Trudeau rips Tories for divisive politics
Niqab controversy example of Harper’s campaign strategy, Liberal leader says
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau says no election is worth winning if it means pitting Canadians against each other as he condemned Stephen Harper’s attempts to win votes on the divisive issue of the niqab.
In a visit with the Toronto Star editorial board Friday, Trudeau said Harper’s comments about women wearing niqabs is the kind of negative politics that he considers abhorrent. “I think he has forgotten that no election win is worth pitting Canadians against one another,” Trudeau said.
He said diversity is “at the heart of the success of this extraordinary city (Toronto) and this country.”
The Liberal leader framed the upcoming election as a choice for voters on more than just policy but a referendum on Harper’s time in government and the changes the Conservatives have brought to the country.
He said the Conservatives have “completely degraded” the level of debate in Ottawa, eroded the principle of parliamentary oversight and displayed a lack of transparency on key issues, such as Canada’s combat mission in Iraq and Syria.
Trudeau said the Conservatives have shown they “will do anything” to stay in power but added that he remains confident that Canadian voters will make what he calls the “right choice” on election night.
“Stephen Harper has underestimated how much Canadians care about their country, about their democracy, about their values,” he said. “That’s the lesson this election . . . will teach Stephen Harper.”
Trudeau has been battling New Democrats in the race to replace the Conservatives. The Liberal leader said his party’s willingness to run a deficit over the next three years to fund its infrastructure program is a clear “demarcation” with NDP Lead- er Thomas Mulcair, who has vowed to immediately balance the budget.
Still, Trudeau said he never thought of the campaign platform as “outflanking the NDP to the left.
“We looked at it as what does Canada need,” he said.
He said the Conservatives attempts to frame the deficit — or a lack of one — as a measure of a responsible government is a “simplistic political construct.”
“It just surprises me that the NDP would have bought into (it),” Trudeau said.
He offered a harsh assessment of the NDP’s signature campaign promise to deliver $15-a-day child care, calling it a distant promise that is years from reality.
Trudeau has seen his own party’s popularity grow during this marathon campaign to the point where the Liberals are now vying with the Tories atop the polls while the New Democrats — the pre-campaign front-runners — have faded to third.
Trudeau said he is sticking to the game plan laid out before the election was called to bring change to government and ignore the instinct to resort to attack ads, wedge issues and negativity.
Still, Trudeau admits to surprise moments in the campaign, like the crowd that appeared to show their support for him in a Tory-held riding in Atlantic Canada earlier this week.
“There is something tangible happening across the country,” he said.
Still, the polls suggest Canadians could be in for a minority government once the ballots are counted on Oct. 19.
If that minority government is Conservative, both Trudeau and NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair have previously said they will not support it. The Liberal leader would not be drawn into the topic Friday, saying only that he would continue to fight Harper’s “narrower vision of this country.”
“Canadians get to decide what our Parliament looks like on (Oct. 19) . . . These are conversations for Oct. 20,” the Liberal leader said.
In his discussion with Star editors and reporters, Trudeau offered views on topics including:
Trans-Pacific Partnership: The Liberal leader said his party is protrade but wants to see details of the recently concluded Pacific trade deal before passing judgment. Expressing concern about the impact on the auto sector in particular, Trudeau said there’s much uncertainty around the agreement.
Youth vote: Trudeau said youth voters are better informed and more involved than ever but added, “they’re just not convinced that politics is a useful way for them to actually engage with the world and make a difference.” Trudeau said his party has been reaching out to young voters. “If young people actually go out and vote, then all politicians . . . will realize you can’t keep ignoring young people.
Poverty: Trudeau said the Liberal promise to enhance child benefits for lower-income families will make a“significant and even massive dent” in child poverty. Low-income single seniors would see an increase in guaranteed income supplements. “That’s a progressive vision.”
Trudeau name: Trudeau conceded that his famous surname has been both an advantage and disadvantage but quickly added, “I am my own person with my own strengths and weaknesses. I have long understood that, yes doors have opened up for me, but the way I was raised I have had to worked three times harder than anyone else to show that without a shadow of a doubt I can open the door on my own.”
Electoral act changes: Trudeau accused the Tories of tinkering with election rules to swing the odds in their favour. “They made an Election Act change against the will of all other parties in the House (of Commons) that makes it more difficult for groups that don’t vote Conservative — young people, indigenous people, low-income people,” Trudeau said. “That should have been a massive flag . . . that these guys will do anything to stay in power.”