The NDP has limited funds and a relatively unknown federal leader in Jagmeet Singh. The NDP has to concentrate more of its resources in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia.
38 of the 44 seats won in the 2015 election were from Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. The NDP has no seats in the Atlantic provinces; 1 seat in Alberta, 3 seats in Saskatchewan, and 2 seats in Manitoba.
Singh is really introducing himself to Canadians in this election. Singh had not been to New Brunswick since becoming party leader.
With limited funds, television is a powerful tool for Singh and the NDP.
We've already seen earlier than Singh is willing to go to great lengths for seats in Quebec with the ad where he isn't wearing a turban. Singh went on Tout le monde en parle on Radio-Canada to say the NDP "will be an ally for Quebec." The NDP leader also said the party wouldn't join legal challenges against Bill 21.
There is a growing argument that the damage Bill 21 is doing to Sikhs, Muslims, and Jewish people in Quebec is more worrisome than any controversial photos of late.
Singh looked good in his responses after the Justin Trudeau photos surfaced. Singh got a private talk with Trudeau on his terms. We will see if that is a turning point for the NDP.
We usually bring up Tout le monde en parle during a federal election campaign. The program has been legendary in the Quebec audience for years. Anyone who wants to get the message out in Quebec goes on the show. Even if you don't know French, you can find episodes or segments on YouTube to get a flavour for the show.
In Wendy Mesley's piece spotlighting the Radio-Canada talk show, she noted that Stephen Harper never appeared on the show. Maxime Bernier has not appeared and isn't likely to appear. Andrew Scheer has been on the show before and even admitted to smoking weed. Tout le monde en parle roughly translates to "Everybody's talking."
Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet appeared on the same show as Singh. Justin Trudeau, who has been on the show 7 times, Scheer, and Elizabeth May are scheduled to appear on the show before the election.
Jagmeet Singh finally got to New Brunswick and even appeared on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, which is taped in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Mark Critch interviewed Singh and joked that New Brunswick was like if Quebec had a baby with a urban gas station. Green Party leader Elizabeth May also was on the episode this week.
Canada election 2019 debates preview
We ran an election debates preview this past week. There was an early debate, which we did preview. The Munk School of Global Affairs foreign policy debate was cancelled just before our preview ran on the blog. That debate would have been on Tuesday. The TVA debate will go on Wednesday, unfortunately without Elizabeth May. I do wonder if English Canadians tune out the French language debates. I encourage you to follow along even if that is with a translation (hopefully through CPAC). I will watch the opening of the NHL later if I can get a translation of the French language debate.
There is a wariness that Canadian politicians might say something else in French that they don't in English. You can find out for yourselves. Don't feel bad if you are frustrated. My French isn't great but I do try to follow what they are saying in French.
Watch our new ad ⬇️ #ChooseForward https://t.co/VfYub8tEWu pic.twitter.com/Kjq7p6V4PO
— Liberal Party (@liberal_party) August 26, 2019
As part of our running series, we are posting ads from the major parties. We did feature a NDP ad in an earlier notebook. Here is the standard bearer Liberal Party ad.
Canada election 2019: Make room for 6 at the commission debates
Several climate strike marches rang across Canada on Friday. Trudeau and May were in Montréal while Singh was in Victoria. Andrew Scheer didn't participate. No climate strike marches, no gay pride parades. Scheer's base wouldn't forgive him for doing either. Everyone else is watching his non-action.
Canada election 2019: MacLean's, Citytv big losers in the first debate
Marijuana hasn't come up in the campaign. The Liberals under Trudeau legalised marijuana. That is a major accomplishment.
Green Party leader Elizabeth May suggests Canada decriminalise all drugs. Andrew Scheer falsely claimed Liberals want to decriminalise all drugs. The Liberals were afraid to make edibles legal.
This isn't the first falsehood Scheer has pulled off in the campaign. He has been retweeting awful things that are flat out untrue, such as trying to tie the Liberals with a UK child killer coming to Canada. There was no truth to the story.
Desperation doesn't kick in so early in a campaign. A campaign can't be "don't vote for this person." You need reasons for someone to vote for you and not against someone else.
