OTTAWA | We expected a confrontation between the Liberals and the Conservatives in this federal parliamentary return, Tuesday, but against all odds, it was the NDP who threw down the gloves first.
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“Pierre Poilievre: he is not there for you,” launched the NDP in a negative publicity posted online Tuesday morning a few hours before the first intervention of the new Conservative leader in the House of Commons.
“He is a friend of big business and the elite, he has received contributions from those who profited from the housing crisis, he voted against making CEOs pay their fair share, and he is opposed to the minimum wage, twice! says the ad.
For political scientist Geneviève Tellier, from the Center for Public Policy Analysis at the University of Ottawa, this unprecedented attack by the NDP, which is not usually a fan of negative advertising, is a sign that the party feels threatens. And there is reason, she said.
“Among the parties of the left, the traditional base, [c’est-à-dire] blue-collar workers in big industries are leaning more and more to the right. It’s a real threat to them,” says M.me tellier.
Trudeau absent
But Pierre Poilievre, he wants above all to do battle with the Liberal government which he holds responsible for inflation, in particular because of the carbon tax.
“Canadians can no longer pay. Will the Prime Minister cancel his tax increases on seniors and workers? he hammered.
Justin Trudeau, who was attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, however, was absent, as was his Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland.
It is therefore up to junior ministers, in particular the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Randy Boissonnault, to respond to the opposition.
“Throughout this session, you will see two different visions: on the one hand, our government focused on the needs of Canadians, on the other, the Conservatives who tell people that they are alone,” he said. he says before listing the various aid programs put in place by his government.
Strategy
For Ms. Tellier, the Liberals seem to want to trivialize Mr. Poilievre’s interventions so that they resonate less in the public space. They thus try to place themselves above the fray while avoiding confrontation.
If this could be a winning strategy in the short term, it is not without danger: “one might wonder if the Liberals are not rather trivializing the subject, inflation”, indicates the political scientist.
But for the House Leader of the Government, Mark Holland, the issues affecting Canadians are too serious to be left to the parliamentary “circus”.
“I would like to bring this to the attention of the Conservatives: this is not the time to play games. Now is not the time to try to look smart, to use rhetoric, or to try to come up with solutions that aren’t.