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Erin O’Toole: From MP to PM real quick (maybe)

The new Conservative leader’s potentially quick rise to national power

Erin O’Toole recently became the Conservative Party’s new leader after a whopping 57 per cent vote victory. Self-described as a military man who will fight for the rights of Canadians, O’Toole’s election comes at a critical time in Canadian history, as the country struggles with a pandemic and the Liberal Party loses trust following the WE Charity controversy. In just a few months, he could even become Prime Minister.

This parallel universe in which O’Toole becomes the leader of Canada just a few months after winning the leadership of his own party exists because Parliament is currently in prorogation.

But what exactly is prorogation?

According to the CBC, prorogation “suspends all parliamentary activity, including all legislation and committee work,” until Parliament is next summoned.

In a nutshell, prorogation is like hitting Parliament’s reset button. Ongoing committee work such as bills, studies and investigations are paused during this period and can be reintroduced once the break is over. To top it off, a fresh agenda will be proposed by the Trudeau government upon the reopening of Parliament activities.

In point of fact, Justin Trudeau considers that Parliament has been due for a reset because “the throne speech [they] delivered eight months ago had no mention of COVID-19.” Trudeau said  his government wants to test the confidence of the House.

On Sept. 23, the new session will begin. A speech from the throne will be given, and a confidence vote will be taken.

If confidence is lost…

Should the House decide that it does not have confidence in the government, elections would be triggered.

Canadian elections have historically been ruled by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party, suggesting that a race to power in this scenario would be dominated by either Justin Trudeau or Erin O’Toole.

However, O’Toole does not intend to trigger this scenario. In an interview with The West Block in Toronto, the pro-choice leader states that Fall elections are not his priority.

 

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In light of ‘racist remarks’ made by MP Derek Sloan, Asian Canadians demand he be kicked out of the Conservative Party

A new national network, ACT2endracism, asks political leaders to denounce Conservative MP’s comments against Chief Public Health Officer

A coalition of Asian Canadians are demanding MP Derek Sloan be kicked out of the Conservative Party for his remarks against Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer. The coalition, called ACT2endracism, asked political leaders to “publicly condemn anti-Asian racism” in a statement released Thursday.

Sloan made headlines in April after criticizing Dr. Tam’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, citing her reliance on allegedly-flawed data from China and the World Health Organization. In a tweeted video, he questioned whether Dr. Tam works for “China or Canada.” Dr. Tam was born in Hong Kong.

To date, Sloan has refused to apologize, despite national backlash. “I did not– and I am not– questioning Dr. Tam’s loyalty to Canada,” he said in a statement Wednesday.

According to ACT2endracism, Sloan’s behaviour is exemplary of the “growing anti-Asian sentiment and violence” brought on by Covid-19.

“This is race-baiting at its lowest,” says Walter Chi-yan Tom, a Human Rights lawyer from Montreal. “We cannot allow those who lead, or aspire to lead a national political party, to fan the flames of hate in our country.”

Sloan is currently one of four candidates on the ballot for the Conservative Party race.

 

Feature graphic archive by Alexa Hawksworth

Closure graphic by Christine Lam

Poli Savvy: Start the clocks, the countdown starts.

With one week left to go, federal leaders continue to compete for the public’s attention in the press and through their policies.

Justin Trudeau is trying hard to put the blackface controversy behind him. Obviously deflecting with new and more “a-pleasing” promises than ever, the Liberal leader is neck and neck with Andrew Scheer. However, there is something to be said about his efforts to meet the more progressive party platforms, in an attempt to keep the left-wing vote away from the NDP and the Green Party.

What do I mean when I say party platform? Well, I’m talking about the promises our leaders are making to us. Trudeau – trying to escape his long rap-sheet – is promising net-zero emissions by 2050, and a tax cut that will allow everyone’s first $15,000 in income to be tax-free. Jagmeet Singh, the second leading progressive leader is also promising major climate and economic action. Don’t get me wrong, these leaders are not interchangeable. In matters dealing with the Indigenous communities, Singh has been more favorable due to his strong stance on the clean-water issue in northern Indigenous territories, while Trudeau has been accused of doing little for Indigenous communities.

During the french speaking debate hosted by TVA, we saw four of the six candidates debate questions of foreign policy, Bill 21, and climate action. Conservative leader Scheer scrambled to connect with the Quebec audience, and through his support for the TransMountain pipeline, it’s likely he didn’t win many votes outside of Alberta that night.

As a follow up, the English speaking debate this past Monday included all six federal leader candidates. I’m not sure whether this debate was meant to replicate the dynamics of a high school classroom, but that’s besides the point. Yves-François Blanchet once again proved that he is fighting for the rights of Quebec – more specifically, their right to equalization payments.

Singh made quite an impression as the media declared him the winner of Monday night’s debate. His ability to connect with people is uncanny, and translates to a loss of votes for the Green Party; too bad it won’t be enough to become the default progressive leaders.

So in this coming week, my fellow Concordians – stay alert, listen, and most importantly: vote.

