caucus

Caucus is a meeting of the members of parliament who belong to a particular party (as in, the Liberal caucus, the NDP caucus).  Meetings of caucus—which are usually held in private—may discuss a wide range of topics of concern to party members, including the policies to be followed by the party and parliamentary tactics.  Caucus meetings are an important forum for the exchange of information between the party leaders, ministers (if the party is in government), and the back bench . In the past, voting at a meeting of the party caucus was used in Canada as a common way of choosing the party leader .  Today, leaders are usually chosen at a party convention, or by direct ballot of all the party members.