2019 Canada election preview
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is playing the hide part of hide-and-seek when Andrew Scheer comes to Ontario. Ford has been on the down low, not even having the Ontario legislature in session. The Liberals are trying to tie Scheer with Ford's unpopular policies, especially the massive budget cuts to services.
Ford has said he is too busy, even though the legislature is not in session and when an event is a few blocks from Ford's home.
Scheer has campaigned with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.
This seems like an obvious slam against Ford. True. Some Conservatives in Ontario wanted Ford to campaign with Scheer to bring out Ford Nation to the polls. Ontario is highly crucial for the Conservatives.
Justin Trudeau mentioned Ford 15 times in his pharmacare announcement earlier in the week.
Looking back at 2015 before the 2019 Canadian election
We've all seen bad Photoshopping (yes, that is a thing). The Green Party reportedly edited a photo where now Elizabeth May is drinking from a metal straw and reusable cup featuring the party logo. The original photo doesn't show a straw.
Photoshop or other methods to change the content of the photo is bad. Always bad. Fun with your friends but not in journalism or politics.
Placing the party logo is a bit over the top. Clearly, adding the metal straw is a way to showcase not using plastic straws. The best way to do that is to use a metal straw and then have a picture taken with said straw.
2019 Canadian politics preview
In the 2015 election, Stephen Harper and his family lived at 24 Sussex Drive, the residence of the prime minister. 24 Sussex Drive has a number of repair issues — asbestos and a dangerous electrical system — and needs to be overhauled. No leader wanted to touch the issue about what to do about the prime minister's official residence.
Justin Trudeau and his family have lived in a section of Rideau Hall, the home of the governor general just east of 24 Sussex Drive.
24 Sussex Drive is not even on the radar since no leader wants to deal with the mess that taxpayers would have to pay for the repairs. The potential costs have increased in the last 4 years.
Trudeau did live in the prime minister residence when his father was prime minister from 1968-1979 and 1980-1984.
CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage
There is no Wyatt Scott on the Canadian political landscape in 2019 but we do have some unusual candidates.
Full disclosure: the info came from the Oppo podcast as part of the Canadaland realm. Canadaland is helpful to comment on the Canadian media landscape.
We don't want to pigeonhole Conservative candidates as being too conservative. Claire Rattée is running as a Conservative in the Skeena—Bulkley Valley riding in far northwestern British Columbia. Nathan Cullen (NDP) was the long-time incumbent but is not running in 2019.
Rattée made news when she gave her partner a real human skull for his birthday. She is also a tattoo artist. These elements might be a bit odd in a GTA riding but not in northwestern British Columbia. A nice reminder that you can't judge party affiliation based on superficial elements.
The Liberals had success in the Cumberland—Colchester (NS) riding in 2015 with a candidate from a different party. Bill Casey (Progressive Conservative) was the long-time MP. Casey flipped to the Liberal Party and won in 2015. He vowed to only serve one term but he is not running in 2019.
The Liberals picked Lenore Zann to run in the riding in 2019. Zann is a current MLA in the Nova Scotia legislature who was a part of the NDP before switching to run for the Liberals. She changed her party affiliation to Independent in the legislature. Zann is a former cabinet minister who once ran for NDP leadership.
When Zann was running for the Nova Scotia legislature in 2009, on the day of her announcement, an employee of the Liberal Party reportedly leaked a topless photo of her from her appearance in The L Word. To be with the Liberals means forgiveness and politics.
These last 2 independent candidates are more well-known (and not part of the Oppo information) but are definitely worth noting. Running as independents is rare in federal politics but name recognition does help.
Former Liberal cabinet members Jody Wilson-Raybould (Vancouver-Granville) in British Columbia and Jane Philpott (Markham—Stouffville) in Ontario are running for re-election to Parliament. They were involved in the SNC-Lavalin affair.
Their independence status, should they win, might become more significant in a minority government, should that happen.
CBC News has a look at some star candidates in the 2019 campaign.
video credit: The Weekly with Wendy Mesley/CBC News
photo credit: Tout le monde en parle/Radio-Canada
Twitter capture: @Liberal_party
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