Bishnoi gang: Experts say fear of Indian syndicate has existed for years in Canada

FREDERICTON – New Brunswick’s election campaign has offered voters a sharp division in viewpoints for the future of the province, especially between the two leading candidates for the premier’s office.

Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs, a unilingual former oil executive running for a third term as premier, presented voters with a two-page platform containing 11 promises, a few of which signal the social conservative bent his party has taken. And he has been noticeable in his absence — on roughly one-third of the days since he called the election on Sept. 19, Higgs has held no public events.

The Liberals, by contrast, have made 100 promises — many of which focus on health care and housing — and bilingual leader Susan Holt, a former consultant and provincial civil servant, has taken full advantage of the campaign’s 33 days, taking few off.

Higgs summed up Monday’s election as one of the most significant in the province’s history.

“There’s very stark differences between the parties that are running,” he told reporters last week. “I truly believe that the outcome will define the future of this province.”

The Tories promised to cut the harmonized sales tax by two percentage points, from 15 per cent to 13 per cent, and to “respect parents.” The latter promise refers to a 2023 decision by the Tory government to require teachers to get parental consent before they can use the preferred first names and pronouns of transgender children under 16.

The Liberals have promised to open 30 community health clinics across the province by 2028 and eliminate the provincial sales tax on electricity bills for residential customers.

Jamie Gillies, a political scientist at St. Thomas University, called the Liberal campaign “traditional,” one that has put Holt at the centre; the Progressive Conservatives, he said, focused much less on the party leader.

He said Holt had a “very clear campaign strategy, which was to focus like a laser on health care.”

“I think they probably succeeded in pushing that as the No. 1 issue during the campaign in the minds of voters. Now, whether the election turns on health care, we’re going to find out on Monday,” Gillies said.

Voters will also discover on Monday whether the Liberals or Tories win a majority; if neither does, the third-placed Green Party could play an outsized role. Leader David Coon has deflected accusations he has a list of demands ready for Holt in exchange for his party’s support in the event her party earns a minority of seats but collects more than the Tories.

Polling numbers have favoured the Liberals in the campaign’s final stretch. Mainstreet Research, in a poll released Saturday, reported the Liberals had a six-point lead over the Progressive Conservatives among respondents. About 43 per cent of survey participants said they would vote for the Liberals while 35 per cent said they’d go with the Tories and nine per cent backed the Greens.

The poll, conducted by phone between Oct. 17-19, had a sample size of 724 and a 3.6 per cent margin of error.

Poll aggregator 338Canada.com projected the Liberals will win 25 seats — just enough for a majority — and the Tories will win 22, but the race is close. The Greens are far behind in the projection, with about two seats anticipated.

The Greens have also focused their campaign on health care, promising to spend $380 million a year on the network and to decentralize decision-making to give more freedom to hospitals. Coon, who was described as a possible kingmaker by Gillies, is also promising to implement a guaranteed income to rid the province of “deep poverty.”

“There is a chance that the Greens can hold the balance of power,” Gillies said, in case the Liberals fall short of a majority.

The results of the election will also show whether Higgs was correct that his changes to the gender identity policy in schools will encourage his base to vote. “So we’re going to see if voters reward or punish the premier for kind of doubling and then tripling and quadrupling down on that issue,” Gillies said.

Tom Bateman, political science professor at St. Thomas University, said the Progressive Conservative campaign was “quite low-key and shorn of promises” except for the “expensive” two per cent cut in the harmonized sales tax. That promise will cost the province roughly $450 million a year when fully implemented.

“I would say that Mr. Higgs has been relatively low-profile, which kind of makes sense given that he’s not the most popular man on the block at the moment,” Bateman said.

He described the Liberal promises as “all things bright and beautiful” and “very expensive” — and that can’t all be fulfilled in one term.

The other factor that could play a role in deciding who gets the province’s top job could be likability, he said.

Bateman said voters “want good policy, they want good government, and they want leaders with whom they would like to have a beer, you know, some Saturday afternoon, and sometimes just can’t get it all.

“But Mr. Higgs, you know, has a certain kind of approach to leadership and contact with the public, and I would say he appears a little frosty to the intermittently interested person, and that may cost him a couple of votes.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2024.

VANCOUVER – British Columbia woke up Sunday to a reshaped political landscape but no clear winner of a provincial election marked by the rise of the B.C. Conservatives from the political fringe to centre stage.

Neither the Conservatives, led by John Rustad, nor the incumbent NDP of Premier David Eby reached the 47 seats needed to form a majority government after initial counting ended on election night, with a handful of seats undecided.

