A Week That Kept Political Junkies Glued to Their Screens

What an interesting week it was in federal politics!

With the federal election behind us, I thought things would quickly become less thought-provoking, but I was wrong.

First off, let’s go to the federal riding of Terrebonne in Québec. On election night, the Liberals appeared to have won the riding, but the vote validation process established that the Bloc Québecois had won by 44 votes. That small margin then triggered a judicial recount, which is mandated if a riding is won by less than 0.1% of the total votes cast. That recount, which is overseen by a judge, moved the Liberals back into the winner’s seat by – are you ready for it? – just one vote.  This changed the Liberal’s overall final seat count from 169 to 170, just two seats short of a majority.

It then turned out that at least one potential mail-in ballot (and possibly others) had been returned to the voter due to a printing error on the envelope and had not been counted. The voter in question said she was voting for the Bloc, which now says they are challenging the recount’s result. Elections Canada has since pronounced that result is final, awarding the seat to  the Liberals. There are still questions about whether a court, if petitioned, might or would even be legally able to call for a byelection due to the close vote.

Just think how you’d feel if you and your partner lived in this riding, are Bloc supporters, and had both failed to vote. It reminds me of the 1979 B.C. provincial election when the NDP under Dave Barrett, although losing the election to the Social Credit under Bill Bennett, still managed to win the Atlin riding by just one vote. Every vote indeed counts.

Next, we move to a hard to fathom decision by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Just prior to the federal election, he named a bright, articulate, and energetic Member of Parliament, Nathanial Erskine-Smith, as Housing Minister — a good choice in the eyes of analysts from all points of the political spectrum. However, to the shock and amazement of political watchers such as myself, after the election Prime Minister Carney replaced him with the ‘Ken Doll’ former mayor of Vancouver. Gregor Robertson.

Robertson is the man who declared on becoming mayor in 2008 that he would eliminate street homelessness by 2015, while knowing he had absolutely no possibility of doing so. Instead, Vancouver’s homeless population steadily escalated throughout the ten years he was mayor, while housing costs rose by 179% across Metro Vancouver.

Now he is off to a great start as the new federal Housing Minister. On his way into his first cabinet meeting, he decided to stop for a media interview. Asked whether or not he hoped to lower house prices to make it once again possible for middle class Canadians to purchase a home, he replied No, that instead more housing needed to be built while maintaining the value of current housing. The media are having a field day focusing on a housing minister who does not want to see house prices drop.

Then, there was an apparent inexplicable, and I would think inexcusable decision by Prime Minister Carney – the decision not to table a budget in 2025. This was announced by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne when talking with media on his way into the first cabinet meeting. For a Prime Minister who repeatedly said during the election campaign that one needs a plan and that slogans are not a plan, this decision seemed baffling, to say the least. It certainly appeared to be causing some political damage.

It has turned out that at minimum, the finance minister misunderstood the Prime Minister’s intent, or that public reaction has caused a change of plans. After a mere five days, the Prime Minister clarified that the Liberals will indeed table a Fall budget. Waiting until then is a more understandable decision, given that parliament will only sit for few weeks before the scheduled summer recess in late June, and that in the meantime, Canada will host a G7 meeting in Alberta. Still, I would suggest that confusion in messaging among cabinet members is not helping public trust in the Liberals.

Last but not least, there is a still speculative rumour that the Alberta separatists will run a candidate in the Battle River-Crowfoot riding where Maple MAGA Pierre Poilievre is planning his byelection run. This would be a stunning development if it comes to pass. It would leave open the possibility that Poilievre would fail once again to win his riding and make his way back into the House of Commons.

Even the current threat of Alberta separation may put Poilievre in an untenable position. If he does play footsie with the separatists during the byelection period, it would destroy any hope he might have as Conservative leader of winning the next federal election. He will have no choice but to be a strong federalist, even though this could make him potentially very vulnerable to defeat in this Alberta riding.

All in all, last week was just what was ordered if you are a political junkie. I can’t wait to see what the next weeks bring.

 

Daily atmospheric CO₂ [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]

Latest daily total (May 20, 2025): 430.79ppm

One year ago (May 20, 2024): 426.28ppm