The Campaign Trail
By Ignacio Zamorano
Staff Writer
On Sunday, March 23rd, the writ dropped. The Governor General—the emissary of the Crown in this Dominion—accepted a request to dissolve Parliament from Prime Minister Mark Carney, on his ninth day in office. Mr. Carney, who won the Liberal leadership race with an impressive 85.9% of the vote to replace former Prime Minister Trudeau, called an election as soon as possible for April 28th. Against the backdrop of President Trump’s far-reaching tariffs on Canada and the fact that he would be forced to forge a new deal with the NDP to maintain the confidence of Parliament, the Liberal leader called for an election. The shift in public opinion since Mr. Trudeau’s resignation has been extraordinary. A January 7th Abacus Data poll had the Conservatives leading the Liberals by 27 points, 47-20. A March 25th poll from the same pollster had the Liberals ahead of the Conservatives in the popular vote, 38-37. Due to their greater vote efficiency, Tory votes are more concentrated in their strongholds, like Alberta—a tied popular ballot would result in a sizeable Liberal minority or even a slight Liberal majority. Benefitting from the perception that Mr. Carney is a better leader for the tumultuous times this country is facing—a résumé that includes leading the Bank of Canada during the Great Recession and the Bank of England in the aftermath of Brexit is seen as more impressive as one based around twenty years as a member of Parliament—, the Liberals have surged in the polls. They are now the favourites to be elected for their fourth consecutive mandate.
Following news in my inbox that the Liberal leader would be in town on March 27th, I attended the event. Walking up the steps of the Grand Quai of the Old Port was Anthony Housefather, Liberal candidate for Mount Royal—Mr. Housefather was the only MP in the Island of Montreal that seemed threatened by the Conservative surge earlier this year; Mr. Carney’s popularity will allow him to coast to his third re-election, discussing the transgressions of Ruby Dhalla with one of his aides. Ms. Dhalla, spoken of in a tone that implied she’d been kicked out of the event to come, had run a fringe campaign for the Liberal leadership race before being disqualified by the party; since then, she’s become a fierce critic of the party. Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs before the writ dropped and the Liberal candidate for Ahuntsic-Cartierville, brought the room to life as she announced Madeleine Chenette would be the Liberal candidate for Thérèse-De Blainville in addition to her stump speech. Later, Steven Guilbeault, the Liberal candidate for Laurier-Sainte-Marie—the district that encompasses the Old Port and much of downtown Montreal—and Mr. Carney’s Quebec lieutenant, gave a short speech in which he attacked Pierre Poilievre for his similarities with Mr. Trump and the Bloc Québécois for lacking a plan to stand up to him. Though somewhat aged, as political rallies tend to be, the diversity in the room was startling. Mr. Carney received a rockstar’s welcome to the room as the Liberal signs flared, with slogans as Canada Strong—and a Canadian flag attached to a hockey stick waved, demonstrating Liberal attempts to make the party synonymous with defending the nation. The Liberal leader worked the room effectively and remained on message, remarking on the need to stand up to the U.S., attacking the Conservatives for noting that “Canada is broken”, and touting the accomplishments of his short-lived Premiership, stating that in his nine days in office, he accomplished more than Mr. Poilievre has in his over twenty years in Parliament. Liberal excitement was palpable in that room; will it be enough to deliver the party its fourth consecutive mandate? The answer is to come on April 28th.
