Ottawa –
The federal Conservatives and the New Democrats agree on very little, but one point of agreement has emerged in recent months: Labor issues will play a key role in the next federal election.
Both parties have launched television ads seeking to characterize Conservative Leader Pierre Poirievre to union voters, who politicians see as a force to sway in the next federal election.
The New Democrats aired a commercial nationwide last week that clearly targets the party’s traditional base of rank-and-file unionists, in which union leaders describe Poirievre as “a career politician who has never been a worker or been on the side of workers.” The ad also includes shots of party leader Jagmeet Singh on picket lines around the country.
The Conservatives hit back at the attacks with an ad of their own on Monday, which argues that Poiriervre will bring about a new beginning where “hard work pays off, there is affordable food, homes in safe neighborhoods, and everyone has a fair chance to live a good life.”
After showing footage of nurses, waiters, truck drivers and other people working late into the night, the Conservative ad ends with the tagline “After the night, no matter how long or dark, morning comes”, with a smiling Poirierbre on screen at dawn.It was accompanied by a radio ad attacking Singh for sticking to the Supply and Confidence Agreement with the minority government.
Both messages seemed to resonate with participants in Toronto’s annual Labour Day Parade, who said they would be taking note of both sides’ promises and actions.
Lily Chan, secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress, said workers have been hearing a lot from politicians lately, but what they really want is for politicians to “show their actions, not just their words.”
“People need politicians who will make policy decisions and ensure workers have the chance to thrive,” she said at Monday’s march.
As the labour movement undergoes a resurgence, federal parties are stepping up efforts to win the union vote, said George Soule, a former NDP communications director who is now president of strategic communications firm Syntax.
“You can see a sitting president actually going to the picket line (in the United States) and, by the way, Pierre Poirierbre would never be there,” he said in a phone interview.
Since becoming leader two years ago, Poirierbre has met with more than 60 unions and visited over 200 traditionally blue-collar workplaces, including factories, plants and mills in eight provinces, arguing that other federal parties have abandoned them.
But the New Democrats point to his absence from picket lines and his silence after two Canadian railways locked out union members as proof that Poirievre is a “fake, a charlatan and a con man.”
“I’ve never heard him talk about corporate greed, I’ve never heard him take on big business,” said NDP labour critic Matthew Green.
“Instead, he hosts huge fundraising parties in his multi-million dollar mansion, wears a worker’s vest and worn-out fake shoes when he goes out and acts like he’s been on the front line all this time.”
The Conservatives pointed to recent comments by Poiriervre in which he accused Singh of betraying workers by joining a “costly coalition government” and of putting him and Trudeau above Canadians.
Michelle Johnston, a union member who attended the Toronto parade, said she was an undecided voter, but that which side she chose would ultimately depend on policies that affect her, such as women’s health care.
“I don’t know what positions the candidates there are taking,” she said of each party’s policies.
Since Poiriervre became leader two years ago, the Conservatives have introduced several policies affecting workers, including opposing the hiring of foreign replacement workers in electric vehicle battery factories and imposing tariffs on Chinese-made products such as electric vehicles, steel and critical minerals.
The party also backed legislation banning replacement workers and has vowed to keep the law in place if the Conservatives come to power.
That’s a change of tone from earlier in his term in Congress, when he voted for a bill that would have required unions to disclose how they spend their money, and backed another bill that unions say would make it harder to organize in federally regulated workplaces.
When the Liberal Party came to power, both bills were repealed.
National opinion polls have put the Conservatives well ahead of other parties, suggesting his change of policy is resonating with Canadians.
That includes Toronto’s George Smith, who said he plans to vote Conservative for the first time in the next federal election.
“Their focus is to serve the people, not serve themselves,” Smith said, and he believes that vision will be reflected in their candidates and official campaign pledges.
The Conservatives and New Democrats will soon go head-to-head in another by-election vote in a Winnipeg riding that has a history of strong ties between Labor and the New Democrats.
“(Poirierbre) claims he can win working-class seats. He talks a lot, but this is his chance to show whether he can actually do it,” Soule said.
The Conservatives have stepped up their attacks on the New Democrats and their leader, Singh, in recent weeks, and the New Democrats have responded. Both parties sense change is coming.
“If you want a list of what Canadians are hoping for in the next election, one of them, quite frankly, is to replace Justin Trudeau, whatever he does,” Soule said.
“I think it’s going to be a very blue and orange election. Poirierbre and the Conservatives have spent a lot of money on polling and they’re putting up an early fight because they expect that to be the case.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2024.
