But when? That’s the big question – with voting foreseen as early as spring or even January
Saying they have every intention of running in the next federal election, which ordinarily would be scheduled for October next year, two of the Laval region’s four Liberal Members of Parliament said in an interview with The Laval News earlier this week that Canadians could actually be heading back to the polls much sooner – as early as January possibly.
Early election ‘possible’
“For me, my answer is it’s possible,” Laval-Les Îles Liberal MP Fayçal El-Khoury replied when the question of an early election was put to him. “I think so, too,” Vimy Liberal MP Annie Koutrakis responded, although she was more nuanced in her response.
“Personally, I don’t think it’ll happen before Christmas,” said Koutrakis. “But I would not think that it would be beyond the realm of possibility that it could be by the end of January. I suspect that it will probably even before spring.”
Growing caucus split
Those who follow the news from the nation’s capital lately couldn’t possibly have missed the growing turmoil in the Liberal ranks over the future of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. His popularity among Canadians is at an all-time low, leading to a growing rift within the Liberal caucus, between MPs who want him to go and others who remain loyal.
On that issue, Koutrakis and El-Khoury left no doubt as to their feelings. Asked where they stand on Justin Trudeau’s future, El-Khoury made the following statement. “Me, I could tell you he is the Prime Minister of Canada,” he said.
“He is concentrating on doing a job for the benefit of Canadians. That’s his main mission right now. I’m supporting the Prime Minister and I think, I believe and I’m convinced he should stay as the leader to lead us for the next election.”
Trudeau’s choice, Koutrakis says
Koutrakis said: “I think only he [Trudeau] has the answer. I mean, there’s no question he knows … there’s a lot of malaise within the caucus. I’m not going to, you know, sugarcoat it.
“There are a lot of people who are sharing with the media and with us as colleagues what they hear at the door,” she continued.
“I have to tell you, when I do door-to-door, and I’ve been honest with you face out, yes, a lot of the comments at the door say that, you know, it’s time for the Prime Minister to move on. But when you push them and you ask them, you know, what does that change look like for you? You’re telling me you want change after nine years and I get it, I’m an elector, as well.”
Iacono in, Robillard out?
Laval’s two other federal ridings are currently held by Liberal MPs. According to the Montreal daily Le Devoir, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin Liberal MP Yves Robillard is one of several Liberal caucus members from Quebec who have expressed doubts in recent months about running in the next federal election.
Late last week in an interview during a fundraising event in Chomedey, Alfred-Pellan Liberal MP Angelo Iacono confirmed he will be running and has obtained official candidate status to run for the Liberals in Alfred-Pellan.
That said, both El-Khoury and Koutrakis stand steadfastly by the Liberals’ achievements since 2015 when Justin Trudeau formed his first government. They emphasized the government’s handling of the more than three-year-long Covid-19 crisis, with generous amounts of subsidized relief to financially-challenged individuals and businesses.
Defending the Liberal record
“Thank god it was this government in place, thank god it was this Prime Minister,” said Koutrakis, maintaining that Canadians stand to live four years longer than their counterparts in the United States, because of the generous pandemic relief provided in Canada compared to the U.S.
She also suggested that a Conservative government would have acted with a great deal more austerity and restraint, to the detriment of needy Canadians. She and El-Khoury cited the federal dental care and pharmacare programs introduced in more recent years as examples of positive government spending.
“It’s covering medicine for diabetic people,” Koutrakis said of pharmacare. “If you look at our population, and I have the number here because I wanted to make sure that I got it right, diabetes affects 9.4 % of Canadians or around 3.7 million people across Canada.
“Most medications for people who suffer with type 1 and type 2 diabetes is $1,000 a month. I mean, that is money that people can now take out of their monthly budget and can send their children to summer camp if they wanted to. Or they can buy that bicycle that they wanted to buy to their children that they couldn’t.”
The Trudeau government’s generous spending has also led the Liberals into previously unexplored territory for record-setting deficits. However, in El-Khoury’s view, spending is necessary in order to succeed.
Spending necessary, El-Khoury says
“I was a businessman and my mind is still on business,” he said. “In order to succeed in any business or to reach your goal, you have to invest. For us, when we put money in this system, we’re investing for a better future for us and for generations to come.
“If we had not invested during Covid, and had the possibility of our economy collapsing, our health system also would be collapsing, losing lives and losing jobs,” he added.
“You know what the consequences would be? It would take years and years to recover. We protected that. It was a great investment. People have to understand the difference between throwing money on the street or investing money for a better future. And that’s exactly what we did.”
