Canada seen by politicians

Canadians elect their representatives to the federal parliament and expect them to follow the programmatic lines they put forward at election time. That is their job and the essence of democracy. When the electoral results show a parliament without an absolute majority, it is expected that the winner will assume the government by working with everyone, in order to reach the necessary consensus for the exercise of power. It is not an easy thing to do, nor does it please those who have to lead a country (which politician does not like absolute majorities?), but for many it is the way to see democracy working in its fullness.

Recently, Liberal Justin Trudeau and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh announced an agreement that guarantees this government will serve until the end of the legislature. Thus, suddenly, the political framework (which the September 2021 elections legitimized) has changed and the country is witnessing the formation of a kind of coalition (without being one…) on the left and in the majority. In this week’s edition, we tried to understand how leading figures from the three main parties with seats in the federal parliament view this substantial change in the country’s political design. We got answers from the NDP and the Conservative Party, but strangely (or maybe not?) from the Liberals we only received a very short statement from Steven Del Duca, even though they have confirmed that they would answer our questions. We all know that as leader of the Liberal Party at the provincial level, Del Duca will be more interested in working on his image as a candidate for Premier of Ontario, but even in that condition it would be interesting for us to know what he thinks about what is going on at the federal government level. Unfortunately, apparently, it is not in his interest that we all know where he stands on this issue. We leave it to Milénio Stadium readers to interpret such an attitude.

Davenport MPP, Marit Stiles

Milénio Stadium: What is your opinion on the announcement of this agreement between the Liberals and the NDP, which will allow this legislature to continue until the end?
Marit Stiles: I think it’s great news for Canadians. I think it’s great news for everybody here in Ontario and in Toronto. What happened here was the NDP using our power to secure results where the Liberals haven’t delivered in the past. And those results are going to make a huge difference in people’s lives, particularly I know people in my community. So, I think one of the greatest things about this is you see the NDP pushing back an election, saying “look, we’re not going to create any more division”, what we want to do is to put people first this time, ahead of any other consideration. I think it’s historical for that reason.
One of the things I think it’s significant about this agreement is that it shows again how effective the NDP could be. We put people ahead of power and profit. I really hope that message comes across to Ontarians when we’re heading to the next provincial election, because that’s the kind of leadership you can expect of Andrea Horwath if she becomes Premier.

MS: Do you think that this agreement is in line with the will of Canadians as expressed in the last elections?
MStiles: I do. I felt there was a lot of disappointment in the Liberals not moving forward on some of their promises of the past, so I think that people are tired of politicians playing politics with their future. They want these things to get done and I hear every day on my doorstep, in my community, people really want us to start working together towards it. Especially right now.

MS: Is this agreement in the interest of Canada as a country or in the interest of Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister who wants to stay in power?
MStiles: Well, certainly I know that Justin Trudeau desperately wants to stay in power, but I think this agreement forces him to finally deliver for Canadians. I also believe most Canadians are not looking for another election really soon, which is where it might have ended up. Canadians also didn’t elect a majority Liberal government, so they were sending a strong message to Justin Trudeau – he hasn’t actually done well enough, actually many of us are very disappointed. So, I think in that respect the NDP is pulling Trudeau to account and what we are hearing is that people are very happy about that – they don’t necessary trust him, but it will be up to the NDP to make sure he lives up to the terms of the agreement and if he doesn’t, then Justin Trudeau might not be Prime Minister.

MS: Is there a risk that Canada’s political integrity will be affected, either internally or externally?
MStiles: Most countries operate with a different electoral system than we have here. In most countries they have a system where Parties work together often, with some sort of agreement, colligation… Here in Canada, our system is terrible and I hear it from people all the time: they want to see us working together and come up with solutions, they want to see us being less devised and instead of that they would prefer to see us building together. So, I hope in that respect we will look like we actually want things done. But again: some of this is up to Justin Trudeau, if refuses not to follow the agreement, if he doesn’t act quickly as we are asking him to, then there will be consequences. But like I said, as far as I’m concerned, internationally this is how most countries do work and I’d like to see our political electoral system reformed, so we could do more of this.

