, and his approval rating went down to 35%.
