Opposition pounces on “summer of failure,”

Liberal defection a taste of challenges all parties face in the coming year

OTTAWA— Parliament returned from its summer break with a bang. Shortly before Monday’s question period, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer spoiled the Liberals’ day with news that Leona Alleslev was crossing the floor to his party.

As she took her place among her new seatmates in the Commons, Conservative MPs were grinning as they stared across at deflated Liberal MPs, who had to watch as Scheer welcomed not one but two new MPs to his caucus — Richard Martel, who won a byelection in Chicoutimi—Le Fjord in June, also took his spot in the Commons.

It was part of a day that revealed much about the tone and topics Canadians can expect to see on the federal scene over the coming year.

By this time next year, the next federal election campaign will be underway for the vote on Oct. 21, 2019.

Liberals tried to shrug off the political setback. Trudeau said he was happy to be back in the Commons “to talk about what we’re going to be doing for Canadians, what we’ve been working hard on all summer and over the past few years.”

Yet “failure” was the word of the day as the opposition parties — in their first question period since June — played catchup on the summer’s headlines and accused the government of falling short on everything from border-crossers and national carbon strategy to trade negotiations with the U.S. and Mexico, and the Trans-Mountain pipeline.

It was a “summer of failure,” Scheer told the Commons.

All four issues figured prominently at the Conservatives’ policy convention in Halifax last month, and it’s expected the party will keep banging those drums in this election year.

But the Conservatives could face a challenge from the right in Maxime Bernier, who has launched his own party, the People’s Party of Canada, promising a harder line on immigration and so-called identity issues, while advocating for radically smaller government and a flattened tax system — issues near and dear to some within Canada’s conservative movement.

On Twitter, Bernier declared Monday he was “proud” to be back “as the voice of Canadians looking for a political alternative. I will be defending the interests of the people, not those of cartels, lobbies and the political caste in Ottawa.”

How damaging Bernier’s insurrection will be on Conservative fortunes remains to be seen, but is likely to be a major political narrative of the fall sitting.

The Liberals left their caucus retreat last week in Saskatoon optimistic about their standing three years into a four-year mandate.

They are confident that their economic message will resonate with voters, but acknowledge many Canadians have likely forgotten about measures taken soon after they won power in 2015.

That’s why the Liberals intend to remind Canadians of moves such as the cut to income taxes, the child benefit and reforms to the Canada Pension Plan.

“We’re continuing with our plan for the middle class,” Trudeau told the Commons. Toronto Liberal MP Adam Vaughan said that Alleslev’s floor crossing — while a surprise — was not a signal of broader angst in the Liberals ranks or political trouble for the party in the Greater Toronto Area. “We know what the problems are in our region. That problem is an extraordinarily dysfunctional and belligerent government at Queen’s Park,” said Vaughan (Spadina-Fort York).

But that underscores the challenges for the Liberal government at this point in its mandate, as it is forced to react to external influences — the court decision that stalled the TransMountain, an unpredictable president in the White House and premiers opposed to Ottawa’s agenda.

Notably, the Liberals opted not to prorogue Parliament with a throne speech outlining a freshened agenda for a final year.

Instead they will push ahead with the priorities crafted in 2015.

“We have a great agenda for us for the coming year. All of us are chomping at the bit to get four more years back here,” Vaughan said. The New Democrats, meanwhile, are working to overcome a host of challenges that have bedevilled party leader Jagmeet Singh.

The party is stuck in third place, fundraising is a challenge and Singh faces a critical election test in Burnaby South — a West coast riding that is 3,300 kilometres away from the suburban GTA riding where he made his name in politics.

Asked Monday whether this fall session is “make or break” for his leadership, Singh shifted to underscore his message for the coming months.

“We’ve got massive crises that are going on,” he said, highlighting underfunding for education on First Nations, unaffordable housing, his party’s opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline and his assertion that the Trans Pacific Partnership will mean job losses in Canada.

“This is a government that’s got its priorities all wrong,” Singh said.

“As a leader, I’m confident that we can do what’s necessary for people. We’ve got to put the focus on how we can make people’s lives better.”