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Too bad for the federal Liberal caucus in Ottawa these days.

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They must feel like the crew of the doomed Titanic, stuck on board and hurtling towards the iceberg under the command of Captain Edward Smith – who would eventually drown with 1,500 others in that infamous maritime disaster.

Alternatively, they must feel like the crew of the Pequod, taking orders from Captain Ahab.

Ahab was obsessed with killing Moby Dick, aka the Great White Whale, which ended in disaster for everyone on the Pequod’s crew except one, Ishmael, who lived to tell the tale.

This is similar to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s obsession with defeating Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in the upcoming federal election, which could happen at any time.

Poilievre is currently living rent-free in Trudeau’s head – more like a mansion, in fact, given that the prime minister constantly cites Poilievre’s defeat as the main reason he remains as prime minister.

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It reminded me of those two famous/infamous captains – the first a real person, the second a character from Herman Melville’s magnificent work of fiction. Moby-Dick.

All this while listening to Trudeau report last week from his national caucus meeting with Liberal MPs in Ottawa, many of whom were unhappy with his leadership and some urging him to resign, given they believe his unpopularity with the public reduced liberal support across the country. .

This drama has been playing out publicly for months and particularly since June 24, when the Liberals suffered a shocking by-election defeat by the Conservatives in the former Liberal stronghold of Toronto-St Paul.

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Their anguish only increased when the Liberals suffered a second devastating by-election defeat on September 16 – this one in what was previously another Liberal stronghold in the LaSalle-Émard-Verdun riding of Montreal, in benefit of the Bloc Québécois.

But according to Trudeau, following the national caucus meeting, the Liberals magically emerged “strong and united,” and under him and under his previous leaders, “the Liberal Party has always had in-depth discussions about how best to to tackle the problems facing Canadians. and “we will continue to have excellent discussions about how best to move the Liberal Party forward…”

Echoing his theme, Trudeau said Liberals are “open” to new ideas and “we talk among ourselves.” We share our points of view.

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Seriously, one has to wonder if Trudeau is disconnecting from reality given statements like these.

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In fact, the main complaint from Liberal dissidents is that Trudeau and his inner circle of advisors are not interested in having “in-depth discussions” about the future direction of the Liberal party.

This is despite the fact that Trudeau and his party currently lack public support and, if nothing changes, are headed for a massive defeat in an election that could come at any time.

Immediately after their shock defeat in the Toronto-St. Paul, many Liberals were calling for an emergency meeting of the national caucus to consider new policies, a cabinet reshuffle and/or the replacement of Trudeau’s top advisors, without ousting Trudeau as party leader, given that many Many MPs believe they will lose their seats in the next election if he is still in charge of the party.

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While Trudeau said at the time that he was having important discussions with individuals and groups of Liberals about the way forward, National Liberal Caucus Chair Brenda Shanahan ended any possibility of a full meeting of the caucus during the summer, at the beginning of July.

She said it would be “impossible” due to “scheduling logistics,” which suggests another problem the Liberals have: They seem incapable of holding a two-car funeral, which is part of the reason events keep happening. exceed them on issues for which they are responsible.

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Liberal MP Wayne Long, who is not running and has called for Trudeau’s resignation, said in an interview with CTV’s Question Period after last week’s national caucus meeting that he was “shocked” that Trudeau took only 18 hours to announce that he would not resign. after telling MPs he would seriously consider it at the national caucus meeting.

He urged Trudeau to stop listening to his inner circle of advisers and give more weight to Conservative backbenchers.

To be fair, Trudeau has always said – at least in public – that he would remain prime minister and lead the Liberals whenever the next federal election was called.

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