The Liberal caucus has voted against adopting the Reform Act, which would have given Liberal MPs the power to oust leader Mark Carney if they deemed him unfit to lead the party.
Liberal caucus chair James Maloney said Liberal MPs voted on May 25 not to adopt the act, but he declined to say anything more about the vote, insisting any discussions that happen in caucus meetings should remain private.
The Reform Act, which was introduced by Conservative MP Michael Chong in December 2013 and became law in June 2015, requires each parliamentary caucus to vote on the four key aspects of the legislation at their first meeting following a general election.
The four provisions relate to whether the caucus will have the ability to trigger a leadership review, appoint an interim leader, expel or readmit an MP, and elect or remove the caucus chair. Each of those processes can only take place if at least 20 percent of the caucus members vote in favour, according to the act.
The Conservatives voted to adopt all four aspects of the act at the start of the new Parliament in 2021 following the party’s loss in the federal election—using it to expel MP Derek Sloan from caucus that same year, and later to oust leader Erin O’Toole in 2022. The Liberals voted not to adopt the act both in 2019 and in 2021. The NDP and Bloc Québécois also voted against adopting the Reform Act in 2021.
By not adopting the act, the Liberals didn’t have the mechanism to eject former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as leader when the party was down in the polls in 2023 and 2024. Trudeau rejected calls from his caucus to step down before finally announcing his plan to resign in early January 2025, a few weeks after Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland quit in December 2024. Trudeau officially resigned in March after Carney was chosen by the party’s membership as Liberal leader.
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Three days before the caucus meeting and vote on May 25, Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith published a blog post saying “it’s past time we adopted measures to reinforce a leader’s accountability to caucus.”
Erskine-Smith, who served as housing minister in Carney’s first cabinet but was dropped from the new cabinet earlier this month, said the Reform Act “isn’t controversial” and the provisions “have nothing to do with any individual leader.”
“Adopting these measures has nothing to do with [Carney] or his mandate, just as my support for the Reform Act measures in past Parliaments had nothing to do with Justin Trudeau,” he wrote on May 22.
Erskine-Smith said he has always supported adopting the Reform Act and will continue to do so.
Meanwhile, the Tories again voted to adopt the rules under the Reform Act this year at their first caucus meeting, on May 6, following the April 28 federal election. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who lost his Ottawa-area Carleton seat in the 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 the Liberals in 2019 and 2021.
Legislative Agenda
Earlier on Sunday, May 25, Prime Minister Mark Carney told his Liberal caucus members that they are going to be “very busy” once Parliament reopens the next day.
Addressing his caucus on May 25, Carney said his government’s immediate priorities will focus on making life more affordable for Canadians, including cutting the lowest personal income tax rate from 15 percent to 14 percent, and removing the GST for first-time homebuyers on homes at or under $1 million—both promises he made during his election campaign.
The Conservatives have criticized the Liberals for delaying the budget until the fall, with Poilievre saying that by then “half the budget year is over.” Carney has said he doesn’t want to “rush” a budget with a new cabinet.
Sunday’s gathering on Parliament Hill marked the first time the Liberals had met since winning the federal election in April. The caucus briefly let TV cameras and reporters into their meeting to watch Carney deliver his speech outlining his plan for the new parliamentary session.
Carney promised his caucus that when they meet on May 26, it will be one of the busiest returns of Parliament in Canadian history. The new session is scheduled to sit for only a month before it goes on a pre-scheduled summer break until September
“So we are going to be very, very busy in the next few weeks, but we are going to be very, very busy in the next few months. We are going to be very, very busy in the next few years,” Carney said. “We’re going to have to do things previously thought impossible, at speeds not seen in generations.”
Carney said he would introduce legislation to fast-track infrastructure projects of national interest and eliminate all federal barriers to free interprovincial trade. Since becoming prime minister, he has convened the first ministers to discuss removing trade barriers between provinces and has pledged to eliminate federal obstacles by Canada Day, July 1.
On Canada’s sovereignty, the Liberal leader said his government will “work relentlessly” to keep the country safe. In his mandate letter to cabinet on May 22, Carney said security is a priority and asked his cabinet to strengthen the Canadian Armed Forces, secure the borders, and shore up law enforcement.
“We are going to legislate to toughen the Criminal Code for those who are threatening the safety of Canadians, by making bail harder to get for those charged with stealing cars, with home invasion, with drug smuggling, with human trafficking,” Carney said.
Carney added that his government will establish a new economic and security relationship with the United States.
Matthew Horwood and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
