While voters may have tired of him, Trudeau looks forward to a 'choice' election

Standing by the docks in downtown Nanaimo, B.C., on Monday morning, Liberal MP Alexandre Mendes told Radio-Canada she came to this week's Liberal caucus retreat with a message from her constituents: «dozens and dozens» of them were «adamant» the Liberal Party needed a new leader.

Speaking later to CBC's, Mendes said it was hard to pinpoint a specific reason or issue to explain her constituents' feelings for the prime minister.

«It's a very generalized… 'we're tired of his face' kind of thing,» she explained.

Mendes said she still personally supports Justin Trudeau and believes the government has done good things. But she felt compelled to convey what she was hearing from voters.

Short of resigning, there is likely not much Trudeau can do to directly counter this kind of generalized fatigue with his presence (or, more specifically, his face). But Trudeau evidently did not see this summer as a moment to announce his departure.

Despite immense speculation about change atop the Liberal government, the summer of 2024 has now come to an end with relatively limited adjustments — the most significant change being the arrival of former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, albeit in an advisory role.

The summer of 2023 was an angsty one for Liberals as well, but concern about the Liberal Party's slide in the polls led to a "robust" discussion behind closed doors when the governing party's MPs met in London, Ont.

A year later, the polls are no less bleak. But no such collective airing of grievances seems to have occurred in Nanaimo (Mendes's comments notwithstanding).

In London, the Trudeau government had seemed eager to show that it was (however belatedly) doing new things, with the prime minister touting a flurry of new housing and