Trudeau vows again to help middle class
Liberal leader appears in B.C., where environment, pipelines are key issues
VANCOUVER— Styling himself as a son of British Columbia, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau took his campaign straight to this key electoral battleground and pitched anew his 2015 promise to expand the middle class, saying it is unfinished business.
After launching the election on a muggy Ottawa morning, Trudeau flew west to lead a kickoff rally in Vancouver Kingsway, a downtown NDPheld riding where Liberals believe they can make a breakthrough and win more support in a province racked by the debate over pipelines and the environment.
He was flanked by Liberal candidates from all over B.C.’s Lower Mainland, but the leader of the Liberal team was minus one big star from the 2015 contest: Jody Wilson-Raybould, the former attorney general, who Trudeau booted from caucus in the stinging aftermath of the SNCLavalin scandal.
Trudeau had earlier shrugged off questions about WilsonRaybould, saying campaigns happen outside the confines of Ottawa, and he intended to travel the country to unveil an “ambitious” platform in a bid for four more years in government.
Before leaving Ottawa, Trudeau renewed his promise to expand Canada’s middle class and warned of darker times if Canada were to return the Conservatives to power.
“We’ve done a lot together these past four years, but the truth is, we’re just getting started,” Trudeau said.
“So Canadians have an important choice to make: Will we go back to the failed policies of the past, or will we continue to move forward?”
“That’s the choice. It’s that clear. And it’s that important,” he told reporters. Although Trudeau never mentioned Andrew Scheer’s name or that of his other political opponents, he defended his party’s attempts to sow fear about what would happen under the Conservatives.
When he won in 2015, Trudeau told Canadians that Conservatives “are not our enemies. They are our friends.” Now, he says Conservatives would take Canada backwards.
He said he would never make any personal attacks, but would also never shy from making “very, very sharp distinctions on policy.”
Canadians “deserve in an election to see clear contrasts between a vision that is open, inclusive and respectful of everyone’s rights, and a perspective that says they’re for the people but then delivers cuts to services and cuts to taxes for the wealthy,” he said.
In ridings across British Columbia, it will be anything but a cakewalk for the Liberals. Many candidates here are in tight races that could split four ways, with the result too unpredictable to call six weeks from election day, said one senior strategist.
Another Liberal strategist said there are more than a dozen volatile races for incumbent MPs, but maybe a dozen more where the Liberals could surprise.
With a total of 42 ridings, B.C. could send a contingent of MPs who could help secure a majority for Trudeau, or bolster the fortunes of other parties, or lead to a minority government.
Starting out here is meant to draw media attention to the team and Trudeau’s progressive message across the province, not just energize the candidates.
Trudeau, who was born in Ottawa and attended high school in Montreal, said B.C. is “my second home.”
As the grandson of legendary MP James “Jimmy” Sinclair, he can lay claim to roots in the province.
He once worked as a bouncer, snowboard instructor and a teacher in a private high school in Vancouver, and frequently brings his family on B.C. vacations.
In the last campaign Trudeau parlayed those ties and a message that he offered “real change” from the Stephen Harper Conservative government, to elect 17 Liberals.
Although he lost Wilson-Raybould, now running as an independent, the Liberals gained an MP in a byelection, so as far as the number of their MPs is concerned, it’s even.
Instead, Trudeau chose to boost the candidacy of another hopeful, Tamara Taggart, a popular local CTV anchor believed to have a shot at defeating New Democrat MP Don Davies, who has won the riding three times.
Yet, on opening day, Trudeau was dogged by familiar questions about his commitment to ethics, transparency and clean government after the Globe and Mail reported his government has blocked witnesses from talking freely to the RCMP about cabinet secrets in the SNC-Lavalin affair.
Once again unapologetic, Trudeau said he’d already issued “the largest” waiver on cabinet confidentiality earlier in the year, cast responsibility for the latest decision on his deputy minister and clerk of the privy council Ian Shugart, and refused to acknowledge he personally had made any mistakes in the SNC-Lavalin affair. “I will always defend the public interest … and that’s what I will continue to do.”
Trudeau was to end the day flying to Victoria where he will make a news announcement Thursday as his rivals line up on a debate stage in Toronto for a Macleans/City TV debate Trudeau has declined to participate in.