Welcome to “Cloverdale In Conversation,” a new monthly feature with a local newsmaker.
This month, John Aldag is our guest. The former MP for Cloverdale-Langley City sat down with Malin Jordan at the Rustic Rooster for a coffee and an informal chat about all things politics and personal.
John talks about his time in office, some key issues he’d like to see pushed forward by the current government, and his future.
Malin Jordan: What are some of your first thoughts on your time in office?
John Aldag: I will always remember that first day of sitting in my chair in the House of Commons and feeling really honoured to have been put there. I realized how few people get to sit there and the magnitude of the place—the important decisions that were made there—made me feel humble. And now I’m part of that. That really hit home for me.
Also the fact that I was now the voice for a hundred thousand people from this area.
MJ: What did you enjoy most about it?
JA: The thing I enjoyed the most about (being an MP) was the conversations at [constituent’s] homes. That’ll probably be the thing I miss the most—just going door-to-door. I tried to do that during my four years, just to remain grounded, while I was there. I tried not to advance my personal agenda, but I tried to go forward with the middle ground that I was hearing from people in Cloverdale-Langley City. I would often try to ask people what they worry about—what keeps them up at night. That’s how I sorted out what the real top priority issues were in the riding.
MJ: What will you miss the most?
JA: I’m going to miss some of the camaraderie. It’s a team sport. I made some close personal friendships, not just with the Liberals, but across the parties. It’s a really intense job and not being a part of that anymore, all of a sudden, it’s like, “now what?”
MJ: What are you not going to miss about the job?
JA: I really dislike the hyper-partisan nature of politics. There’s no place like the House of Commons where that really comes out more. It’s sort of the pinnacle of hyper-partisan politics (laughs). And especially question period. I hate question period. I may never watch question period again in my life. I dislike the cheap points [politicians make] for the 30-second soundbites. We’d always laugh, “somebody’s made their fundraising clip with that question.” It’s not about building up the country. So, I’m not going to miss that. I just find it really cheapens what the whole thing’s about.
Ottawa winters. I’m not going to miss those (laughs). And being away from my family for half the year. We’re seeing each other now more than we have in four years. I’m really valuing that right now.
MJ: So family’s important to you?
JA: Yes, family is very important to me. My kids are teenagers. My son graduated from high school [last year]. I have two daughters in grades 9 and 11. They’re already getting into their own thing. So, time is limited with teenagers. I’m glad I have this next period to be around them.
And my wife and I will be able to have date nights again. For the last four years, they have generally been galas and other political events. We haven’t had any real time for ourselves.
I would always hashtag “date night” and my wife would say, “Don’t hashtag date night because it’s not a date,” (laughs).
MJ: Let’s talk a little bit about your former campaign manager, Gunraj Gill. How did that relationship begin? And what do you think Gunraj’s legacy will be?
JA: This is something that hung over me the entire campaign (chokes back tears). Gunraj came to me in 2015 when he was 18 years old and said, “I want to help you win your campaign.” I said, “Okay, you can make some phone calls,” but he said, “No, I actually want to run your campaign.”
So, we sat down, and within about an hour of conversation—he just had this energy, this passion, this vision—I said, “You know what? I’m new to this too. Sure, let’s do it. And let’s do what we think is right for this riding.” And I let Gunraj run with it; and we were elected; and it was amazing.
Gunraj Gill
He came with me to Ottawa for two years. He was my chief of staff and he looked after both the constituency office and the Ottawa office. Then he wanted to return to B.C. to set up his own political consultancy, but we made a deal that he would work on my re-election campaign.
We talked in the spring about what the campaign would look like and we said we’d talk again in the summer. Then we had a meeting near the end of June in Cloverdale.
I was going on a delegation to Luxembourg for the first week of July and Gunraj decided to take a trip to Greece at the same time. He said to me, “You better rest, because when we get back we’re not going to sleep for 12 weeks.”
Two days after I was in Luxembourg, I got a phone call telling me Gunraj had a brain bleed and had been placed in a medically-induced coma…. He died a few days later. It was tough.
But I made a commitment to his family that I would keep him on in name as my campaign manager.
Gunraj was an important part of my life for the last six years. He was 18 when he ran my first campaign and he was 23 when he passed away. His family wanted to honour his memory, so they set up a memorial fund at SFU. That scholarship fund was established in honour of Gunraj and it will support other youth pursuing their political passions at SFU.
(That memorial fund page can be found by visiting give.sfu.ca and searching: Gunraj Gill.)
