I have been following the spate of letters to the editor arising due to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation as Liberal Party leader and the prospect of an election this year.
There is no doubt that Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre was riding high in the polls, and definitely was in majority territory if the election had been held last fall.
As the Toronto Star’s Susan Delacourt wrote recently, Poilievre’s “anti-Trudeau campaign lacks a villain”. Poilievre will be facing a new Liberal leader who will discontinue the carbon tax and not proceed with changes to the capital gains tax.
If Mark Carney is chosen, we will have the former Bank of Canada governor who kept us out of trouble in 2008, during Harper’s years, and later saved England’s economy after Brexit. Carney is what I would call fiscally responsible, which many do not associate with this Liberal government. Now Poilievre calling the next liberal leader “Carbon Tax Carney” will not get him far.
I was amused to read (Sudbury CPC candidate) Dr. Ian Symington’s letter wherein he, like Poilievre, misrepresents Liberal policies while offering no constructive alternatives, except for catchy phrases like “Axe the Tax”, “Stop the Crime”, and “ Build the Homes”.
If you look at Poilievre’s political career, it is not notable except he can retire now with a multi-million dollar pension. Other areas of concern are Poilievre will likely cancel Canada’s national child care system, cancel the new dental program and other social programs in the name of cutting costs and balancing the budget. Also we will likely face a move to return the retirement age, as it was under Harper, to 67 years.
Locally, another writer relies on a program called 338CANADA.com to say the polls in Nickel Belt and Sudbury show our Liberal members of parliament, Marc Serré and Viviane Lapointe, in third place with Conservatives likely to replace them.
I reviewed the website and discovered these are not polls, but the creation of a Quebec political columnist where he projects electoral results based on opinion polls, electoral history and demographic data. (The letter writer is only partially correct about 338Canada. You can read here about the site, its founder and its methodology.)
First, there have been no local published opinion polls. Second, history indicates that a Conservative has never represented Nickel Belt or Sudbury since their creation. There have been a few times when a NDP member has represented either riding, but otherwise our representatives have been Liberal.
The demographics also indicate that being bilingual is important. Our sitting members have made significant contributions to this part of northeastern Ontario and I believe their hard work will be recognized at the ballot box.
In terms of leaders, with Trudeau resigning, Poilievre will be facing a new leader with a new vision. What I recall most about Poilievre, besides his name-calling, is his delivering coffee and donuts to the Freedom Occupiers that February in Ottawa.
Also Poilievre continues to support that movement which called for Trudeau to be fired and the sitting Liberal government replaced by the Governor General with an unelected one. Locally, we see them every Saturday in the parking lot across from Bell Park waving “F… Trudeau” and “Vote Trump” banners.
Presumably 338Canada did not include that in its demographics. Again, in terms of history, when former prime minister Brian Maloney crushed the Liberals in the 1984 election, neither Sudbury nor Nickel Belt elected a Conservative, despite Mulroney’s popularity. Viviane Lapointe and Marc Serre are still the best choices to represent us.
Alan Arkilander
Sudbury