With opinion polls showing the Hamilton-area electorate as contested, politicians from three federal parties have visited the city over the past eight days to promote their policies and garner support from local residents.
But two experts told CBC Hamilton that despite Hamilton only having one Conservative MP in 2021, the Conservatives appear to have the advantage.
On Friday morning, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poirievre visited steelmaker Stelco. Economic planning including tariffs This concerns Chinese-made electric vehicles and parts.
At the same time, at Mills Hardware, a downtown event space, local Liberal MPs Philomena Tassi, Chad Collins and Lisa Hepfner highlighted the federal government’s investment in festivals and events such as Hamilton’s Supercrawl and Theatre Aquarius.
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh spoke to CBC Hamilton about efforts to address rising food prices.
And last week, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh traveled to Hamilton to meet with local politicians and urge them to end federal funding for bad corporate landlords.
McMaster University associate professor of political science Peter Graef warned against putting too much emphasis on summer touring but said many of Hamilton’s ridings were likely to be competitive.
For example, a 338Canada poll shows four provincial Liberal seats leaning to the Conservatives.
Burlington
Burlington North – Milton West
Hamilton West – Ancaster – Dundas
Hamilton East – Stoney Creek
The 338Canada model shows the Liberal riding of Hamilton Mountain, currently represented by Lisa Hepfner, as a close race between the Conservatives and the NDP.
Graef said overall there had been a “significant decline in the Liberal vote and an increase in the Conservative vote”, particularly in suburban areas.
The leaders of the NDP and Conservative parties visit Hamilton every few days.
Lydia Millyan, a professor of political science at the University of Windsor, The Liberal Party lost seats that were thought to be safe. “It looks like every seat really will be contested” in the by-elections in June.
“Whatever the Liberal Party is doing, it doesn’t seem to me to be working.”
Poirierbre on Friday called Stelco workers “the best workers in the world” and said housing has become out of reach for people in average manufacturing jobs.
The Conservative leader added that he believes the NDP, which has traditionally focused on the working class, once resented this but is now “on board.” He also called Singh a “traitor” for working with the Liberals. Trust and Supply Agreement.
The NDP will enter into this agreement with the Liberals in 2022 in exchange for supporting the government in confidence and budget votes. NDP priorities These include the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and the anti-replacement worker bill (Bill C-58), which would prohibit federally regulated workplaces from hiring replacement workers during a lawful strike.
Mr Singh addressed the criticism. Recent attack ads — In an interview with CBC Hamilton.
“We need to remind people what they already know about the Conservative party: they make cuts,” he said.[Poilievre] We’re going to cut necessities. We’re going to cut EI. We’re going to cut pensions.”
Grefe said Singh has pursued policies that cater to the party’s traditional base, such as dental care and health insurance, but that may be hard to translate into votes. Experience with European coalition governments shows that smaller parties usually “pay the price” because “they bear the responsibility for unpopular policies and the government gets the credit for success,” Grefe said.
Mirjain agreed that the agreement puts the NDP in a difficult position. Conservative Party appeals to trade union supportThe NDP is likely looking to maintain its support base.
Singh grilled the grocery store CEO.
Asked why the Conservatives appear to be gaining ground at the expense of the NDP, Singh said that’s something the party has “really been focused on lately.” Efforts to denounce grocery store CEOsAccording to him, they are taking unfair advantage.
“I confronted them directly and said, ‘So how much profit is enough? You’re making record profits. People can’t afford groceries. Is there a limit?’ And they didn’t have an answer. So it was clear they were deceiving people. And neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives did anything about it,” he said.
Poirievre did not answer questions from CBC Hamilton during the press conference, but a party spokesperson shared an emailed statement from Deputy Leader Melissa Lanzman, who said the Liberals and New Democrats caused rising food prices through “inflationary policies and excessive taxes.”
Experts I said before Grocery store costs are rising due to factors including inflation, lack of competition, recent natural disasters, wars, logistical bottlenecks and the amount of food produced in Canada.
Lanzmann said the Conservatives would tackle rising food prices by: Federal Carbon Tax.
“Canadians’ grocery bills are too high,” Tassi, director of the federal economic development agency for Southern Ontario and member of parliament for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, said in an email and that the government is taking steps to bring prices down. Grocery Code of ConductThe aim was to intensify competition.
“In the longer term, we will strengthen the competition law and give new powers to the Competition Bureau, which will use its new powers to further tackle rising food prices,” Tassi said.
