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Opinion by The Globe and Mail: Progressive politicians like Naheed Nenshi are facing uphill battles

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One of the most interesting things about Naheed Nenshi winning the Alberta NDP leadership race is that he almost didn’t enter the contest. As the newly minted leader has said, he was initially scared his brand of politics, “of talking to people, of inspiring people to be bigger than themselves, was completely out of style.”

This is, in the most Nenshi-esque manner of speech, the conundrum for centre-left and left-of-centre politicians at this moment: Does someone like him have a chance to lead and win when an angrier, harder-edged, finances-focused style of politics is in ascendancy?

This was on display in the results of the federal by-election in Toronto-St. Paul’s on Monday, where Conservatives bested the Liberals in a riding the governing party has held for more than three decades – in large part because of voter economic unease. It will also be on display when Mr. Nenshi makes his way in the fraught world of Alberta politics.

To be clear, Mr. Nenshi might disagree with the premise of this column. Shortly after winning an impressive 86 per cent of the first-ballot vote from Alberta NDP members on Saturday, he pointed to the example of Manitoba NDP Leader, now Premier, Wab Kinew. He said Manitoba Progressive Conservatives lost the election last year because they were using a mean-spirited “distillation” of Alberta United Conservative Party values, and Manitobans were actually hungry for hope and optimism. The Alberta NDP can tap into this, too, he said – and it might be something like the 2010 mayoral campaign he won as a policy-focused underdog.

Mr. Kinew is a compelling and popular leader. However, given the incompetency of the then-incumbent PCs – including an odious political ad that touted their decision not to search a landfill for the bodies of murdered Indigenous women – it might have been more a throw-the-bums-out vote by Manitobans, rather than a ringing endorsement of NDP policies.

And it’s not 2010 any more, when Barack Obama was U.S. president. That was before Donald Trump, before the pandemic, before Ukraine, before inflation, before Oct. 7 and Gaza, and before social media became a meaner, coarser, and more fake place.

There is an anger in Canadian politics, which Mr. Nenshi himself acknowledges in voicing his fear. Many are laser-focused on grocery bills that hit like a punch, and worry their children will never come close to owning a home. There’s a new focus on financial security, and a pushback to climate policy costs and disjointed immigration policies, the likes of which we’ve never seen.

In Alberta, there are many factors that aid a conservative incumbent like Premier Danielle Smith. The economy is doing well enough, the oil industry is clicking along, Ms. Smith often battles with the deeply unpopular Prime Minister in Ottawa, and the province’s population is beyond booming – a key metric of success this province of newcomers measures itself by (although this time it’s an affordable housing population boom, not a jobs boom).

Also, there’s the sanctimony that sometimes emanates from progressive politicians. Many voters are tired of this, even those who might otherwise be on the same team.

Mr. Nenshi describes the UCP as “unethical, immoral and incompetent.” The bookend words of that critique are fair game. But the use of the term “immoral” suggests an enemy who is wicked, and evil carries a high burden of proof.

Even the issue that brought him into the leadership race will be a thorny one. Mr. Nenshi entered provincial politics earlier this year after Ms. Smith announced a suite of rigid policies on transgender youth and sex education. When the Premier returns to the issue in the fall, with laws and regulations, Mr. Nenshi will oppose them.

But he’s likely to be more nuanced than he was in February, before entering provincial politics, when lambasted her policies in a fiery speech. Mr. Nenshi has since spoken in more circumspect tones, saying that it’s not for governments to legislate such medical decisions. That is a solid argument, and can remain so – even as the public views are mixed, and medical practitioners in European countries have begun a major rethink on a blanket affirmative approach to care for trans youth, which is likely to eventually have a knock-on effect here.

If Mr. Nenshi wants to beat the UCP, he will have to win on Albertans’ concerns about housing costs, and also on protecting and bolstering fragile health care and education systems. He have to keep business concerns in mind, and show the budget-balancing skills he learned from his immigrant parents. He will have to be a voice of reason on social questions, and unrelentingly pragmatic.

To have a chance of winning over Alberta voters, the new NDP leader will have to be a compelling counter to Ms. Smith, not just the morally correct one.

 

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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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.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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