EYE ON POLITICS:
A new government's first moves
by Kerry Turner
Canada’s new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, has outlined his priorities for his new government in his first weeks in office. However, while Liberals rejoice in a victory that a mere few months ago seemed like a pipe dream, it will take time to convince the part of the Canadian population who did not vote for the Liberals that they are trustworthy of the office for which they serve. Given the economic turmoil across the globe and the rising costs of living here at home, the stakes are high.
Carney made it clear that appealing to the middle class and rectifying the rising costs of living would be a main focus of his administration, and in a proposed plan to combat the looming housing crisis, Carney vowed to “create an entirely new Canadian housing industry” by promoting modular and prefab homes. He has said his government will create a new entity called “Build Canada Homes” to do this, and to provide private developers with up to $25 billion in financing. “In the coming weeks, I will unveil more of our plan to engage with Canadians as we embark on the biggest transformation of our economy since the end of the Second World War,” he said. “We will need to work in partnerships with all the provinces, with Indigenous peoples… in Parliament, we will need to get majority support to pass legislation.”
One of the biggest topics Canadians will be watching for is more effective interprovincial trade. Carney has vowed to dismantle interprovincial trade barriers by Canada Day, but many see this as an uphill battle – one the federal government cannot singlehandedly achieve. Carney’s proposal aims to get rid of federal barriers to interprovincial trade. There are also several trade barriers that are under provincial jurisdiction, particularly in regard to licensing, transportation and red-tape regulations, many of which grew out of a protectionist mindset that pits provinces against each other as competitors, not allies. For example, wine sold in British Columbia is subject to mark ups that make it unprofitable in other provinces like Ontario. The SAQ’s mark-up structure is 25 percent higher than the LCBO’s. These barriers will need to be systemically broken down and rebuilt. “The rules and regulations that are those interprovincial barriers that he wants to remove are not entirely within his control. He can't compel provinces to remove their barriers,” said Moshe Lander, economist at Concordia University.
On Tuesday, May 13th Carney also announced his new Cabinet, who will be responsible for putting the Liberal promises into action and delivering results to Canadians. Carney’s inner circle will have familiar faces from the Trudeau-era and new ones, in a restructured and reformatted cabinet. An enlarged 28-member governing council will lead Canadian priority sectors, on top of the creation of 10 junior ministers styled as “Secretaries of State” deployed on specific government priorities and objectives. Nine of those full cabinet members were elected for the first time in the April 28 election, with another six re-elected Liberal MPs entering cabinet for the first time.
Conservative Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized the Carney Cabinet, stating “Fourteen Trudeau ministers are now in Carney’s government. That isn't the change that Mr. Carney promised”, particularly zoning in on the re-deployment of former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Former Industry Minister Francois Philipe Champagne. Poilievre accused Champagne of contributing to “the worst economy in a generation” and “Madame Freeland … had enormous deficits and tax hikes”. Both have been reassigned to different portfolios, with Freeland taking on Internal Trade and Champagne now heading Freeland’s previously held title as Minister of Finance. Poilievre did not lament that some of his own conservative platform ideas also made their way into the Liberal government’s agenda – including the decision to repeal the consumer portion of the federal carbon tax. “Many of them were stolen,” he said. “That doesn’t make me bitter... I want you to steal my ideas.”
Parliament is expected to resume on May 26th, but more than just Poilievre will be missing – the Spring Budget will also not be reviewed, to the chagrin of the Opposition. The news that the Liberals would not be tabling a spring Budget drew ire from the Opposition with local MP for SD&G and Cornwall Eric Duncan stating “one of the things that I think right now is important to remember is that we have a lot on the line right now. How big is our deficit going to be with all the Liberal promises that they made on the election campaign? We need a plan to defend our sovereignty, defend our workers, defend our economy.”
Ousted from his previously long-held riding in Carleton, Poilievre is expected to seek a seat in Alberta in a by-election after MP Damien Kurek offered to resign his seat in a bid to give the Party leader a second chance in the House of Commons. Members of Parliament are not permitted to resign in the 30 days following the tally of election results. During Conservative caucus meetings in Ottawa last week, Conservatives voted for Andrew Scheer to lead their Party interim in Parliament during the spring sitting. Scheer was previously Leader of the Opposition from 2017 to 2020 until he was succeeded by Poilievre. The Party was vocal that this measure is temporary, with many Conservatives rallying around Poilievre and his contributions to the Conservative Party. Frank Caputo, MP for Kamloops, said “I don’t believe a leader should be easily displaced, especially somebody who grew our vote total and had the highest vote total since Brian Mulroney”. Local MP Eric Duncan echoed the sentiment on social media, posting “I am proud to stand with Peirre Poilievre as someone I’ve known for 15 years and seen grow into the leader he is today... this past campaign saw significant gains for our party and had an energy and enthusiasm among our local and national campaigns that I’ve never seen before.”