Federal cabinet ministers descend on P.E.I.
It was hard to keep track of the federal cabinet ministers coming and going from Canada’s smallest province this week.
On Wednesday alone, International Trade Minister Jim Carr was at Old Home Week; Environment Minister Catherine McKenna joined with provincial officials to announce a plan to protect hundreds of acres of coastal land; and Tourism Minister Mélanie Joly attended the Congress Mondail Acadien.
As the polls have the Justin Trudeau Liberals running neck and neck with the Conservatives under Andrew Sheer as the countdown begins for the Oct. 21 election, members of the cabinet have obviously been given their marching orders to spread out across the country extolling the virtues of the government’s accomplishments over the last four years.
In the not too distant past, Trudeau seemed a sure bet for reelection. Right now, there is only one prime minister in the country’s history that has gone from majority government to defeat after just one term. That honour belongs to Alexander MacKenzie, the country’s second prime minister. Trudeau has history on his side.
However, a series of miscues like a trip to India that included inviting a convicted criminal on the official guest list for a state dinner started to cast a shadow over his sunny ways. However, the biggest blow came in the form of the SNCLavalin scandal, which saw former attorney general and justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould resign from cabinet amid allegations the prime minister wanted her to overrule a decision to not grant a deferred prosecution agreement to the Quebec-based engineering firm.
The scandal provided plenty of fodder for the opposition and eventually led to Wilson-Raybould testifying before a Commons committee and the prime minister expelling both her and former health minister Jane Philpot from the party.
However, the scandal receded from the headlines after Parliament closed and the government began gaining ground, knocking Sheer and the Conservatives out of majority territory and making it look increasing like a minority government could result from this fall’s vote.
However, while the trio of cabinet ministers were spreading the Liberal gospel in P.E.I., their leader was getting his fingers wrapped by federal Ethnics Commissioner Mario Dion in Ottawa. The commissioner ruled Trudeau had violated the Conflict of Interest Act in his dealing with the former justice minister. Trudeau quickly took full responsibility, although realistically he had no other course of action.
It remains to be seen how badly the findings will impact the party in the polls - both of the public opinion variety and the one that counts in October - but it is safe to say anything that reminds Canadians of the words SNC-Lavalin and Jody Wilson-Raybould can’t be good news for the party.
It is understandable the party would want to try to get positive press in other areas of the country on a day when another hole appeared in the Liberal ship in Ottawa. However, three cabinet ministers in a province where only four seats are up for grabs seems like overkill. Andy Walker is an Island-based writer and commentator. His column appears every
other week in the Journal Pioneer.