“Politics is, frankly, nothing like business,” Morneau said Wednesday, according to the prepared text of his remarks (all quotes are taken from the prepared text). “I have much more scar tissue from five or six years in politics than I do from 25 years in business.”
Morneau cited the sources of those scars: partisan rivals, second-guessing by colleagues and staff in other offices, criticism from the press gallery and the divisiveness of social media.
Morneau’s speech strongly suggests he and his former boss no longer see eye-to-eye. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)
He also worried more generally about the way politics is sometimes practised and warned about the need to call out politicians who play “fast and loose with our institutions” — apparently a reference to Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre, with whom Morneau frequently tangled.
But his most interesting comments were about what he said was happening around him during his time as finance minister.
Morneau wrestles with governing and politics
According to Morneau, a lack of “sustained collaboration with provinces, territories and municipalities” has hampered investments in infrastructure. With his first budget in 2016, Morneau announced the government’s intention to create the Canada Infrastructure Bank. He said “a lack of commitment to the idea and politicians’ worst instincts means that it’s fallen short of the hoped-for impact.”
“On pharmacare, when I suggested that we find a way to work within the current system and focus on filling in the gaps in coverage and care, I was drowned out by the impractical voices of advocates who wanted to see wholesale change,” he said. “And look where we are now. No progress.”
It wasn’t all bad, of course. Morneau also listed his proudest accomplishments, from a national price on carbon to reform of the Canada Pension Plan.
These are fascinating comments to hear or read from a former finance minister about a government that is still in office — even if it would be fair to ask whether Morneau himself, as finance minister, could have done more to address these issues.
But there were also flashes of naiveté in his remarks.
“It’s baffling to me that the government moved forward with new commitments on dental care while the pharmacare challenge remains unresolved,” Morneau said.
Moving forward with dental care was the price of making a confidence-and-supply agreement with the NDP that’s expected to keep the Trudeau government in office until June 2025. It’s the sort of compromise that comes naturally with governing.
Dental care was the price of getting Jagmeet Singh’s NDP to join to a confidence-and-supply agreement. (Patrick Doyle/Reuters)
Morneau said he “wasn’t able” to get the federal government to work more collaboratively with provincial governments. Some of those provincial governments might simply have been uninterested in collaboration.
Morneau praised the advisory council on growth — a panel of non-partisan experts that he created — but said he regrets that its recommendations “became politicized.” That, of course, is something that tends to happen in politics.
There’s something to be said for the permanent “growth commission” that Morneau proposes, but he pushed his desire for apolitical reasonableness a step too far when he said that “it’s imperative that we depoliticize important public policy decisions” and “we need to look for other opportunities to decouple policy from politics.”
Technocracy might have its merits but democracy is probably still the better option. And that means politics.
The rise and fall of a star candidate
There’s always value in questioning whether things need to be the way they are. And Morneau is on much firmer ground when he laments the unnecessary divisiveness that plagues public life. Or when he says simply that politics “doesn’t have to be stupid.”
There are significant differences but the rise and fall of Bill Morneau now bears a certain resemblance to the examples of Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott — individuals who built public reputations outside of partisan politics, got elected and were immediately elevated to cabinet, but who parted with the government on bad terms and came away with rather negative things to say about the whole experience.
Jody Wilson-Raybould’s experience in politics has a lot in common with that of other star candidates like Bill Morneau. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press)
Maybe that says something about the political system, or this government.
Then again, Jean-Yves Duclos — a well-regarded economist who immediately became a minister in 2015 — is still sitting around the cabinet table. Anita Anand — a law professor who advanced directly to cabinet after being elected in 2019 — seems to be doing okay for herself.
Perhaps future Liberal prime ministers should simply remember that it’s the star candidates who aren’t lifelong partisans who tend to air their complaints if things don’t work out (which is either a reason to avoid star candidates or a reason to make sure it works out).
The former finance minister’s big worry
But beyond the spilled tea, Morneau used his speech to make a fundamental argument about the government he departed in 2020 — that it isn’t focused enough on creating and promoting economic growth.
“So much time and energy was spent on finding ways to redistribute Canada’s wealth that there was little attention given to the importance of increasing our collective prosperity — let alone developing a disciplined way of thinking and acting on the problem,” he said.
“I struggled to get our government to focus on the need for sustained economic growth, because it was constantly crowded out by other things that seemed more politically urgent, even if they weren’t truly as important.”
Without knowing what “other things” Morneau had in mind, it’s hard to judge that statement. In worrying about things like competitiveness, productivity and business investment, Morneau joins a chorus of credentialed observers who believe Justin Trudeau’s government is paying too little attention to core economic issues and is failing to create the conditions for robust long-term growth.
