Conservative Party of Canada leader Erin O’Toole arrives on Parliament Hill Aug. 25, 2020 in Ottawa.
DAVE CHAN/AFP/Getty Images
On his first day as Conservative Leader, Erin O’Toole had what his office described as a “cordial” telephone conversation with Justin Trudeau.
Based on the way Ottawa’s political culture normally works, their perfunctory pleasantries last week – in which the Prime Minister and the new Official Opposition Leader chatted about their families and broadly exchanged some policy concerns – may be just about their last civil conversation until one of them loses his job.
That’s potentially a big problem, when it comes to charting a path out of the biggest economic crisis of our time. Because some semblance of collaboration, between the people currently running this country and those waiting in the wings to do so, could be needed to steer Canada into a strong position in the postpandemic world.
It’s not just that politics as usual should ideally be set aside in immediate response to the current emergency. On that front, there was some mildly encouraging news coming out of their chat, when the Prime Minister’s Office said Mr. Trudeau had offered briefings with Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam to help the Conservative Leader keep abreast of COVID-19 developments.
The greater undertaking, and the one partisans are likelier to roll their eyes at, would be for the leaders and their parties to try to find some common ground in plotting the economic rebuild to come.
Coming out of this unprecedented economic disruption, Canada’s government will join others around the world in launching policies aimed at reviving devastated sectors and igniting new ones to replace those that never recover.
It will be responding not only to direct effects of the pandemic itself, but to weaknesses it has highlighted (such as work-force supports, particularly for women) and global shifts it has potentially accelerated. Those range from decarbonization and digitalization, to mounting protectionism and a reordering of trade relationships driven partly by mounting hostilities between the United States and China.
The implementation of policy responses, and any impact they have, is going to play out over many years. And that means their effectiveness will be badly hindered if the strategy resets every time there’s a change in government or even if that looms as a possibility.
Consider industrial policy, especially. There are all kinds of things that Ottawa could do, as part of its recovery strategy, to try to attract investment – subsidies for specific sectors, tax breaks, infrastructure upgrades, skills training. But investors will be hesitant to make long-term commitments based on any of those, if they know the incentives could be abruptly yanked away whenever there is an election.
In a functioning democracy, rival parties obviously need to offer varying options to voters. And when it comes to economic policy, the two leading Canadian ones have genuine differences of opinion. Mr. O’Toole has signalled, for instance, a more skeptical approach toward dealings with China than the one Mr. Trudeau has taken. His Conservatives will in almost any scenario be somewhat more concerned by the scale of deficits than will Mr. Trudeau’s Liberals, more inclined toward tax cuts, more unreservedly supportive of fossil fuel industries.
But the parties also agree on more than they like to let on. Based on some of Mr. O’Toole’s leadership-campaign messaging around the pandemic’s lesson that Canada needs to be more “self-reliant,” and on recent conversations with Conservative policy experts, that may include some shift away from the relatively laissez-faire economic approach that has been in vogue since the 1980s. And to some extent it could involve an embrace of more interventionist approaches to building competitive advantages.
They also may not be that far apart on the need to modernize supports to promote what the Liberals call “inclusive growth,” which is to say reducing pre-existing economic inequalities rather than having more Canadians left out of the recovery. The Tories’ criticism of the Liberals’ early steps toward employment-insurance reform has been fairly muted, for instance, and there has been less reflexive Conservative dismissal of calls for a national daycare program than when the Liberals implemented one 15 years ago, only to have it swiftly scrapped when Stephen Harper took office.
But even in areas where parties may broadly agree, there is always a risk of a new government reinventing the wheel, to avoid their predecessors getting any credit, and in the process slowing the path to whatever the intended outcome.
Ideally, Mr. Trudeau and Mr. O’Toole may respond to the stakes of this pivotal moment in history by establishing a continuing dialogue with each other. Along with leaders of the other parties, they could find agreement on certain policy priorities and some of the means to pursue them, then make those publicly known to help build public and investor confidence.
That wouldn’t necessitate glossing over differences, necessarily. If they agreed that clean-economy transition is a worthy goal, for example, they could still continue to have differing takes on the merits of a carbon tax. But they could also conceivably agree on specific green sectors that they want to support, particular forms of research and development funding or loan programs and tax mechanisms that they agreed would help clean-tech companies scale up.
If lack of mutual trust makes that level of co-operation unrealistic, there’s another way that Mr. Trudeau could take some initiative – during this period when his government still has only a fairly vague idea of what its new economic agenda will look like – to try to avoid a recovery-planning reset whenever the Liberals lose office.
Rather than relying mostly on ideas and advice offered behind closed doors by ideologically like-minded policy advisers, he could establish a more public and more cross-partisan process. If, say, an appointed panel included some of the best and brightest from Conservative (and New Democratic) policy circles alongside those from Liberal ones, it could result in a consensus recovery roadmap that compelled future governments – whatever their stripe – to adopt at least some recommendations.
There would be echoes of the way Mr. Trudeau’s government approached the NAFTA renegotiations during its first term, when it enlisted high-profile Conservatives such as former interim leader Rona Ambrose and former minister James Moore to serve alongside labour leaders and others on an advisory council. But there would have to be a more ambitious emphasis on policy development and less of a pre-established preferred outcome.
Even that may be too much to expect, particularly when a minority Parliament has the next election perpetually looming. The Liberals prefer to campaign by suggesting that any popular initiative on their part will be reversed by the Conservatives. The Tories want to be able to pounce on any Liberal policy rollouts going awry. Neither often sees political benefit in shared ownership.
If those considerations prevail, perhaps it would be best for Ottawa’s inevitable late-summer election speculation to culminate in an actual federal campaign this fall. Possibly one of the parties would emerge with a majority government and some runway.
But even a four-year term would be over before the project of navigating the postpandemic future was complete. And it’s just as likely that an election would result in another minority Parliament and no more stability than currently exists.
A better bet, for politicians seeking to build legacies out of this dark moment, would be to seize opportunities to untether the coming rebuild from election cycles.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