 

Graphic by @sundaeghost

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Poli Savvy: The storm before… the storm?

It’s been a whole new world of pain for the Liberal Party, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau deals with accusations of racism over his use of “brown face.”

Old yearbook photos have been posted by TIME Magazine, showing Trudeau with a unique take on Aladdin, complete with a turban and dark face paint. Naturally, many Canadians were less than impressed with this attempted display of multiculturalism, leading Trudeau to issue apologies to the public and… NDP leader Jaghmeet Singh?

According to CBC, Trudeau approached Singh to apologize for the incident – a confusing move, seeing that Aladdin is of an Arabian background, not Indian. Moreover, it seems that Singh has enough on his plate, given that the Steel Workers Union of Regina might vote Conservative according to the Regina Post. A traditionally New Democrat group in the NDP heartland, workers are being forced to choose between work opportunities provided by a pipeline or job protections offered by Singh. Whether this highlights a dangerous trend among unions is yet to be seen, but the NDP certainly cannot afford to lose support after previous defections to the Green Party of Elizabeth May…

… who is facing her own scandal, covered by the Toronto Sun since an image on the party website shows her holding what appears to be a photoshopped reusable mug, though the truth is much more sinister. It was proven that May was instead using a single-use paper cup to store her coffee, leading to calls of hypocrisy by voters who feel that the pro-environment leader should lead by example. How this will affect the Green Party’s chances at a federal majority is too early to say. Regardless; Liberal scandals, NDP popularity drops, and Green Party controversies could prove to be advantages for the Conservative Party of Canada’s leader, Andrew Scheer.

Well yes, but actually no, since the National Post reported that Ontario’s CPC base is in trouble due to major cuts in healthcare, environmental protection, student grants, social services, legal aid… basically everything, by Conservative premier Doug Ford. A fact not lost on Scheer, who, interestingly, has conducted most of his Ontarian campaigns without Ford by his side. Undoubtedly a risky move that could alienate “Ford Nation” voters, but one that would gain the approval of no other than Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet.

Incensed by the cuts to French-language services, under Ford no less, Blanchet has expanded his campaign to include francophone towns in Ontario; as covered by Global News. Claiming that French-speakers outside Quebec are being treated like second-class citizens, he has called for votes towards an independent Quebec, a bilingual Supreme Court, and expanded powers for the federal commissioner of official languages. In other words, nothing new; but a stark contrast to fellow Quebecer Maxime Bernier.

From claiming that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant to backing a candidate who had published racist tweets, as covered by CBC, the People’s Party of Canada leader is no stranger to controversy. However, Bernier is facing a lot of criticism for calling environmental activist Greta Thunberg “mentally unstable”, in a series of tweets back in September. Aside from the fact that picking a twitter fight with a 16-year-old is frowned upon in politics, his choice of words proved quite poor seeing that Thunberg has autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.

Ultimately, how these scandals impact the upcoming election remains to be seen. Canadians will simply have to vote for whichever party they feel is the best choice for Canada or the best option available.

 

Graphic by @sundaeghost

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Poli Savvy: Walking on eggshells one week into the election

The election campaign is now in full swing. From the start, the Liberal party was taken aback by reports alluding that their cabinet blocked efforts by the RCMP to investigate allegations of obstruction of justice regarding the SNC Lavalin scandal. Trudeau’s main statement in response to the questions regarding his cabinet’s involvement was roughly his job as Prime Minister is to be there to stand up for and defend Canadians’ jobs.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer debuted his campaign with a public reprimand of the PM, calling on Justin Trudeau to allow law enforcement to investigate his cabinet. The somewhat unknown conservative leader is struggling to make a name for himself that is not Harper or Ford.

Trudeau was not present at the first English debate hosted by MacLean’s and City TV. Instead, he rallied in Edmonton, one of the bedrocks of the Trans Mountain Pipeline project.

The Green Party was almost laughed off the stage by commentators and Scheer, despite Elizabeth May having the only political plan that even begins to address our climate crisis economically and scientifically.

Jagmeet Singh marked some points by connecting the Conservative leader to the much-hated Conservative Premier of Ontario during the debate.

“[Scheer] believes that the priority should be making life easier for the wealthiest,” said Singh. “I believe it has to be different and we can do it differently.” However, Scheer and Ford have not been seen together since the debate, indicating Scheer is distancing himself from his fellow Conservative.

This week hasn’t been all policy. A photograph of Trudeau surfaced on Wednesday, published by the TIMES, depicting the Prime Minister in blackface back in 2001.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” Trudeau stated in the Liberals’ campaign plane. “I should have known better, but I didn’t and I’m really sorry.” Trudeau has since admitted to other occasions where his costumes involved blackface.

One leader that has not shown restraint in his response is Singh, stating “What we see now is an ongoing pattern of behaviour that is going to hurt Canadians.”

Needless to say, this will have an impact on the Liberals’ re-election campaign. But does a picture of a man 20 years ago define him? At the end of the day, it is up to the people to determine what to make of Trudeau’s character.

 

Graphic by Victoria Blair

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