Garneau gearing up for another tough fight
MONTREAL— Marc Garneau went to bed on election night 2011 a defeated candidate.
He had sensed the Jack Layton NDP wave coming at him and it had apparently engulfed him, handing his seat to a young New Democrat who didn’t even know the party’s position on the Senate.
And then the phone rang at 2 a.m. It was the Liberal candidate’s campaign manager telling him he had pulled this one out, CBC projections not withstanding.
It’s a good thing Garneau is used to close races because, in 2015, he represents a Montreal Liberal beachhead and the wave is crashing against his new riding of NotreDame-de-Grâce—Westmount.
But in the final two weeks of this campaign it is tough to determine which way a Quebec wave might be going, and whether faltering NDP support will give Garneau some breathing space.
This time his opponent is Jim Hughes, the former head of the Old Brewery Mission in Montreal, a former deputy minister in New Brunswick, a well-known advocate for the poor and the homeless, and a man who stood beside Thomas Mulcair at a late August rally as the leader broadly hinted there would be a cabinet post for Hughes in an NDP government.
People have been saying for years that NDG-Westmount was a Liberal stronghold that can’t be broken, Mulcair said. “I like it when somebody tells me something can’t be done. What was the other Liberal stronghold that couldn’t be won? What was it called? Outremont?” said Mulcair, in a reference to his own, neighbouring riding.
Of course, should Justin Trudeau form a government, Garneau, Canada’s first astronaut, a celebrity in his own right and a man who challenged Trudeau for the party leadership, would also be in the cabinet.
This riding includes the wealthiest of the wealthy and those living in poverty. But Garneau says the “Westmount” moniker is inflated because only 20 per cent of the riding actually lives in Westmount and that’s why people think of this as a Liberal stronghold.
Under redistribution, downtown skyscrapers and condominiums are gone, and he has inherited the western part of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, meaning less vertical campaigning and more horizontal campaigning. The lion’s share of the riding is middle class and lower middle class.
Homelessness has been one of his preoccupations, Garneau said, a bid to take the anti-poverty shine from his opponent.
In separate interviews, both men were challenged on their party’s commitment to the poor.
The NDP isn’t providing a middleclass tax break, it is not forcing the highest-income earners to pay more and it supports the universal childcare benefit, which gives the same benefit to parents at poverty level as those making $500,000 a year, Garneau says.
“It doesn’t sound NDPish to me,” Garneau says.
He also accuses the NDP of misrepresenting its $15 minimum wage for federal workers because it leaves the impression it is for all workers, the majority of whom are outside federal jurisdiction and are being fed false hope by New Democrats.
Mulcair and Hughes tout their party’s plan to enhance the guaranteed income supplement and roll back Old Age Security eligibility to 65, both of which will be an important first step to eliminate poverty for 200,000 Canadian seniors, ac- cording to Mulcair.
Hughes, a 50-year-old father of three, also touted the party’s national daycare program, which he said will disproportionately benefit single mothers. From 1996-2008, Hughes says, 60,000 Quebec women entered the workforce because they had an affordable place to put their kids. Single mothers on social assistance fell from 95,000 to 45,000 in that time frame, he says.
“I believe in the power of government to do good,” Hughes says.
Garneau dismisses the program as nothing more than a concept because Mulcair will need provincial buy-in and Kathleen Wynne in Ontario has already disputed the NDP claim that she is onside.
And, he says, Mulcair’s promise to balance the budget means there will be cuts, starting with the NDP’s promised restoration of health-care spending.
Hughes counters that Garneau’s support for Harper’s anti-terror bill, C-51, has driven Liberals in the riding into his arms. The Liberals sought amendments to the bill and say they will make major changes if elected. New Democrats would scrap it and start over.
At one point, eight prospective NDP nominees lined up to take on Garneau and the Liberal knows they see him as vulnerable.
Six or seven years ago, a candidate of Hughes’ calibre might have remained on the sidelines, but proximity to power brings people out of the bunker.
“I’m running now because I absolutely feel I can be part of a team that can form government,” he says.
Two excellent candidates. Two men who will stick to the issues. But if Garneau goes to bed as a loser Oct. 19 and doesn’t get that late night call, this riding will be another sign Canadians have chosen Mulcair as the man to defeat Stephen Harper.
Also contesting the riding are Conservative Richard Sagala and Simon Quesnel of the Bloc Québécois. Tim Harper is a national affairs writer. His column usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. tharper @thestar.ca Twitter:@nutgraf1