Former provincial Liberal cabinet minister Doug Currie is seeking a return to politics with a new political stripe.
The current vice-president of Holland College sat in the provincial legislature from 2007 to 2017, holding several high profile portfolios in the governments of premiers Robert Ghiz and Wade MacLauchlan. He completed two stints as both Health and Education minister, as well as serving as Minister of Justice and Attorney General. His abrupt resignation in 2017, just minutes after addressing the annual meeting of the P.E.I. Teachers Federation, caught many political observers by surprise.
Currie was recently acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate in the Charlottetown riding for a federal election, expected to take place sometime this year. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau received a minority mandate from voters in 2019, and the life of a minority parliament tends to be in the two-year range. An Angus Read poll in late January showed the Liberals were the choice of 35 per cent of voters, compared to 30 for the Conservatives, 20 for the NDP, six per cent for the Bloc Quebecois and five for the Green Party. That has triggered speculation the prime minister may seek a new mandate.
Currie certainly fits the bill as a high-profile candidate but he still faces an uphill battle against Liberal incumbent Sean Casey. The riding has been solidly in the Liberal camp for the last 32 years and counting – ever since the late George Proud played the role of giant-killer by defeating Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Tom MacMillan.
In the 2019 vote, Conservative candidate Robert Campbell came in third, behind Casey and Green Party candidate Darcie Lanthier. While Island voters have traditionally not embraced political turncoats, it is possible to buck that trend. The obvious example that comes to mind is Tignish-Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry. Perry was first elected as a Progressive Conservative in 2011 and re-elected as a Liberal in 2015 and 2019.
In Perry’s case, he had a high-profile split with his former party and crossed the floor. By contrast, Currie spent 11 years as a Liberal cabinet minister, went on to another career remaining out of the political fray for over three years, and has now emerged as a Tory. Voters are likely to have plenty of questions.
However, his biggest problem could likely be party leader Erin O’Toole. That Angus Read poll showed nearly half of Canadians (47 per cent) have an unfavourable view of the new Conservative boss. That is up from 31 per cent in a poll taken just after he captured the leadership last fall. That rating could well be higher in the Atlantic provinces where Nova Scotia native Peter MacKay enjoyed a high level of support in the leadership race. MacKay, who has roots in the former Progressive Conservative party, is considered by many to lean more towards the center of the political spectrum.
O’Toole touted Currie’s candidacy on the party’s website, and there is little doubt that Currie would end up sitting at the federal cabinet table if both he and the party were successful at the polls. However, going from third to first will be no easy feat, especially since there appears to be little indication Canadians are warming up to Erin O’Toole any more than they did to Andrew Scheer.
Canadians are certainly growing tired of the seemingly endless rounds of scandals that have plagued the Justin Trudeau government. However, it still looks like they aren’t ready to give the keys to 24 Sussex Drive to anybody else just yet. The Angus Read number suggests another Liberal minority, but much can change before the ballots are counted.
Andy Walker is a P.E.I.-based political commentator. His columna appears every week in the Journal Pioneer.
OTTAWA – Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and MPs from several other parties were on Parliament Hill Thursday to call for the Senate to pass a Bloc bill on supply management.
The private member’s bill seeks to protect Canada’s supply management system during international trade negotiations.
The dairy, egg and poultry sectors are all supply managed, a system that regulates production levels, wholesale prices and trade.
Flanked by a large group of people representing supply-managed sectors, Blanchet commended the cross-party support at a time when he said federal institutions are at their most divided.
The Bloc has given the Liberals until Oct. 29 to pass two of its bills — the supply management bill and one that would boost old age security — or it will begin talks with other opposition parties to bring down the minority government.
The Liberals have already signalled they don’t plan to support the Bloc pension legislation, but Liberal ministers have spoken in support of supply management.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.
OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he’s in favour of mandatory, involuntary drug and psychiatric treatment for kids and prisoners who are found to be incapable of making decisions for themselves.
He said earlier this summer he was open to the idea, but needed to study the issue more closely.
His new position on the issue comes after the parents of a 13-year-old girl from B.C. testified at a parliamentary committee about her mental health struggles before her overdose death in an encampment of homeless people in Abbotsford, B.C.
They said their daughter was discharged from care despite their repeated attempts to keep her in treatment.
Poilievre says he’s still researching how mandatory treatment would work in the case of adults.
Compulsory mental health and addictions care is being contemplated or expanded in several provinces as communities struggle to cope with a countrywide overdose crisis.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.