The word “growth” was hardly absent from the budgets and economic updates Morneau tabled as finance minister. Then and now, Liberals would say that their treatment of issues like inequality and climate change is intended to have the side effect of promoting sustainable growth.
Morneau’s successor, Chrystia Freeland, also tabled a budget less than two months ago that included a Canada Growth Fund and the promise of a Canadian Innovation and Investment Agency.
Grow the economy or else?
But the plans in that budget still need to be carried to fruition — something Morneau’s testimony suggests is not always guaranteed. And Morneau has put his finger on what might be the foremost issue the Liberals need to confront over the next three years.
Whatever else happens between now and 2025, the biggest threat to the government’s progressive agenda might be the idea that it doesn’t have a grip on the economy. With inflation persisting and the transition to a clean economy beckoning, these are particularly challenging economic times.
Morneau is aware also of forces that might be massing beyond the halls of power. Near the end of his remarks he spoke of voters who are “feeling left out and disengaged” and said leaders need to “redouble their efforts to heal divisions, bring people together, restore faith in our institutions and rebuild public trust.”
Those are not bad ideas. But if voters are feeling left out and populists are playing fast and loose, progressives have even more reasons to make sure they’re building an economy that’s both inclusive and growing.
The New Brunswick Liberal Party has won a majority government, and Susan Holt will become the first woman to lead the province.
Here’s the latest from election night. All times are ADT.
10:15 p.m.
The results of the New Brunswick election are in, and with virtually all of the ballots counted, the Liberals won 31 seats out of 49.
The Progressive Conservatives won 16 seats.
The Green Party won two.
Voter turnout was about 66 per cent.
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10 p.m.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has congratulated New Brunswick Liberal Leader Susan Holt for her party’s victory in the provincial election.
Trudeau says on the X platform he’s looking forward to working with Holt to build more homes, protect the country’s two official languages, and improve health care.
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9:48 p.m.
During her victory speech tonight in Fredericton, New Brunswick premier-designate Susan Holt thanked all the women who came before her.
Holt will become the first woman to lead the province after her party won a majority government in the New Brunswick election.
The Liberals are elected or leading in 31 of 49 ridings.
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9:30 p.m.
Blaine Higgs says he will begin a transition to replace him as leader of the Progressive Conservatives.
After being in power for six years, the Tories lost the election to the Liberals.
Higgs, who lost his seat of Quispamsis, says, “My leadership days are over.”
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9:17 p.m.
The Canadian Press is projecting that Blaine Higgs, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick since 2016, has lost in the riding of Quispamsis.
Higgs, 70, has been premier of New Brunswick since 2018, and was first elected to the legislature in 2010.
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8:45 p.m.
When asked about the election results, Progressive Conservative chief of staff Paul D’Astous says that over the last 18 months the party has had to contend with a number of caucus members who disagreed with its policy.
D’Astous says the Tories have also had to own what happened over the last six years, since they came to power in 2018, adding that the voters have spoken.
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8:39 p.m.
The Canadian Press is projecting that David Coon, leader of the New Brunswick Green Party, has won the riding of Fredericton Lincoln.
Coon, 67, has been leader of the party since 2014, the year he was first elected to the legislature.
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8:36 p.m.
The Canadian Press is projecting that the New Brunswick Liberal Party has won a majority government in the provincial election.
Party leader Susan Holt will become the first woman premier in the province’s history.
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8:20 p.m.
Early returns show a number of close races across the province, with the Liberals off to an early lead.
Liberal campaign manager Katie Davey says the results will show whether party leader Susan Holt, a relative newcomer, was able to capture the attention and trust of the people of New Brunswick.
Davey says she believes voters have welcomed Holt and her message, which focused on pocketbook issues, especially health care.
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8 p.m.
Polls have closed.
Eyes will be on a number of key ridings including Fredericton South-Silverwood, where Liberal Leader Susan Holt is vying for a seat; Saint John Harbour, which has been competitive between the Tories and Liberals in recent elections; and Moncton East, a redrawn Tory-held riding that the Liberals have targeted.
At dissolution, the Conservatives held 25 seats in the 49-seat legislature. The Liberals held 16 seats, the Greens had three, there was one Independent and there were four vacancies.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
FREDERICTON – A look at Susan Holt, premier-designate and leader of the New Brunswick Liberal party.
Born: April 22, 1977.
Early years: Raised in Fredericton, she attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., and then spent a year in Toronto before moving abroad for three years, spending time in Australia and India.
Education: Earned a bachelor of arts in economics and a bachelor of science in chemistry from Queen’s University.
Family: Lives in Fredericton with her husband, Jon Holt, and three young daughters.
Hobbies: Running, visiting the farmers market in Fredericton with her family every Saturday.