I see that as Gunraj’s legacy—helping ignite that same passion for politics, at all three levels of government, that Gunraj had, in the next generation of students coming through.
MJ: What issues do you see facing the Cloverdale-Langley City riding that you hope Tamara Jansen supports, or that you hope the current government continues to push forward for this riding?
JA: The platform the Liberals put forward, I think, was the best of all the parties. The electorate in Canada generally agreed with that by electing a minority government. I think there’s many things within that platform that are important to Cloverdale-Langley City. I’m not going to let go of things completely at this point, because I did pour my heart and soul into some things.
One of them is Skytrain to Langley. I’m going to turn to the community for support and try to get a commitment to actually get the funding for SkyTrain all the way to Langley, not just to Fleetwood.
Pharmacare is a big one I heard a lot about. So, I hope the government moves forward with that.
Another issue that I heard from seniors, and one they really liked in the platform, was increasing the old age security by 10 per cent once seniors turn 75-years-old. So I’m going to be pushing to make sure that goes forward.
I was also involved in looking at expanding parental benefits. Right now, the program tends to ignore certain classes of parents for parental leaves and maternity leaves. For example, adoptive parents don’t get the full year off. That’s something we committed to when making those benefits tax free. I’ll be pushing through various channels to make sure that gets implemented through this minority government.
I think the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, which was a main piece of federal legislation that deals with toxins in the environment, related to both environmental and human health issues, needs to be updated. The legislation is 20 years old. So, technology has changed. Things like genetically modified organisms are not part of that, but they need to be.
MJ: Sounds like you’re going to be very busy.
JA: Public service has been my life—it’s been an important part of my life for the last six years. I think I can still play a role in making sure things get delivered by this government that I was a part of.
MJ: Other than advocating for some of the issues you just mentioned, what else in store for you in terms of work or service?
JA: I was recently elected as the organization chair for our Liberal riding association, which I did leading up to my election in 2015. So, I’m already looking at organizing a town hall on medical assistance in dying in the spring. That’s going to be a key piece of legislation that the government has to work on. I was part of the original legislation and I think it’s an important conversation: “medical assistance in dying in Canada, what’s next?”
So I’m going to be involved in some town halls and things like that. Beyond that I’m not really sure. I’m going to keep my options open. My interest is to maintain some form of presence through volunteering and public service.
MJ: Are you planning on running in the next election?
JA: Absolutely! The nomination process has not been clarified by the party yet, but once it is, I’m going to put my name in for this riding.
MJ: Do you have anything you’d like to say to the people of this riding?
JA: Just “thank you” to the constituents. “Thank you for having placed your trust in me in 2015.”
One of the things I’m really proud of—and I can hold my head high—I did a lot of great work in the community. Nobody ever said to me, “John, we hate you and we can’t stand the work you’ve done.” Generally, people have been very supportive of, and aware of, the work I’ve done for the community.
I heard time and time again that people would have loved to have voted for me, but they were mad at my leader. And so, I wore that. But I’m very proud of how I represented the riding and the work that I did. And so to me, that’s been an affirmation of the work I’ve done. And I thank the community for that.
Other messages that I would leave people would be to encourage them to continue to be involved in politics.
UPDATE: Just before press time, John informed the Cloverdale Reporter he had just accepted a job with the Township of Langley as their new cultural services manager, which he’ll be starting as of Jan. 20.
“One of the conditions of the job is that I will still be allowed to pursue politics,” he said.
NEW YORK (AP) — In a new video posted early Election Day, Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson in the television program “Baywatch” – red one-piece swimsuit and all – and asks viewers to vote.
In the two-and-a-half-minute clip, set to most of “Bodyguard,” a four-minute cut from her 2024 country album “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé cosplays as Anderson’s character before concluding with a simple message, written in white text: “Happy Beylloween,” followed by “Vote.”
At a rally for Donald Trump in Pittsburgh on Monday night, the former president spoke dismissively about Beyoncé’s appearance at a Kamala Harris rally in Houston in October, drawing boos for the megastar from his supporters.
“Beyoncé would come in. Everyone’s expecting a couple of songs. There were no songs. There was no happiness,” Trump said.
She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland – but she endorsed Harris and gave a moving speech, initially joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland.
“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said.
“A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided,” she said at the rally in Houston, her hometown.
“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she continued. “We must vote, and we need you.”
Harris used the song in July during her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate at her campaign headquarters in Delaware. That same month, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, publicly endorsed Harris for president.
