‘Like the air is coming out of the bicycle tire’: Strategists weigh in on tumultuous week for the Liberals

Following another byelection loss in a riding long considered a Liberal stronghold, coupled with the news another minister is quitting cabinet — and opting to sit as an independent MP — the weekly panel of political strategists on CTV’s Question Period weighs in on the Liberals’ political fortunes.

Last week started with the Liberals’ byelection loss to the Bloc Quebecois in LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, the Montreal-area riding previously held for nearly a decade by former Liberal justice minister David Lametti, as well as by former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin from 1988 to 2008.

Then, later last week, former transport minister Pablo Rodriguez announced he was stepping down from cabinet to run for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party.

That announcement wasn’t unexpected, but Rodriguez’ decision to sit as an Independent MP came as a surprise to many political watchers.

Scott Reid — a CTV News political analyst and former communications director to former prime minister Paul Martin — called the byelection loss “a big deal.”

“It feels like the air is coming out of the bicycle tire of the government, and you can just see it in people’s faces, and you can read it in their body language,” he said. “The fact that bad news is expected still doesn’t necessarily help you when the bad news arrives.”

Reid said when it comes to the government’s deflating tire, “it doesn’t feel like they have a pump handy,” which puts the Liberals at a disadvantage, without a clear path forward.

Kathleen Monk, a former NDP strategist and director of communications to the late Jack Layton, agreed, saying the Liberals have yet to present any narrative or policy to “turn the ship around.”

“I think, in some ways, they’re shocked that this bad news keeps on coming, but I don’t know why,” Monk said, when asked about the revelation that the byelection loss was not discussed during Liberal caucus last week.

Kory Teneycke, who was Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s campaign manager and former director of communications for former prime minister Stephen Harper, said factoring in the Liberals’ lacklustre polling numbers for the last year, it’s “very difficult when you’re at like 21 or 22 points to look yourself in the mirror and say there’s a path to victory.”

“I think the degree to which it’s obvious that things are not going to work out well for these guys unless something very radical changes is obvious to everyone, except maybe one or two people, and clearly one of them is the prime minister himself,” Teneycke said. “It’s just absolutely mind-boggling that you can have a caucus meeting and not talk about losing one of the safest seats in the country.”

You can watch CTV’s Question Period’s full Sunday Strategy Session in the video player at the top of this article.