This is a campaign that has been drifting into the arena of the unwell. The leader has been uninspiring and the policies have been drab.
If opportunity often comes disguised as misfortune, the growing anti-vaccination protests following Justin Trudeau across the country may prove to be just what the doctor ordered for the Liberals.
One enterprising gentleman heckled the Liberal leader in Hamilton, Ont., on Tuesday and appeared in the suburbs of Vancouver to repeat his belief in the right to put himself and everyone in his vicinity in harm’s way a day later — quite a logistical feat. He wouldn’t say who was paying his carriage but while it is certainly not the Liberals, they are the main beneficiaries.
Trudeau was making an announcement about hitting the big banks and insurance companies with a wealth tax — an extra three per cent in corporate income tax on profits over $1 billion — in the backyard of a suburban couple who was lamenting the cost of housing in the lower mainland. The house next door to them was just listed for $1.3 million, so it’s not clear why they were complaining. It was even less clear what it all had to do with the cash grab from the banks.
A crowd had gathered outside the house and every so often as the Liberal leader spoke, the delicate sounds of democracy in action wafted into the yard. “Trudeau, you’re a piece of s--t. You’ll never take away my freedom,” was one such contribution. The subject of the abuse continued on unperturbed, like a clock in a storm.
When it was time for him to leave, rather than being piled into a Chevy Suburban at the front door by the RCMP, he walked a block with the mob baying behind him. It was a perfect visual for the Liberals, positioning their man as the champion of vaccines and COVID recovery. It was also an excellent opportunity for the protesters to have a good shout and get on television, so a great time was had by all.
It was about time that something went right for Trudeau. This is a campaign that has been drifting into the arena of the unwell.
The leader has been uninspiring and the policies have been drab.
Pitching the country headlong into an election campaign on the day the Taliban stormed Kabul only highlighted the ill-considered nature of the decision: while the survival of Afghan refugees was in the balance, Trudeau was focused on his own ambition.
Since then, there have been few signs of purpose. Trudeau has attempted to play offence, visiting 22 ridings since day one, all but five held by opposition parties.
But there has been more motion than action.
The Liberal plane flew from Hamilton to Vancouver on Tuesday and is set to fly east again to Quebec City late Wednesday — an awful lot of jet fuel for not a lot of time on the ground.
Trudeau has offered few compelling reasons for voters to switch to him. New policy has been rolled out, to a collective shrug by the electorate. The response seems to be: “if this is so great, why didn’t you do it six years ago.” The NDP pointed out that benchmark home prices in Greater Vancouver have risen $417,000 since Trudeau was elected and he is only now, on the eve of an election, moving to cool the market.
Even the policies designed to deter speculation are being criticized as ill-advised. The new “anti-flipping tax”, aimed at stopping Canadians from selling their principal residence within a year of purchasing it, is being used as a warning that the Liberals are intent on introducing a capital-gains tax on all property sales. The NDP claimed that the Liberal candidate in Vancouver Granville made $600,000 flipping three properties in recent years — another sign of Liberal hypocrisy, in their eyes.
In short, Liberal efforts to win the 15 or so ridings they need to reclaim majority, such as the Lower Mainland seats of South-surrey-white Rock and Steveston-richmond East (both held by the Conservatives) that Trudeau visited on Wednesday have not prospered.
Mistakes that would have been glossed over if things were going well have instead been magnified.
So it is timely that a gaggle of fruitcake protesters were pictured chasing Trudeau down the street. It has allowed him to project himself in a more sympathetic light as the advocate of vaccines, in contrast to Conservative leader, Erin O’toole, who Trudeau said can’t even get his own candidates to get inoculated.
That contrast led him to talk about the Conservative Party’s belief in “trickle down economics, helping the wealthy few and hoping it trickles down.”
This is what the Liberal campaign is really all about now — doubling down on the allegation that O’toole supports for-profit “twotiered” private health care, in the hope that voters will buy the idea that he advocates abolishing universal access.
“Erin O’toole can’t have it both ways,” the Liberals said in a release on Wednesday. “He cannot say he is in favour of universal access and support for-profit health care like the Saskatchewan model (private MRI clinics).”
This is nonsense of course. Provinces have been experimenting with private healthcare services within the universal access system for years — to the point where 30 per cent of our system is now private.
But there are early signs that repeated attacks are working. The most recent Nanos Research nightly tracking poll saw Liberal support spike and NDP support dip.
If confirmed by other polls, Trudeau will have found his issue and his way forward — unrelenting, disingenuous negativity. Now, if only he could find some two-tier health-care enthusiasts to come and protest at his rallies.