Beyoncé gave permission to Harris to use the song, a campaign official who was granted anonymity to discuss private campaign operations confirmed to The Associated Press.
Outside of sports and a “Cold front coming down from Canada,” American news media only report on Canadian events that they believe are, or will be, influential to the US. Therefore, when Justin Trudeau’s announcement, having finally read the room, that Canada will be reducing the number of permanent residents admitted by more than 20 percent and temporary residents like skilled workers and college students will be cut by more than half made news south of the border, I knew the American media felt Trudeau’s about-face on immigration was newsworthy because many Americans would relate to Trudeau realizing Canada was accepting more immigrants than it could manage and are hoping their next POTUS will follow Trudeau’s playbook.
Canada, with lots of space and lacking convenient geographical ways for illegal immigrants to enter the country, though still many do, has a global reputation for being incredibly accepting of immigrants. On the surface, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver appear to be multicultural havens. However, as the saying goes, “Too much of a good thing is never good,” resulting in a sharp rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, which you can almost taste in the air. A growing number of Canadians, regardless of their political affiliation, are blaming recent immigrants for causing the housing affordability crises, inflation, rise in crime and unemployment/stagnant wages.
Throughout history, populations have engulfed themselves in a tribal frenzy, a psychological state where people identify strongly with their own group, often leading to a ‘us versus them’ mentality. This has led to quick shifts from complacency to panic and finger-pointing at groups outside their tribe, a phenomenon that is not unique to any particular culture or time period.
My take on why the American news media found Trudeau’s blatantly obvious attempt to save his political career, balancing appeasement between the pitchfork crowd, who want a halt to immigration until Canada gets its house in order, and immigrant voters, who traditionally vote Liberal, newsworthy; the American news media, as do I, believe immigration fatigue is why Kamala Harris is going to lose on November 5th.
Because they frequently get the outcome wrong, I don’t take polls seriously. According to polls in 2014, Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives and Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals were in a dead heat in Ontario, yet Wynne won with more than twice as many seats. In the 2018 Quebec election, most polls had the Coalition Avenir Québec with a 1-to-5-point lead over the governing Liberals. The result: The Coalition Avenir Québec enjoyed a landslide victory, winning 74 of 125 seats. Then there’s how the 2016 US election polls showing Donald Trump didn’t have a chance of winning against Hillary Clinton were ridiculously way off, highlighting the importance of the election day poll and, applicable in this election as it was in 2016, not to discount ‘shy Trump supporters;’ voters who support Trump but are hesitant to express their views publicly due to social or political pressure.
My distrust in polls aside, polls indicate Harris is leading by a few points. One would think that Trump’s many over-the-top shenanigans, which would be entertaining were he not the POTUS or again seeking the Oval Office, would have him far down in the polls. Trump is toe-to-toe with Harris in the polls because his approach to the economy—middle-class Americans are nostalgic for the relatively strong economic performance during Trump’s first three years in office—and immigration, which Americans are hyper-focused on right now, appeals to many Americans. In his quest to win votes, Trump is doing what anyone seeking political office needs to do: telling the people what they want to hear, strategically using populism—populism that serves your best interests is good populism—to evoke emotional responses. Harris isn’t doing herself any favours, nor moving voters, by going the “But, but… the orange man is bad!” route, while Trump cultivates support from “weird” marginal voting groups.
To Harris’s credit, things could have fallen apart when Biden abruptly stepped aside. Instead, Harris quickly clinched the nomination and had a strong first few weeks, erasing the deficit Biden had given her. The Democratic convention was a success, as was her acceptance speech. Her performance at the September 10th debate with Donald Trump was first-rate.
Harris’ Achilles heel is she’s now making promises she could have made and implemented while VP, making immigration and the economy Harris’ liabilities, especially since she’s been sitting next to Biden, watching the US turn into the circus it has become. These liabilities, basically her only liabilities, negate her stance on abortion, democracy, healthcare, a long-winning issue for Democrats, and Trump’s character. All Harris has offered voters is “feel-good vibes” over substance. In contrast, Trump offers the tangible political tornado (read: steamroll the problems Americans are facing) many Americans seek. With Trump, there’s no doubt that change, admittedly in a messy fashion, will happen. If enough Americans believe the changes he’ll implement will benefit them and their country…
The case against Harris on immigration, at a time when there’s a huge global backlash to immigration, even as the American news media are pointing out, in famously immigrant-friendly Canada, is relatively straightforward: During the first three years of the Biden-Harris administration, illegal Southern border crossings increased significantly.
