Pierre Poilievre's popularity is having a major impact on B.C. politics, new poll suggests | Canada News Media
Connect with us

Politics

Pierre Poilievre’s popularity is having a major impact on B.C. politics, new poll suggests

Published

 on

Open this photo in gallery:

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a rally in Ottawa on March 24.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press

As federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre prepares to hold a rally Monday on Vancouver Island, a new poll suggests the provincial Conservative Party in British Columbia is benefiting from his popularity even though there are no official links between the two parties.

Fifty-six per cent of likely federal Conservative voters support the provincial Conservatives instead of BC United, the other centre-right party, according to a survey by the Angus Reid Institute.

The same poll found two in five federal Conservative supporters say they don’t know BC Conservative Leader John Rustad, but those who do are more positive than not in their views of him.

The Angus Reid findings are based on an online survey conducted between Feb. 28 and March 6, with a random survey of 809 adult respondents. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The Poilievre effect appears to be having a striking impact on politics in British Columbia, with the provincial Conservative Party, which has two members in the 87-seat legislature, lately surging in support over the Official Opposition BC United party, which has 26 seats.

At one time, the BC United party ran under the name BC Liberals, and was the dominant party challenging the NDP in the province. The NDP currently governs under Premier David Eby and holds 55 seats.

BC Liberals governed from 2001 to 2017 under premiers Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark. BC United’s current leader, Kevin Falcon, was a senior cabinet minster for both premiers.

As the two conservative parties in the province challenge each other, both highlight their links to Mr. Poilievre.

On March 12, BC Conservative Leader John Rustad posted on X, noting that his party stands with Mr. Poilievre in calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mr. Eby to “axe the tax” – eliminate carbon pricing. The posting featured side-by-side headshots of Mr. Poilievre and Mr. Rustad.

Two days later, Mr. Falcon, speaking for BC United, posted on X with an image of him shaking Mr. Poilievre’s hand, and saying he joins Conservative and Liberal premiers from across Canada “in standing with Pierre Poilievre’s call to spike the hike. British Columbians simply cannot afford another David Eby NDP carbon tax hike.”

British Columbia and Quebec have their own carbon-pricing systems, which means the federal carbon price is not applied there. In 2008, B.C. introduced North America’s first broad-based pricing on carbon.

The provincial Conservatives have promised to scrap provincial carbon pricing. BC United would remove the levy if the federal Conservatives win power in the next election and get rid of it nationwide.

In Nanaimo on Monday, Mr. Poilievre make his case for axing federal carbon pricing.

“There’s no question there has been some overlap and help from that,” provincial Conservative Leader John Rustad said in an interview about Mr. Poilievre’s campaigning.

“We appreciate that, obviously,” he said.

Mr. Rustad said he has met Mr. Poilievre a few times, and some members of his party support the policies of the federal party, but that there is no official link between the two.

Mr. Rustad once served as a cabinet minister with the BC Liberals, holding the Aboriginal relations and forests portfolios under Ms. Clark. He was removed from the BC Liberals by Mr. Falcon in August, 2022, for sharing a post on social media questioning climate change.

Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, said that even though Mr. Rustad is quite unknown to many British Columbians, and certainly less well-known than BC United Leader Mr. Falcon, his party is receiving the same level of support.

“So that does speak to the power of branding and the power of the Conservative label and that is very clearly lifting the BC Conservative Party.”

The Angus Reid analysis indicates that the net favorability of Mr. Rustad is higher than that of Mr. Falcon.

Political scientist Hamish Telford of the University of the Fraser Valley said he has seen no sign that Mr. Poilievre is specifically favouring one of the centre-right parties over the other – he has been taking on Mr. Eby, most recently over carbon pricing.

“But I do think it’s the case that BC Conservatives are benefiting simply by brand recognition by Mr. Poilievre’s popularity,” he said.

Mr. Falcon was not available for an interview, but Adam Wilson, communications director for BC United, said the BC Conservatives are “a non-serious party who received 1.91 per cent of the vote in 2020 with no affiliation to the federal Conservative Party of Canada.”

 

Source link

Politics

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

Published

 on

 

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.

Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

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

Published

 on

 

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.

Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

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

Published

 on

 

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

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version