Angus-Reid’s New Year’s Eve poll of federal party popularity put the Liberals in a nightmarish position. Voter intent for the Grits was at 16 percent, well below even the NDP. According to Angus-Reid, “It is quite possibly the lowest vote intention the Liberals have ever received in the modern era.” The Conservatives continue to soar at 45 percent.

The beleaguered leader of the party also hit a new low at 22 percent approval. Not surprising, as a majority of his caucus and regional caucuses across the country, including those of Ontario and Quebec, are telling him it’s time for him to go. Almost half of Canadians and a solid majority of Liberal supporters say he should call for a party leadership contest.

The only bright spot for the Liberals is that the leader of the opposition isn’t exactly Mr. Popularity either. Incredibly, even with his party flying high, Poilievre’s approval stagnates at 38 percent. Women, particularly, find Pierre off-putting.

So can the Liberals recover? To be contenders by the next election would require a miracle. Their best bet would seem to be a Trudeau resignation and proroguing Parliament for a leadership contest. That, incidentally, is the top choice of Canadians.

The right replacement might at least put the party in a position to form a formidable opposition, something they aren’t in a position to do now. The NDP have greater voter approval even though they have benefitted little from the Liberal slide.

As for the longer term, of course they can recover. They’ve done it before. In 2011, led by Michael Ignatieff, they fell to third party in Parliament with only 18.9 percent of the vote. Four years later Trudeau led them to victory.

Or consider the Progressive Conservatives under Brian Mulroney. In 1984, Mulroney led his party to the most seats in history. In 1993, the party was devastated under Kim Campbell, reduced to only two seats in the House—from 211 seats to two in a mere nine years. And yet by 2006 they had completely recovered and were back in government.

Of course they were no longer Progressive Conservatives, just Conservatives, after a merger with the more right-wing populist Canadian Alliance, formerly the Reform Party. It is this version that awaits its coronation under the angry, resentful Pierre Poilievre.

The once-triumphant Mulroney leaving a collapsing Conservative party to the hapless Kim Campbell may be being echoed today with the once-triumphant Trudeau leaving a collapsing Liberal Party to Chrystia Freeland. We shall soon see.

In any case, the coming election will be one of the most important in Canadian history with the very right-wing Conservatives expecting a broad mandate. Poilievre’s party is not of the progressive variety, not the moderate conservatives of Diefenbaker, Mulroney or Clark. He is more of a Stephen Harper in a hurry or a Donald Trump lite. We will need all the progressive parties in peak form for this election, so let’s hope the Liberals sort out their chaos in time for the big show.