TORONTO – The die is cast.
Monday, the Prime Minister told his caucus they are barking up the wrong tree – he is staying. Ditto to the Bloc Quebecois’s “threat” of voting non-confidence in the government. The NDP had already reneged on its blustering threat to back away from its promises of support to Justin Trudeau. The Conservatives’ position is clear: how much longer can the government resist?
The reality is that time marches on. Serious political parties do two things: (1) develop deliverable, realistic and appealing policies for the electorate – a “vision” to alleviate and improve the human condition, and (2) put into place a communications plan to complement the ever-important “ground game” – a team with a tactical plan to get out the vote.
For now, all parties have opted to “test drive” the ‘slur and besmirch strategy of mudslinging’ at their contestants both from within and outside the House of Commons. Negative attention may “sell” but it erodes the accuser as much as the accused. Trudeau has resorted to calling Conservatives “homophobic” – in the House of Commons where MPs enjoy immunity. Conservatives retort with “liar”; the NDP with variations of “corrupt”; the Bloc with insinuations of perpetrators of policies designed to efface the Quebecois culture… and on it goes.
Given the Parliamentary timetable and schedule for mandated elections (October ’25), it is very unlikely that the House will survive the end of May 2025, under any circumstances. The seeds of blame are masking themselves as proposals for (a) correction, (b) revitalization, (c) economic stimulus, (d) “affordable social policy”, (e) population [decline] and (f) national unity.
The Liberals led off with the old reliable scare, run away immigration. It is at the root of post-secondary education affordability crisis, housing crisis, access to medical care crisis, shortage of labour crisis, increase in crime crisis, interference by foreign [Chinese, Indian, Russian] national governments crisis and any other “crisis” – real and imagined. For reasons unknown to rational persons, someone that that is a winning strategy that will win over the newer Canadians from the ethnocultural communities.
Conservatives buttressed their “sloganeerning” with a plan to cut HST from new housing of a particular cost, thereby hoping to lower the cost of housing and making property ownership more affordable. Liberals have countered once again with a project to build a high-speed train facility between Toronto and Quebec City.
Think about who is being targeted with this nugget. I personally advocated for it some twenty years ago as Chair of a House [sub] Committee on Transportation. It will take some time and space to discuss this policy.
It will not take as long to debate the Bloc Quebecois proposals regarding increases in social and health benefits for the elderly [in Quebec]. The Bloc cannot be serious: the prohibitive costs will lead to only one result in the House votes.
The only salvation, short term, for the current government is the support of the NDP, who seem determined to make themselves irrelevant.
