British Columbia’s Opposition leader says fighting the pandemic produced a unified health front among traditional adversaries, but with the province facing its darkest economic crisis in decades, political battle lines must go beyond working together to flatten the COVID-19 curve.
B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson said just because his party backs the provincial health officer’s pandemic restrictions doesn’t mean the Opposition will co-operate with the NDP when the legislature resumes sitting on June 22.
“We’re all waiting to see what the NDP come up with and it better be good because we have an economy that is flat on its back right now,” Wilkinson said in an interview.
“We have to all wonder about the NDP’s assumptions of revenue given that we know the economy has slowed dramatically on the greatest recession in B.C. history and that more than half a million people have either left the workforce or are unemployed.”
But Wilkinson’s plans to hold the government to account could be met with indifference as political debate remains completely focused on the fight against COVID-19, say political experts.
“In a once-in-a-century crisis of this nature, politics as normal is suspended in the name of public health,” said Prof. David Black, a political communications expert at Victoria’s Royal Roads University.
Pollster Shachi Kurl of the non-profit Angus Reid Institute said recent data shows incumbent governments across Canada are receiving solid approval ratings for their approaches to the pandemic, including B.C.’s Premier John Horgan.
“This is a difficult time for any opposition leader,” Kurl said.
Horgan recently thanked the Liberals and Greens for their co-operation on the pandemic response, but he also said he expects partisanship to return.
“Although I’d like it to continue on as long as possible, I’ll understand if a partisan rock or two are thrown in the weeks ahead,” he added.
Wilkinson said the support for health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has been necessary, but the Liberals want the economy to recover quickly.
They are pressing the minority government to cut the seven per cent provincial sales tax to zero for three months to spur consumer confidence and business investment, Wilkinson said. The government must also target the decimated tourism and small business sectors with tax cuts and investments, he said.
“When the federal Canada Emergency Response Benefit runs out, we will have a society in deep distress,” Wilkinson said. “We’re looking for bold economic decisions and actions from the NDP.”
Black said he expects the Liberals to propose tax reductions and red-tape cuts, but the pandemic is an opportunity for the party to look ahead to the October 2021 election.
“The question I would put to Andrew Wilkinson is, ‘How do you position yourself in that debate about a post-pandemic B.C.?’ ” said Black. “Who are we on the other side of this?”
Kurl said the Angus Reid polling data released June 8 found provincial governments in New Brunswick, B.C., and Newfoundland and Labrador received the highest number of residents approving their responses to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“As long as the personal proximity and concern, both on the health front and the economic front related to COVID-19 continue, it will be difficult for any opposition leader, regardless of what province or where on the ideological spectrum, to pick up a lot of traction,” Kurl said.
Wilkinson said B.C. needs an Opposition totally focused on the province’s economic recovery and not one worrying about the next election.
“Now it’s time for the NDP to show what they can do to get B.C. back to work and the expectations are high, and we will be holding them to account,” he said.
NDP house leader Mike Farnworth said in an interview that co-operation from the Liberals will not prevent Wilkinson and his colleagues from being vocal critics in the legislature.
“I fully expect that there will be vigorous debate, pertinent debate on the legislation that we’ll be bringing forward,” he said.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
