Front Burner - Election watch: Anger on the campaign trail

Episode Date: September 2, 2021

In the third week of the federal election campaign, Althia Raj describes the vitriolic protests seen at campaign events and the newly released Liberal platform.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Jamie Poisson. So we are two and a half weeks away, if you can believe it, from a federal election. And there is now a liberal platform to dig through. We have a plan to move forward for everyone.

On Wednesday, the party released a multi-billion dollar plan. It includes a commitment to create more than a million jobs, deal with backlogs in the health care system, and push for deeper cuts to oil and gas sector-related emissions. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau made the announcement in Toronto, but few knew about the specific location of the event beforehand. This is part of an effort to avoid protesters who have been disrupting Trudeau's events. At an event in Cambridge on Sunday, protesters actually hurled death threats

at Trudeau. They yelled racist and misogynistic slurs at his protective detail. Most were unmasked and holding signs like, who benefits from the lockdown? And as much as all of this has been focused on the Liberals, members of other parties have been targeted as well. Today on FrontBurner, we're going to talk about all of that with CBC at Issue panelist Althea Raj and get caught up on week three of the federal election campaign. Hi Althea, thanks so much for coming back. Thanks so much for having me. Okay, so liberal leader Justin Trudeau has been dogged by these protesters throughout the campaign, but especially so since last Friday, it seems. And many of them are really angry about mandatory vaccinations, masks, lockdowns, with a lot of the organizing happening on social media.

And I guess I just wonder, as someone who's covered her fair share of elections, how does this compare to past campaigns to you? It doesn't compare to past campaigns, frankly. I've never seen anything like it. People who've followed campaigns even longer than I have. Susan Delacorte wrote a piece earlier this week talking about how she's never seen this in her 30 plus years covering federal politics or even just politics in this country. I don't think we've ever seen anything like this. It's really a level of vitriol and anger towards a politician that is unheard of and frankly makes us think of what

we've seen happening south of the border during the donald trump years you know jagmeet singh has had racist remarks directed at him and michelle rempel conservative mp she says that she's received death threats online and has been cornered on the street. Can you explain that? Do you want to explain that? I'm having dinner with my husband. But I wonder, do you think there's something different going on with these protests at Trudeau stops? Or I guess, do you see this as an extension of what has been kind of percolating or directed at other politicians as well, of all stripes? I'd say a few things. First, I don't want to leave the impression that we've never had politicians facing death threats. That's certainly not the case. I recall even usually the government

of the day does not tell you that this is happening. But, you know, I remember a time when Jason Kenney had protective detail around him. I think he was immigration minister at the time. So it's not that even in our recent history that we haven't had that. It's just the level at which you're seeing this hatred. I mean, some of the comments that are coming from the line of protesters makes you think, you know, I said the U.S., like the accusations that were levied against Hillary Clinton, that Justin Trudeau is part of some sort of international child kidnapping ring. You know, these are far-fetched conspiracy theories that are found in the deep,

dark corners of the internet. These are not people with mainstream thought who are consuming mainstream media that is leading them to these types of feelings. But there is like a hatred of Justin Trudeau that has percolated even prior to him becoming prime minister when he was liberal leader. I think it is also the lockdown, the anti-vaccine people. There is a sense, it seems from just listening to them, that they need someone to blame for what has happened, and they're lashing out on Justin Trudeau. I mean, I'm not the person to tell you why all these people are there, but I think when you listen in their own words, they're there for a variety of reasons, including protesting a vaping tax. But I really think this is a very

fringe part of Canadian society that is getting a megaphone during this election campaign. I think maybe related to that point, it's also clear that this is becoming quite political right now, right? And so at a rally in Sudbury on Tuesday, Trudeau addressed these protesters again, saying essentially, shame on you, Erin O'Toole, for not calling out or condemning anti-vax demonstrators. You need to condemn those people. You need to correct them. You need to use your voice. I wonder if you could talk to me a little bit about what you think Trudeau is trying to talk to me a little bit about what you think Trudeau is trying to achieve there. Yeah, let me pull you back though to last Friday. It's very rare in cane politics to have an event completely cancelled because of security. I don't remember anything happening like that before. Right, and this is an event in Bolton, Ontario that you're talking about. Exactly.

Deeply sorry folks, unfortunately for safety reasons, this event will no longer be taking place here today. In 2019, the Liberals had an incident where their event was postponed for many, many hours because I think it was a bus driver had seen somebody with a knife. And the RCMP told the liberals at the time that they didn't think the prime minister should go out into this room with somebody who might be armed. And the liberals really wanted to do the event. And in the end, they just kind of tweaked it in the sense that the prime minister's wife did not come out, but the liberal leader did emerge wearing a bulletproof vest. And that was really the first time I think that we saw anything like

this. So you have to imagine that the advice that they received from the cops was that they really shouldn't go, that they were going to endanger their supporters' lives, possibly, that people are going to be harmed. Who knows who's in the crowd and whether those individuals are armed or not. And so I think that, you know, in that context, there was, it took a lot for that event to be cancelled. You know, in that context, there was, it took a lot for that event to be cancelled. And then probably it's a mixed blessing of some sort, I would say, for the Liberal camp, because the Prime Minister, I think, had his best moment that evening in coming out and speaking about the protesters. We all had a difficult year. And those folks out protesting, they had a difficult year too. He took the higher ground, showed empathy for the people who came out, but also defiance.