The words illegal immigration, to put it mildly, irks most Americans. On the legal immigration front, according to Forbes, most billion-dollar startups were founded by immigrants. Google, Microsoft, and Oracle, to name three, have immigrants as CEOs. Immigrants, with tech skills and an entrepreneurial thirst, have kept America leading the world. I like to think that Americans and Canadians understand the best immigration policy is to strategically let enough of these immigrants in who’ll increase GDP and tax base and not rely on social programs. In other words, Americans and Canadians, and arguably citizens of European countries, expect their governments to be more strategic about immigration.
The days of the words on a bronze plaque mounted inside the Statue of Liberty pedestal’s lower level, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” are no longer tolerated. Americans only want immigrants who’ll benefit America.
Does Trump demagogue the immigration issue with xenophobic and racist tropes, many of which are outright lies, such as claiming Haitian immigrants in Ohio are abducting and eating pets? Absolutely. However, such unhinged talk signals to Americans who are worried about the steady influx of illegal immigrants into their country that Trump can handle immigration so that it’s beneficial to the country as opposed to being an issue of economic stress.
In many ways, if polls are to be believed, Harris is paying the price for Biden and her lax policies early in their term. Yes, stimulus spending quickly rebuilt the job market, but at the cost of higher inflation. Loosen border policies at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment was increasing was a gross miscalculation, much like Trudeau’s immigration quota increase, and Biden indulging himself in running for re-election should never have happened.
If Trump wins, Democrats will proclaim that everyone is sexist, racist and misogynous, not to mention a likely White Supremacist, and for good measure, they’ll beat the “voter suppression” button. If Harris wins, Trump supporters will repeat voter fraud—since July, Elon Musk has tweeted on Twitter at least 22 times about voters being “imported” from abroad—being widespread.
Regardless of who wins tomorrow, Americans need to cool down; and give the divisive rhetoric a long overdue break. The right to an opinion belongs to everyone. Someone whose opinion differs from yours is not by default sexist, racist, a fascist or anything else; they simply disagree with you. Americans adopting the respectful mindset to agree to disagree would be the best thing they could do for the United States of America.
PHOENIX (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Donald Trump has promised to put in charge of health initiatives, said Saturday that Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office if elected president.
Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.
Kennedy made the declaration Saturday on the social media platform X alongside a variety of claims about the heath effects of fluoride.
“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy wrote. Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, “want to Make America Healthy Again,” he added, repeating a phrase Trump often uses and links to Kennedy.
Trump told NBC News on Sunday that he had not spoken to Kennedy about fluoride yet, “but it sounds OK to me. You know it’s possible.”
The former president declined to say whether he would seek a Cabinet role for Kennedy, a job that would require Senate confirmation, but added, “He’s going to have a big role in the administration.”
Asked whether banning certain vaccines would be on the table, Trump said he would talk to Kennedy and others about that. Trump described Kennedy as “a very talented guy and has strong views.”
The sudden and unexpected weekend social media post evoked the chaotic policymaking that defined Trump’s White House tenure, when he would issue policy declarations on Twitter at virtually all hours. It also underscored the concerns many experts have about Kennedy, who has long promoted debunked theories about vaccine safety, having influence over U.S. public health.
In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. Though fluoride can come from a number of sources, drinking water is the main source for Americans, researchers say.
Officials lowered their recommendation for drinking water fluoride levels in 2015 to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, that can cause splotches on teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids.
In August, a federal agency determined “with moderate confidence” that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water.
A federal judge later cited that study in ordering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids, but he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the EPA to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be.
In his X post Saturday, Kennedy tagged Michael Connett, the lead attorney representing the plaintiff in that lawsuit, the environmental advocacy group Food & Water Watch.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine organization has a lawsuit pending against news organizations including The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy is on leave from the group but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.
What role Kennedy might hold if Trump wins on Tuesday remains unclear. Kennedy recently told NewsNation that Trump asked him to “reorganize” agencies including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and some agencies under the Department of Agriculture.
But for now, the former independent presidential candidate has become one of Trump’s top surrogates. Trump frequently mentions having the support of Kennedy, a scion of a Democratic dynasty and the son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy traveled with Trump Friday and spoke at his rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Trump said Saturday that he told Kennedy: “You can work on food, you can work on anything you want” except oil policy.
“He wants health, he wants women’s health, he wants men’s health, he wants kids, he wants everything,” Trump added.