MS: Recently in the European Parliament, Trudeau was confronted by MPs regarding his stance towards the protests known as the Convoy of Freedom. He was even compared to the worst dictators ever. How do you think Canada’s credibility is in the eyes of the world right now?
MStiles: I think it’s unfortunate that in this pandemic we’ve seen our country so divided, but I also think that most Canadians are united in our desire to work together, to keep people safe and healthy. We saw what happened with the Convoy of Freedom turned the lives of people in Ottawa upside-down, I don’t think any level of government, particularly the local government, acted quickly enough to deal with that situation, and the Prime Minister also came around to do anything quite late in the game. Personally, I think that where we could show better leadership is in doing what we’ve done throughout this pandemic, which is to be united as a country, across Party lines too – when we face something like a pandemic, we all need to be in it together. I wish, in some cases, the Prime Minister could’ve taken a less devised approach, we saw some cases of people being really angry and that could’ve been avoided, but I’m not terribly concerned about how it makes us look internationally.

Candice Bergen, Leader of the Official Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada

Milénio Stadium: What is your opinion on the announcement of this agreement between the Liberals and the NDP, which will allow this legislature to continue until the end?
Candice Bergen: I recently expressed the position of the Party I lead on this issue and stated that the NDP-Liberal coalition is nothing more than a callous attempt by Trudeau to hold on to power. Canadians did not vote for an NDP government. This is little more than backdoor socialism. Trudeau is truly polarizing politics which is what he likes. This is an NDP-Liberal attempt at government by blackmail. With rising inflation, out-of-control cost of living, and national unity at stake, Trudeau knows he is losing the confidence of Canadians.
His answer is to stay in power at all costs including implementing the even harsher and more extreme policies of the NDP. If this NDP-Liberal coalition stands, Canada is in for a very rough ride.
Trudeau wasn’t able to win the confidence of Canadians in the last election and get the majority he wanted, so he’s buying the confidence of the House. It remains to be seen what Trudeau will give up in order to keep the NDP happy and himself in power.

MS: Do you think that this agreement is in line with the will of Canadians as expressed in the last elections?
CB: Canadians didn’t vote for this. Over 80% of Canadians voted for a party other than the NDP. I think there are voters who aren’t happy with this as it doesn’t reflect their choice from the last election.

MS: Is this agreement in the interest of Canada as a country or in the interest of Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister who wants to stay in power?
CB: This is about Justin Trudeau holding onto power. Canadians are facing the highest inflation rates in decades; ever-increasing cost of living; and skyrocketing gas prices. Instead of focusing his time and attention on making life more affordable for Canadians, he’s focusing on his own personal career.

MS: Is there a risk that Canada’s political integrity will be affected, either internally or externally?
CB: One thing I can tell you about integrity is that the Conservative Party of Canada will be consistent conservatives. We will continue to fight for Canadians and push ideas that offer relief. Just last week we asked the government to pause the GST on fuel in order to give Canadians a break at the pumps – the Liberals voted against it. This week we are calling on the government to suspend the carbon tax which will help with the cost of everything from fuel, food, deliveries, and agriculture…the Liberals have no interest in agreeing to this relief for Canadians

MS: Recently in the European Parliament, Trudeau was confronted by MPs regarding his stance towards the protests known as the Convoy of Freedom. He was even compared to the worst dictators ever. How do you think Canada’s credibility is in the eyes of the world right now?
CB: Despite all that has happened under the Trudeau government, I think Canada as a nation has a positive reputation world-wide. This has more to do with the people of Canada than it does with Trudeau’s leadership. As we’ve seen with those fleeing Ukraine and Afghanistan, Canada remains a destination of choice for those looking for a better life.

Steven Del Duca
Leader of Liberal Party (Ontario)

“Ontarians, like all Canadians, are focused on outcomes. I will be watching closely to see what the federal agreement achieves for families. Ontario Liberals have used several opportunities over the past two years to work with other parties. We are focused on helping Ontario families get ahead, and we will collaborate with any party willing to work towards that shared goal.”

Catarina Balça/MS