Before politics: CEO of the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, CEO of the New Brunswick Business Council, civil servant, business lobbyist, advocate, consultant and executive with an IT service company that trains and employs Indigenous people.
Politics: Worked as an adviser to former Liberal premier Brian Gallant. Won the leadership of the provincial Liberal party in August 2022 and was elected to the legislature in an April 2023 byelection.
Quote: “We don’t take it lightly that you have put your trust in myself and my team, and you have hope for a brighter future. But that hope I know is short-lived and it will be on us to deliver authentically, on the ground, and openly and transparently.” — Susan Holt, in her speech to supporters in Fredericton after the Liberals won a majority government on Oct. 21, 2024.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick voters have elected a Liberal majority government, tossing out the incumbent Progressive Conservatives after six years in power and handing the reins to the first woman ever to lead the province.
Liberal Leader Susan Holt is a relative newcomer to the province’s political scene, having won a byelection last year, eight months after she became the first woman to win the leadership of the party.
The Liberals appeared poised to take 31 of 49 seats to the Conservatives’ 16 and the Greens two.
Holt, 47, led the Liberals to victory after a 33-day campaign, thwarting Blaine Higgs’s bid to secure a third term as Tory premier.
The Liberal win marks a strong repudiation of Higgs’s pronounced shift to more socially conservative policies.
Higgs, meanwhile, lost in his riding of Quispamsis. In a speech to supporters in the riding, he confirmed that he would begin a leadership transition process.
As the Liberals secured their majority, Green Party Leader David Coon thanked his supporters and pledged to continue building the party, but he then turned his sights on the premier. “One thing is for sure,” he told a crowd gathered at Dolan’s Pub in Fredericton, “we know that Blaine Higgs is no longer the premier of this province.”
The election race was largely focused on health care and affordability but was notable for the remarkably dissimilar campaign styles of Holt and Higgs. Holt repeatedly promised to bring a balanced approach to governing, pledging a sharp contrast to Higgs’s “one-man show taking New Brunswick to the far right.”
“We need a government that acts as a partner and not as a dictator from one office in Fredericton,” she said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
Higgs focused on the high cost of living, promising to lower the provincial harmonized sales tax by two percentage points to 13 per cent — a pledge that will cost the province about $450 million annually.
Holt spent much of the campaign rolling out proposed fixes for a health-care system racked by a doctor shortage, overcrowded emergency rooms and long wait-times. A former business advocate and public servant, she promised to open 30 community health clinics across the province by 2028; remove the provincial sales tax from electricity bills; overhaul mental health services; and impose a three per cent cap on rent increases by 2025.
The 70-year-old Tory leader, a mechanical engineer and former Irving Oil executive, led a low-key campaign, during which he didn’t have any scheduled public events on at least 10 days — and was absent from the second leaders debate on Oct. 9.
Holt missed only two days of campaigning and submitted a 30-page platform with 100 promises, a far heftier document than the Tories’ two-page platform that includes 11 pledges.
When the election was called on Sept. 19, the Conservatives held 25 seats in the 49-seat legislature. The Liberals held 16 seats, the Green Party had three, there was one Independent and four vacancies. At least 25 seats are needed for a majority.
Higgs was hoping to become the first New Brunswick premier to win three consecutive elections since Liberal Frank McKenna won his third straight majority in 1995. But it was clear from the start that Higgs would have to overcome some big obstacles.
On the first day of the campaign, a national survey showed he had the lowest approval rating of any premier in the country. That same morning, Higgs openly mused about how he was perceived by the public, suggesting people had the wrong idea about who he really is.
“I really wish that people could know me outside of politics,” he said, adding that a sunnier disposition might increase his popularity. “I don’t know whether I’ve got to do comedy hour or I’ve got to smile more.”
Still, Higgs had plenty to boast about, including six consecutive balanced budgets, a significant reduction in the province’s debt, income tax cuts and a booming population.
Higgs’s party was elected to govern in 2018, when the Tories formed the province’s first minority government in almost 100 years. In 2020, he called a snap election — marking the first province to go to the polls during the COVID-19 pandemic — and won a slim majority.
Since then, 14 Tory caucus members have stepped down after clashing with the premier, some of them citing what they described as an authoritarian leadership style and a focus on conservative policies that represented a hard shift to the right.
A caucus revolt erupted last year after Higgs announced changes to the gender identity policy in schools. When several Tory lawmakers voted for an external review of the change, Higgs dropped dissenters from cabinet. A bid by some party members to trigger a leadership review went nowhere.
Higgs has also said a Tory government would reject all new applications for supervised drug-consumption sites, renew a legal challenge against the federal carbon pricing scheme and force people into drug treatment if authorities deem they “pose a threat to themselves or others.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
