Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed that the Liberal caucus will soon vote on whether to adopt the Reform Act, which gives MPs the power to trigger a leadership review.
“All recognized parties in Parliament are bound by the Reform Act. It’s the law of the land, and therefore there are these four votes consistent with the Reform Act that will take place,” Carney told reporters on May 21, referring to four votes related to separate provisions of the act.
The prime minister said the Liberal caucus will vote on whether to adopt the act at their first caucus meeting on May 25.
Enacted by Parliament in 2015, the Reform Act increased the power and independence of MPs by allowing them to order a leadership review, expel an MP from caucus, and elect or remove a caucus chair. The leadership review and MP expulsion processes can happen if 20 percent of the caucus votes in favour.
At the beginning of each Parliament, the MPs in each party vote on which provisions they want to apply to their caucus, which can then apply until Parliament is dissolved. The Liberal Party voted not to adopt the Reform Act in 2019 or in 2021.
Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced calls from MPs in the Liberal caucus to resign in late 2024, but the MPs did not have a mechanism to remove him since the party had not adopted the Reform Act. In December, some Liberal MPs such as Anthony Housefather and Chandra Arya said that the majority of caucus wanted Trudeau to step down after the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
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While Trudeau repeatedly said throughout 2024 that he wanted to lead the party through the next election, he announced on Jan. 6 that he would be resigning once the Liberals had chosen a new leader. Trudeau officially resigned in March once Carney was voted in as Liberal leader.
The Conservative Party adopted the Reform Act at the outset of Parliament in 2021, and used it to expel MP Derek Sloan from caucus the same year. The party also used the leadership provisions of the act to oust its leader Erin O’Toole in February 2022, with 73 Conservative MPs voting to replace him among the 118-member caucus.
On May 6, Conservative MPs voted to invoke the Reform Act again, allowing for the secret-ballot vote to review party leadership. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who lost his Carleton seat in the recent election but plans to run in a byelection in an Alberta riding, has remained as leader and has yet to be publicly challenged. Previous Tory leaders had faced calls to step down after losing the election to Liberals in 2019 and 2021.
