Seems a little early for the kitchen sink.
But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party seized the opportunity, however slim, to attack the Conservatives on abortion.
Abortion, along with guns and health care privatization, is one of the holy trinity of explosive issues that Liberals pose to Conservatives every election campaign. But typically they wait until later in the warrant period before reaching for those weapons.
Apparently, Canadian politics are 17 months ahead of schedule.
Mr. Trudeau's Liberal Party has already released what appears to be a pre-election budget and public relations campaign. Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, as a front-runner, dodges questions on simple issues such as whether civil servants should work three days a week. The New Democratic Party is trying out a new slogan that attacks the Conservative Party leader rather than the ruling party.
I skipped ahead to a low-energy version of the silly phase of campaigning. The hyperbolic politics of abortion are a clear indicator.
Poilievre has sought to protect himself from this situation by vowing that his government will not legislate abortion. Still, it's no surprise that the Liberals are trying to chip away at it. It's amazing that they do it this quickly.
The Liberal government's Minister for Women and Gender Equality, Marcy Ien, started the move a few weeks ago. She pointed to Mr. Poièvre's claim that he would use a provision in the Constitution to override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to deny parole to a murderer, despite the provision in the Constitution, and Conservative leadership argued that this provision could also be used to criminalize abortion.
That was impossible. But at least a few days later, the Liberals may have named anti-abortion Conservative MPs Arnold Fiersen and Cathay Wagantor who spoke for their cause at the annual March for Life on Parliament Hill. be.
But the closure of abortion clinics in New Brunswick, where Premier Blaine Higgs's Progressive Conservative government only funds in-hospital abortion services, has left Mr. warned of a full-scale threat. She argued that the erosion of abortion rights seen in the United States is likely to happen here in Canada because the Conservative Party won't stand up for women.
While this is hardly a purely factual argument, it is worth noting that Canada does not have a federal abortion law that could be overturned by the courts, and Poilievre has said he has no intention of passing one. . Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper cut foreign aid to abortion groups, but while it's fair to question whether he would change policy to appease anti-abortion MPs, he said the bill The submission is denied.
One of the reasons Liberals typically wait until the writ period before campaigning on abortion is not so much because of policy differences, but because Conservatives are mostly concerned about issues they think are important, especially abortion, guns, and public issues. This raises questions about whether they share the same views as ordinary Canadians. health care.
Mr. Trudeau's party is currently lagging far behind in the polls, trailing the Conservatives by 20 points, according to the latest Nanos Research poll, and he fears he will be abandoned. . They have to fear that even a weak NDP could someday trigger an election. They will gain as much short-term foothold as they can find.
A highlight of April's budget is an increase in the capital gains tax, touted as a measure to “fairness” taxation of the wealthy, but two years ago Mr. Trudeau's team would have probably argued that it was too politically risky. This is something I would have turned down.
But now, instead of formulating a strategy to win the election with 34% of the vote in the fall of 2025, they are looking for ways to increase their vote share to 28% within a few months.
They have announced significant spending to boost housing construction, promised to financially support young Canadians, touted tax changes as a social justice issue and kept an eye on poll trends.
When they saw an opportunity to attack the Conservative Party on abortion, they threw it in the kitchen sink.