We need to hear the concerns and the fears and the disagreements that Canadians have by listening to each other. We also need to choose. And that's why I'm continuing to be so excited about connecting with Canadians. There was a lot of discussion in the Liberal camp about what he should say. Some people, some advisors were encouraging the Liberal leader to take a tougher stance, to really tie the protesters who kind of appear unhinged and wing nuts to the rest of the country, to be really offside, but blame Aaron O'Toole for not doing enough. And that wasn't the tone that he struck on Friday, but this week...

So the folks out there tonight shouting, the anti-vaxxers, they're wrong. He has taken a much tougher stance on the protesters, trying to link the people who are protesting him with the lack of action from the conservative leader when it comes to his vaccine policy, for example, seemingly to make a link between the people who are protesting him are conservative supporters. And Aaron O'Toole is siding with them? He's talking about personal choice. What about my choice to keep my kids safe? Now, could some of them be? Possibly. Surely. Could many of them be People's Party of Canada supporters? Probably. That's some of them. I have said that to reporters. There was an incident

where Kyle Seaback, who's a conservative incumbent in Ontario, two of his volunteers, at least two of his volunteers were seen at the protest. I'm told that that was like kids having dinner at the pizza joint next door who came to over to see what all the fuss was about. Whether that's true, I don't know. But in any case, there could be a plausible explanation for things. But there is a sense that uh the conservatives could go further and distancing themselves from this right group of protesters and maybe and maybe they should right and that has been kind of the wedge that that liberal leader has been trying to draw for the past several days so so on that see back example kyle see back issued a statement after saying those individuals are no longer

welcome on his campaign and conservative leader o'toole has said that he's running a positive campaign about the future of our country and from myself right through to any volunteer i expect professionalism i expect respect and he condemns any form of harassment and protest so do you think this is going to become a problem for him, for O'Toole? Or is it already a problem for him? The Conservatives fear that it has become a problem, that it kind of stumped their momentum. I think that just the message that you're seeing on social media

from Conservatives shows a sense of like, what can we do about this? What should we do about this? A sort of frustration, right? I mean, the polls have been so good to them. This is a very, very tight race and they don't want to be taking hits for things that are undeserved. And that's how they view the protests. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization.

Empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years. through Angel Investment and Industry Connections. income. That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. So we've got this incredibly, incredibly tight race. And so I think it might be a good time now then to talk about the liberal platform that was released on Wednesday. And of course, the conservatives and the NDP have already released theirs. The Greens have not released theirs yet.

But Althea, what are the big takeaways for you from the platform? What stood out to you? Big highlights. for you from the platform, what stood out to you? Big highlights. I would say briefly, it has the potential to reshape the way many people think of the social safety net in this country, clearly designed to blunt NDP momentum. But when you look at things like not just the childcare agreements, this is the $10 a day daycare, but the 10 days of paid six leave, adding a mental health transfer to the Canada Health Transfer, a separate envelope. You know, these are things that can make a big difference.

It's a very, very partisan document. They specifically mention Erin O'Toole. Probably the abortion stuff is the best example on that. They want to add abortion services in the list of things covered under the Canada Health Act. So then they could go back and claw funding from provinces that don't provide the service. They also want to strip the charitable status of pro-life groups that spread misinformation about abortion. So that's a pretty heavy-handed use of the state's powers to crack down on things that you are ideologically opposed to. There are many different measures here designed to appeal to people

who the Liberals are worried will vote for other political parties. I think specifically about young people. There's a lot in here that would be of interest to young adults. Loan forgiveness, loan deferrals for students. But the big differentiator between the Liberal and the Conservative platform is probably the fact that the Liberals have actually costed their document and the Conservatives have not costed theirs. That is something that you can expect the Liberal leader to continue hammering the Conservatives on during the rest of this

campaign. Is there a discussion anywhere in this Liberal platform about how to fund all this spending? Yes. Mostly, though, it's about taxing the rich. So again, this is something that they feel the NDP kind of perhaps has a monopoly on at the moment. But the Liberals want to say, you know, remember that we taxed the rich too, and we plan to do it again. So there are new ways of paying for spending. But of course, none of the measures that they talk about actually go to cover the spending that they have. So what you're looking at is a document that's costed, but is basically suggesting structural deficits for the next five plus years to come, many, many years to come. And I want to get into what the NDP thinks about this sort of progressive agenda in a minute. But if we could just stick with the money for just one second. Why haven't the conservatives costed out their platform?

