Politics

Quebec Conservatives hoping to sway anglophone votes away from the Liberals

Published

2 years ago

September 3, 2022

MONTREAL — As Quebec Liberal Party Leader Dominique Anglade spent Thursday campaigning in Sherbrooke and Gatineau, her Conservative counterpart Éric Duhaime was in one of her stronghold ridings in Montreal, looking to court her traditional base.

Duhaime is counting on making inroads with the province’s English-speaking minority on Oct. 3. While Duhaime describes himself as a “nationalist,” the former radio host said his vision is an inclusive one that sees anglophone Quebecers as allies, not enemies, in protecting the French language.

“Seventy-five per cent of anglophones in Montreal right now send their kids to French schools, bilingual schools or French-immersion programs,” he said in an interview Thursday.

“We can’t say those people don’t want to live in a French society. Those people love French, they’re allies.”

While the English-speaking vote in Quebec has traditionally leaned Liberal, the party has been polling below 20 per cent overall.

Furthermore, the party has faced criticism from organizations representing English speakers over its handling of the province’s new language law reform — known as Bill 96 — after the party initially proposed an amendment forcing anglophone junior college students to take three core courses in French.

Duhaime said he’s offering an alternative to the Liberal Party — which he said has taken English voters for granted — and to the Coalition Avenir Québec government, which introduced the Bill 96. That law caps enrolment at English-language junior colleges, requires immigrants to communicate with the government exclusively in French after six months and introduces measures that some fear will limit access to health-care in English.

“The current premier has been very divisive on many issues,” Duhaime said.

“During the (COVID-19) crisis, he split us between the essential and non-essential workers, between the vaccinated and unvaccinated. Now he’s trying to split us between anglophones and francophones.”

Duhaime’s is not the only party hoping to woo away traditional Liberal supporters.

The Liberals are facing a challenge from two upstart parties that are hoping to make an impression on English-speaking, multicultural Montreal through their promotion of bilingualism and opposition to laws that are unpopular among non-francophones.

Both the Canadian Party of Quebec and Bloc Montreal have campaigned on promises to repeal Bill 96 and Bill 21, which prevents civil servants in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols on the job, as well as Bill 40, which abolished most school boards.

Désirée McGraw, the Liberal candidate in Montreal’s Notre-Dame-de-Grâce riding, maintains her party is the best choice to represent English speakers.

“We are the only party in the (legislature) that voted against Bills 40, 21 and 96 — full stop,” she said Friday in a phone interview.

“Nobody else can say that.”

McGraw said the politics of running for the Liberals in Quebec can be “complicated” when the interests of English-speaking Montreal voters can sometimes seem at odds with the desires of the francophone majority — which has largely supported the language and secularism bills.

Even in the Liberal stronghold where she’s running, she said she’s received “an earful” about the proposed Liberal amendments to the language law.

Unlike the some of the Liberals’ challengers, which she described as “interest groups” rather than parties, she said hers is a “big tent” party that aspires to govern for all Quebecers.

“We have no room for linguistic extremism on either side, and we believe we occupy the progressive center,” she said.

As for the Conservatives, she suggested voters take a look at the entirety of the statements made by the leader and his candidates.

Duhaime’s Conservatives, which received less that two per cent of the vote in the last provincial election, rose in support due to the party’s opposition to public health measures brought in to slow the spread of COVID-19.

On Thursday, Duhaime was campaigning in Montreal’s St-Leonard borough, an area known for its Italian population, and was scheduled to meet with a Jewish organization later in the day.

Duhaime said he wants Quebec to have more control over immigration and that the government should encourage immigration by people who already speak French and provide education for those who don’t.

He also wants to increase the province’s birthrate.

“It’s always a concern when we see a people that doesn’t reproduce itself,” he said.

“It’s great to have kids. Many people would like to have kids, but there’s all sorts of barriers now that make young couples hesitate.”

At a café on Thursday that Duhaime had been scheduled to visit — before he cancelled because of what he said was an overbooked schedule — the Conservative leader’s name drew little recognition from a group of English-speaking customers.

Customer Dominic Vendetti said he had heard Duhaime’s name and heard he was a Conservative, but he said he knew nothing about his platform.

“It would have been nice if he was here, maybe he could have said something, but it’s not going to change anything. He’s going to split the votes all over the place,” he said.

Customer Nick Campana, who has voted Conservative in federal elections, said he’s given up on the provincial Liberals.

“I voted for them all my life and after a while, you get fed up with getting backstabbed,” he said.

However, he feels there is little that will stop the Liberals from winning the riding.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2022.

Jacob Serebrin and Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press

Politics

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

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Politics

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

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Politics

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

Published

2 days ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

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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