Elections BC said counting was set to resume Sunday morning.

But regardless of the outcome, the election represented a stunning moment for the B.C. Conservatives, who received less than two per cent of the vote last election.

They are now elected or leading in 45 ridings, the NDP was elected or leading in 46, while the BC Greens won two seats in the legislature.

“This is what happens when you stand on values,” a triumphant Rustad told supporters in Vancouver late Saturday.

“If we are in that situation of the NDP forming a minority government, we will look at every single opportunity from day one to bring them down … and get back to the polls.”

Eby said in a muted speech that a “clear majority” of voters supported “progressive values.”

But he acknowledged that Rustad “spoke to the frustrations of a lot of British Columbians” when it came to costs of living and public safety.

“We’ve got to do better,” Eby told supporters. “That was our commitment to British Columbians. We’ve got to do better, and we will do better.”

He said he was committed to working with Green Leader Sonia Furstenau, whose party could hold the balance of power.

What happens next hinges on nine seats that were undecided when election-night counting ended, in particular Surrey City Centre and Juan de Fuca-Malahat, where the NDP was ahead by fewer than 100 votes.

If the Conservatives flip the lead in both of them, and hang onto the others where they lead, they will win with a one-seat majority in the 93-riding legislature.

If not, and assuming the NDP is unable to pass the Conservatives in any other undecided races, Westminster tradition means the incumbent party gets the first opportunity to try to form a minority government — in this case, the NDP, with the help of the Greens.

But the final outcome may not be confirmed for about a week.

Elections BC said automatic recounts would take place on Oct. 26 to 28 in districts where the margin was 100 votes or fewer after the initial count ends.

The election agency said more than 99.7 per cent of votes were counted on election night, but ballots cast by voters outside their district were still to be tallied, while “election official availability and weather-related disruptions” delayed some preliminary results.

Furstenau lost her seat but said her party was nevertheless poised to play a “pivotal role” in the legislature.

The Green victories went to Rob Botterell in Saanich North and the Islands and Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.

Furstenau lost to the NDP’s Grace Lore after switching ridings to Victoria-Beacon Hill, but said she was “so excited” for her two colleagues, calling their wins “incredible.”

“This is a passing of the torch and I am going to be there to mentor and guide and lead in any way that I can,” she told her supporters in Victoria.

Botterell, a retired lawyer, said it was an “exciting day” for him and he was “honoured” for the opportunity to serve his constituents.

“Tonight’s a night for celebration,” he said. “There will be lots of discussion over the upcoming weeks, but I am totally supportive of Sonia and I’m going do everything I can to support her and the path forward that she chooses to take because that’s her decision.”

Rustad said his party had “not given up this fight” to form government.

“I am optimistic that people in this province are hungry for that change.”

Royal Roads professor David Black said the Greens retaining official party status by winning two seats could give them “some real bargaining power” in what is shaping up to be a very tight legislature.

“The Greens are going to be the kingmakers here whatever happens, if the race is as close as it is right now between two larger parties,” he said in an interview on election night.

B.C. Conservatives president Aisha Estey called her party’s showing “the ultimate underdog story” and relished what she called a “historic campaign.”

“Whether it’s government tonight or official opposition, we’re not going anywhere. There’s a Conservative Party in B.C. now finally,” she said. “We’re back.”

Rustad’s unlikely rise came after he was thrown out of the Opposition, then known as the BC Liberals, joined the Conservatives as leader, and steered them to a level of popularity that led to the collapse of his old party, now called BC United — all in just two years.

Outgoing New Democrat MLA George Heyman, who did not run for re-election, said it was always “going to be a tight election.”

“It’s reminiscent of 2017,” Heyman said, referring to the last B.C. election where no party reached majority. “The message is clear, people have been struggling. They’re having a hard time.”

The B.C. Conservatives set to enter the legislature include Brent Chapman in Surrey South, who had been heavily criticized during the campaign for an old social media post in which he called Palestinian children “inbred” and “time bombs.”

A group of former BC United MLAs running as Independents were all defeated, with Karin Kirkpatrick, Dan Davies, Coralee Oakes and Tom Shypitka losing to Conservatives.

For the NDP, Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Nathan Cullen lost to Conservative Sharon Hartwell.

When election night counting ended, the NDP had received 44.6 per cent of the total vote, the B.C. Conservatives 43.6 per cent and the Greens 8.2 per cent.

Preliminary figures show 2,037,522 valid votes were cast, the first time the 2 million mark has been passed in a B.C. election, with turnout of about 57.4 per cent.

It was a rain-soaked election day for many voters, who braved high winds and torrential downpours brought by an atmospheric river weather system.

