The Guardian (Charlottetown)

Scheer targets fallout of Harper years

Conservati­ve leader’s message is that he wants to do things differentl­y from Harper

- Chantal Hébert is a national affairs writer for Torstar Syndicatio­n Services

A year into his new job as Conservati­ve leader, Andrew Scheer is methodical­ly trying to mend some of the fences broken by his predecesso­r.

Fresh from a weekend appearance on Radio-Canada’s talk show Tout le monde en parle as part of a public-relations campaign designed to bring about a thaw in the icy relationsh­ip of most Quebecers with his party, the Conservati­ve leader travelled to another kind of venue Stephen Harper did not tend to grace with his presence.

On Tuesday, Scheer crossed the Ottawa River to personally deliver an olive branch to one of the country’s largest associatio­n of trade unions.

Canada’s Building Trade Unions (CBTU) is the national umbrella of 14 internatio­nal unions that together represent more than half-a-million constructi­on workers.

In the last federal campaign, the country’s top labour organizati­ons made the defeat of the Harper government an overriding priority.

At the time, the CBTU spent more than $400,000 advocating for the election of a “workerfrie­ndly” government and for more public spending on infrastruc­ture.

Notwithsta­nding the union movement’s long-standing ties with the NDP, this umbrella group has — in the words of one of its members — quite a bit of time for Trudeau’s agenda.

The relationsh­ip has so far been reciprocal. Before and since he became prime minister, Trudeau has courted the union movement with more assiduity than the average Liberal leader.

His government has repealed Conservati­ve laws that organized labour found offensive. He has been a regular at union venues, and this week’s CBTU convention was no exception.

That stands in stark contrast with the treatment meted out by Harper’s government. On his watch, the party’s branding included casting itself as no friend of organized labour. The latter responded in kind. Scheer is on a mission to avoid a repeat of the same scenario in next year’s election.

Scheer’s message is that he wants to do things differentl­y and rebuild some bridges burned by his immediate predecesso­r. If the Conservati­ve leader had to pick an organized labour audience liable to be receptive to his overtures, it would be one made up of constructi­on trade unions. This is one venue where the Conservati­ves’ pro-pipeline position tends to play well.

As with Quebec, Scheer cannot realistica­lly expect to turn union foes into converts overnight. At best, he can hope to reopen some channels of communicat­ion.

But if Trudeau’s appeal to the labour movement is to be blunted, Jagmeet Singh will also have to up his game. That did not happen when the latter visited the CBTU convention on Tuesday.

An hour before his Conservati­ve counterpar­t, the NDP leader delivered a rambling speech whose main point — that the Liberals are selling a mirage to progressiv­e Canadians, including those who are unionized — was drowned in a sea of boilerplat­e statements.

It is hard to connect with an audience — even one otherwise predispose­d to be friendly — when one’s talking points come across as disconnect­ed.

Since becoming leader, Singh has not always been a model of clarity in his public communicat­ions. Some of his scrums have left journalist­s interviewi­ng each other to fathom his meaning.

It may be that he still has not completely mastered all the federal files — in one of his recent media appearance­s, he had to turn to House Leader Guy Caron to confirm the party’s position on the Liberal gun control bill.

Be that as it may, the NDP leader may not get much of a second chance to make a strong impression on the labour audience he addressed this week. NDP MP Kennedy Stewart is considerin­g a Vancouver mayoral run. If he does switch the municipal arena, his departure would open a federal seat for Singh.

But Stewart’s Burnaby South riding is at ground zero of the opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline, and he has been one of its most vocal critics.

If Singh were to run in that riding, it would almost certainly have to be on a platform that would not make him a more sought-after guest of propipelin­e constructi­on workers’ unions.

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Chantal Hébert

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