They chose not to. They could have chosen to cost it out if they had wanted to. I will say it's easier usually for the incumbent government party to cost out its own platform because they have access to financial data from the finance department, for example. They may have already floated these proposals through and gotten some estimates. But that being said, you know, in 2015, the Liberals did release a costed platform and nothing prevented the Conservatives

from releasing a costed platform. They could have if they'd wanted to. They didn't. Instead, they're basically hiding behind the parliamentary budget officer's role in independent costing of proposals, but we're not sure when that will happen and if all of the measures in the conservative platform will be costed. And so now you have Aaron O'Toole on the campaign trail basically being asked, well, you know, how do you plan to balance the books in 10 years? Which is what he announced this week. Yeah, exactly. When you say you're not going to make

any cuts whatsoever, and yet we don't even know how much your platform is going to cost. You're pledging to balance the budget in 10 years. In which areas specifically are you planning cuts? specifically are you planning cuts canada's recovery plan will get the country back to work we will grow the economy so that we can get back to balance without cuts that is our plan okay and before we wrap up today i just i want to ask you about the ndp so you know as you mentioned this was the liberal platform is a pretty progressive document and And the NDP respond with like a pretty similar NDP refrain that I've heard elsewhere, that this is a government, this liberal government promises big things, but they don't deliver on those big things. It's not just what you say that matters. It's what you do. For six years, we've heard Justin Trudeau say the right thing

with no intention of doing it. They released a very kind of joking press release where they just listed their 2019 promises that they haven't followed through on, like pharmacare and lower cell phone bills and clean water for all Indigenous communities. And do you think that this strategy is resonating with people, will resonate with people in this election?

I'd say yes to the first answer and we will see on the second answer. Some of the things that they mentioned are kind of like half-truths, like the Liberals have made progress on those commitments, but they haven't fulfilled their promises completely. You know, like some cell phone bills are cheaper, water, water advisories have been lifted in many communities, but not all communities. In fact, new ones have been added. The biggest promise the liberals broke was probably the promise to reform the electoral system. And then they had climate targets. And as the NDP likes to remind voters, then the liberals bought a pipeline. I think the NDP is onto something. And this is a message that they themselves have received through their many focus groups, which is Justin Trudeau says great

things, but doesn't deliver. Like that is a theme that they feel works for them because it's a theme that people in focus groups have told them. So voters have said these, we believe these things. And you know, when there's a negative truth, it's easy to hang a campaign around. What the NDP is hoping that voters will ask themselves is, can Justin Trudeau be believed to follow through on these commitments? And if you don't think he can be believed, then maybe you want to vote for the NDP so the NDP can hold the Liberals' feet to the fire. And so perhaps they will be more successful than they were in 2019. Or perhaps the liberals will be able to convince people that they actually mean what they say and that they plan to deliver on all these many, many, many, there are so many promises in this document.

You know, final question before we go. We've got the French leaders debate happening Thursday night. You know, it's a long weekend. People are probably going to come back from the long weekend and maybe be a little bit more out of summer vacation mode. I think that's probably fair to say. And so what do you think we should be expecting as we head into September, which crazily, it already is September. I know. I'd love to say that I think everybody will realize

that they have so much in common and they'll all get along, but I really don't think that's gonna happen. The parties have been working under the assumption that a lot of people were not paying attention in August and that once their kids are back in school, they're going to be paying attention to the news a lot more. So I do expect that we will see the compare and contrast

take an even greater role, I think, in this election. And because the Conservatives and Liberals really are neck and neck in the polls, also it seems like, you know, the merry-go-round of almost every Canadian election that you'll have the Liberals really make a last-knit plea to progressives to please don't vote for the NDP to help, you know, starve off a Conservative government from forming by voting again for the Liberals. I think that we're undoubtedly going to see that. And we're, of course, I think still going to be talking about wedge issues, kind of bring this all back to the anti-vaccine protesters. As long as those people keep showing up to Justin Trudeau's doorstep, you can expect that the liberal leader will make hay with it. Okay. Althea, thank you very much for this.

Thanks. Bye. All right, so before we go today, Ontario is now the latest province to unveil a vaccine passport system. By September 22nd, people will need to share proof that they've been vaccinated in order to dine indoors or go to theaters or gyms. British Columbia, Manitoba, and Quebec have already announced similar systems. Quebec's went into effect on Wednesday. Premier Doug Ford defended Ontario's slow rollout by pointing the finger at Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. Unfortunately, the federal government decided to go to an unnecessary

election, which I'm still shaking my head over in the middle of a fourth wave and a pandemic, and then telling us just three weeks ago that they wouldn't be able to get it done till the 24th. We either do this or we risk shutting down the economy, which would even be worse, having our hospital capacity maxed out and at the brink. Ford said earlier this summer that a vaccine passport would cause a split in society, but said this change in plans is based on evidence and advice from his top doctor. That's all for today. I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks so much for listening to FrontBurner. We'll talk to you tomorrow.