As Conservatives enter the home stretch of the federal election campaign with polls putting them in a close fight against the Liberals, should they sweat about what’s on their political right?
People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier would like to think so.
The former Conservative has attacked the Tories’ current leadership as phony while hitching his populist horse to anti-lockdown movements across the country and railing against government-imposed vaccine mandates and passports.
And although the PPC remains far behind the Conservatives at about four per cent of popular support in public opinion polls, Bernier and his 311 candidates are hoping for a “purple wave” of Tory supporters and others switching their votes on Sept. 20.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, during a recent campaign stop in the Greater Toronto Area, sidestepped a question about Bernier and the PPC, and instead touted his party as best placed to jump-start Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery.
Others such as Canada Proud have been more direct. The registered third-party advertiser, whose stated aim is to defeat Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, has stepped up warnings about a vote split on the right.
Social media push
The organization led by Jeff Ballingall, who served as digital director of O’Toole’s 2020 leadership race, has been pushing out memes and social-media videos to get its message across.
That online effort has coincided with growing realizations about the extent to which social media has been feeding anti-vaccine and anti-Trudeau sentiments among segments of the Canadian population.
One Canada Proud post includes a smiling photo of the Liberal leader captioned: “Trudeau when he finds out you’re voting PPC.” A second photo below depicts him wide-eyed with the caption: “Trudeau when he finds out you’re voting Conservative.”
“Like it or not, if we split the vote, Trudeau wins again,” says an accompanying post. “If you’re voting for PPC, you’re voting for Trudeau,” reads another.
Saying some of those supporting the PPC are opposed to Trudeau would be an understatement, as people toting the party’s signs have been among the throng of angry protesters who have hurled obscenities at the Liberal leader at campaign events.
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A supporter of the People’s Party of Canada protests before the English language leaders’ debate, in Gatineau, Que., on Sept. 7. Canadians will vote in a federal election on Sept. 20. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
The PPC also removed the president of its Elgin–Middlesex–London riding association last week after he was accused of throwing gravel at Trudeau during an event in London, Ont.
Police in the southwestern Ontario city announced on Saturday they had charged Shane Marshall in the incident. The suspect shares the name of the former PPC riding association president, but the party did not immediately respond to request for comment on whether the man now facing charges is the same person.
Ballingall said in an interview that many people opposed to Trudeau and the Liberals feel alienated from Canada’s current political process, and may want to vote for the PPC as a protest against the establishment.
“They want to vote for PPC as a protest vote, they want to get rid of Trudeau, but you can’t have both,” he said. “You can’t protest and also get rid of Trudeau. It’s not a perfect scenario. It’s a binary choice.”
Yet it isn’t only disenfranchised Canadians who are supporting the PPC, as Bernier has managed to tap into anger over mandatory vaccinations and vaccine passports, a population that political strategist Shakir Chambers says includes non-Conservatives.
“They occupy such a unique space in this election,” said Chambers, who helped Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives win the 2018 provincial election in Ontario.
“They’re saying we should have a conversation about these things. No other party’s saying that you can even converse about whether this should be mandatory or not.”
O’Toole’s vaccine stand has stoked anger
O’Toole has tried to walk a fine line when it comes to vaccines, saying on the one hand that Canadians should get immunized to curb the spread of COVID-19 and protect vulnerable citizens while on the other defending the freedom to choose not to do so.
That mixed message has put some of his Conservative candidates in a bind when it comes to explaining where the party stands on the issue, including in the Western heartland of Saskatchewan and Alberta where the party remains dominant.
“You can read our platform … It’s very different from the Liberal platform,” incumbent Alberta MP Garnett Genuis wrote in a recent Facebook comment.
“I understand not agreeing with the party on everything. Honestly, I don’t agree with the party on everything. But our party is against mandatory vaccination, and is the only viable alternative to Justin Trudeau.”
WATCH | Conservative leader is asked about the rising support in polls for the PPC
Conservative leader is asked about the rising support in polls for the People’s Party and its effect on the right-of-centre vote
2 days ago
Erin O’Toole spoke with the CBC’s John Paul Tasker at a stop in Port Credit, Ont. on Friday. 1:04
Arnold Viersen, another Alberta MP running for re-election, also weighed in.
“The Conservative party opposes mandatory vaccines and a Conservative government is the only way to block Trudeau from enforcing his,” the candidate wrote.
The vaccine issue is only one in which O’Toole stoked anger among some on the right as he has tried to steer the Conservatives more to the centre. The Tory leader has acknowledged his plan to introduce a price on carbon is also unpopular with some.
O’Toole has defended that decision several times throughout the election in a bid to better connect with the majority of Canadians who, opinion polls suggest, want action on climate change.
“We’ve shown you that we are a new party,” he said on Friday. “We are a changed party and we’re here to earn your trust.”
Chambers nonetheless believes vaccines more than O’Toole’s more moderate views on climate change or abortion — the Conservative leader has said he supports a woman’s right to choose — are what could drive unhappy Tories into the PPC’s arms.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
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