Two voting sites in Cariboo-Chilcotin in the B.C. Interior and one in Maple Ridge in the Lower Mainland were closed due to power cuts, Elections BC said, while several sites in Kamloops, Langley and Port Moody, as well as on Hornby, Denman and Mayne islands, were temporarily shut but reopened by mid-afternoon on Saturday.

— With files from Brenna Owen, Dirk Meissner, Brieanna Charlebois, Ashley Joannou and Darryl Greer

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2024.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Prabowo Subianto was inaugurated Sunday as the eighth president of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, completing his journey from an ex-general accused of rights abuses during the dark days of Indonesia’s military dictatorship to the presidential palace.

The former defense minister, who turned 73 on Thursday, was cheered through the streets by thousands of waving supporters after taking his oath on the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in front of lawmakers and foreign dignitaries. Banners and billboards to welcome the new president filled the streets of the capital, Jakarta, where tens of thousands gathered for festivities including speeches and musical performances along the city’s major throughfare.

Subianto was a longtime rival of the immensely popular President Joko Widodo, who ran against him for the presidency twice and refused to accept his defeat on both occasions, in 2014 and 2019.

But Widodo appointed Subianto as defense chief after his reelection, paving the way for an alliance despite their rival political parties. During the campaign, Subianto ran as the popular outgoing president’s heir, vowing to continue signature policies like the construction of a multibillion-dollar new capital city and limits on exporting raw materials intended to boost domestic industry.

Backed by Widodo, Subianto swept to a landslide victory in February’s direct presidential election on promises of policy continuity.

Subianto was sworn in with his new vice president, 37-year-old Surakarta ex-Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka. He chose Raka, who is Widodo’s son, as his running mate, with Widodo favoring Subianto over the candidate of his own former party. The former rivals became tacit allies, even though Indonesian presidents don’t typically endorse candidates.

But how he’ll govern the biggest economy in Southeast Asia — where nearly 90% of Indonesia’s 282 million people are Muslims — remains uncertain after a campaign in which he made few concrete promises besides continuity with the popular former president.

Subianto, who comes from one of the country’s wealthiest families, is a sharp contrast to Widodo, the first Indonesian president to emerge from outside the political and military elite who came from a humble background and as president often mingled with working-class crowds.

Subianto was a special forces commander until he was expelled by the army in 1998 over accusations that he played a role in the kidnappings and torture of activists and other abuses. He never faced trial and went into self-imposed exile in Jordan in 1998, although several of his underlings were tried and convicted.

Jordanian King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein was expected to attend Sunday’s ceremony, but canceled at the last minute because of escalating Middle East tensions, instead deciding to send Foreign Affairs Minister Nancy Namrouqa as his special envoy. Subianto and Abdullah met in person in June for talks in Amman on humanitarian assistance to people affected by the war in Gaza.

Subianto, who has never held elective office, will lead a massive, diverse archipelago nation whose economy has boomed amid strong global demand for its natural resources. But he’ll have to contend with global economic distress and regional tensions in Asia, where territorial conflicts and the United States-China rivalry loom large.

Leaders and senior officials from more than 30 countries flew in to attend the ceremony, including Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and leaders of Southeast Asia countries. U.S. President Joe Biden sent Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Adm. Samuel Paparo, the U.S. Commander of the Indo-Pacific Command, was also among the American delegation.

Army troops and police, along with armored vehicles, fire trucks and ambulances, were deployed across the capital, and major roads were closed to secure the swearing-in.

The election outcome capped a long comeback for Subianto, who was banned for years from traveling to the United States and Australia.

He has vowed to continue Widodo’s modernization efforts, which have boosted Indonesia’s economic growth by building infrastructure and leveraging the country’s abundant resources. A signature policy required nickel, a major Indonesian export and a key component of electric car batteries, to be processed in local factories rather than exported raw.

He has also promised to push through Widodo’s most ambitious and controversial project: the construction of a new capital on Borneo, about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) away from congested Jakarta.

Before February’s presidential election, he also promised to provide free school lunches and milk to 78.5 million students at more than 400,000 schools across the country, aiming to reduce malnutrition and stunted growth among children.

Indonesia is a bastion of democracy in Southeast Asia, a diverse and economically bustling region of authoritarian governments, police states and nascent democracies. After decades of dictatorship under President Suharto, the country was convulsed by political, ethnic and religious unrest in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since then, it has consolidated its democratic transition as the world’s third-largest democracy, and is home to a rapidly expanding middle class.

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Associated Press journalists Edna Tarigan and Andi Jatmiko contributed to this report.