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Pierre Poilievre is a fraud when it comes to empowering workers, says the president of Canada’s largest labor organization.
Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labor Congress, targeted the federal Conservative Leader in a speech in Ottawa today as members of the labor movement met to develop a strategic approach to the next federal election, scheduled for October, 2025.
“Whatever he claims today, Mr. Poilievre has a consistent record of 20 years as an anti-worker politician,” said Bruske, whose congress represents more than three million workers.
He asked rhetorically if the former federal cabinet minister has ever walked a picket line, or supported laws to strengthen workers’ voices.
“Mr. Poilievre is certainly fighting hard for power himself, but he has never fought for workers’ power,” he said.
“We must do everything in our power to expose Pierre Poilievre as the fraud he is.”
The Conservative leader, whose party is running ahead of his rivals in public opinion polls, has declared himself a champion of “ordinary people,” and has been courting the working class as he works to build support. .
Today the office of Mr. Poilievre back on the arguments against him.
Sebastian Skamski, director of media operations, said Mr. Poilievre, unlike other federal leaders, was reaching out to workers.
In a statement, Skamski said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has sold out working Canadians by cooperating with the federal Liberal government, whose policies have created challenges for Canadian workers with punitive taxes and inflation.
“Pierre Poilievre is the one who listens and talks to workers on shop floors and in union halls from coast to coast,” Mr. Skamski said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mr Singh are due to address the assembly today. Mr. was not invited. Poilievre to speak.
Asked during a post-speech news conference about the Conservative Leader’s absence, Bruske said the gathering was focused on workers’ issues, and Poilievre’s record as an MP and in government shows he voted against rights, benefits and wage increases for employees.
“We want to make progress with politicians who will consistently stand up for workers, and consistently engage with us,” he said.
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TODAY’S HEADS
Pierre Poilievre’s chief adviser has yet to be contacted in the Lobbying Commissioner’s investigation: Jenni Byrne has yet to be contacted by the federal Lobbying Commissioner as the watchdog investigates allegations of inappropriate lobbying by staff working at Byrne’s firm and a second operating out of her office.
Métis groups will step forward towards self-government as the bill faces another hurdle: Métis organizations in Ontario and Alberta say they will stay on the path toward self-government, despite the uncertain future of a controversial bill meant to do just that.
Liberals buck global trend to ‘double down’ on foreign aid, as sector urges G7 campaign: The federal government pledged in its budget this week to increase humanitarian aid by $150-million in the current financial year and $200-million the following year.
Former BC finance minister running for federal Conservatives: Mike de Jong says he will look to represent the Conservatives in Abbotsford-South Langley, which is being created out of part of the Abbotsford riding now held by outgoing Tory MP Ed Fast.
Ottawa’s new EV tax credit raises hope for major new Honda investment: The proposed measure would give companies a 10 per cent rebate on the costs of building new buildings for use in the electric vehicle supply chain. Story here.
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau embraces uncertainty in new memoir, Closer together: “I am a constant emotional adventurer, curious and explorer of life and relationships,” Grégoire Trudeau told The Globe and Mail during a recent interview. “I have always been curious and interested and fascinated by human contact.”
POLITICAL QUOTES TODAY
“Sometimes you’re in a situation. You can’t win. You say one thing. You get one community upset. You say another. You are upsetting another community.” – Ontario Premier Doug Ford at a news conference in Oakville today, comments on the Speaker of the Ontario legislature banning the wearing of the traditional keffiyeh scarf in the House. Ford opposed the ban, but it was confirmed after the news conference in the provincial legislature.
“No, I intend to be a candidate in the next election under the leadership of Prime Minister Trudeau. I am very happy. I’m excited about that. I focus on the responsibilities he gave me. It’s a big job. I’m enjoying it and I’m hopeful that our team and the Prime Minister will make the case to Canadians why we should be re-elected.” – Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, before today’s Question Period, about whether he is interested in the federal Liberal leadership, and succeeding Justin Trudeau as prime minister.
THIS AND THAT
Today in the House of Commons: Projected Order of Business in the House of Commons, April. 18, available here.
Deputy Prime Minister’s Day: Private meetings in Burlington, Ont., then Chrystia Freeland toured a manufacturing facility, discussed the federal budget and took media questions. Freeland then traveled to Washington, DC, for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. Freeland also attended a meeting of Five Eyes Finance Ministers hosted by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and hosted a Canada-Ukraine working lunch on mobilizing Russian assets to support Ukraine.
Ministers on the Road: Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly on the island of Capri in Italy for the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting. Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, in the town of Farnham in Quebec, make an economic announcement, then hold a short discussion with agricultural workers and take questions from the media. President of the Privy Council Harjit Sajjan made a federal budget announcement in the Ontario city of Welland. Minister of Families Jenna Sudds made an economic announcement in the Ontario city of Belleville.
House of Commons Committee Highlights: Treasury Board President Anita Anand appear before the public accounts committee on the auditor general’s report on the ArriveCan app, and Karen Hogan, Auditor General of Canada, it later appeared on government spending. Minister of the Crown-Indigenous Relations, Gary Anandasangaree appears before the women’s status committee on the Red Dress Alert. Competition Bureau Commissioner Matthew Boswell a Yves Giroux, Parliamentary Budget Officer, appeared before the finance committee on Bill C-59. Former Prince Edward Island premiership Robert Ghiz, who is now president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Telecommunications Associationamong the witnesses appearing before the human resources committee on Bill C-58, An Act to amend the Canada Labor Code. Caroline Maynard, Information Commissioner of Canadaappears before the access-to-information committee on government spending. Michel Patenaude, chief inspector at the Sûreté du Québecappeared before the public safety committee on car thefts in Canada.
In Ottawa: Governor General Mary Simon presented the Governor General’s Literary Awards during a ceremony at Rideau Hall, and, in the evening, was scheduled to speak at the 2024 Indspire Awards honoring Indigenous and youth professionals.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Justin Trudeau met with Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe at city hall. Sutcliffe later said it was the first time a prime minister had sat visited the city hall for a meeting with the mayor. Later, Trudeau made remarks to a Canadian council meeting of the Canadian Labor Congress.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet holding a media scrum in the House of Commons before Question Period.
Conservative leader Pierre Polievre attends a party fundraiser at a private residence in Mississauga.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May attend the House of Commons.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Ottawa, he met Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck and, later, Ken Price, chief of the K’ómoks First Nation. In the afternoon, he delivered a speech to the Canadian Council meeting of the Canadian Labor Congress.
THE DECIBEL
On today’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Sanjay Ruparelia, associate professor at the Metropolitan University of Toronto and the Jarislowsky Chair of Democracy, explains why India’s elections are important for democracy – and the balance of power for the rest of the world. The Decibel is here.
PUBLIC OPINION
Decreased trust in federal and provincial governments: A new survey finds that a growing share of Canadians do not trust the federal or provincial governments to make decisions on health care, climate change, the economy and immigration.
OPINION
On Haida Gwaii, an island of change for Indigenous land negotiations
“For more than a century, the Haida Nation has argued against the Crown’s sovereignty over the land, air and waters of Haida Gwaii, a verdant archipelago about 150 kilometers off the coast of British Columbia. More than 20 years ago, the First Nation went to the Supreme Court of Canada with a lawsuit that says the islands belong to the Haida, part of a wider legal and political effort to resolve scores of land claims in the province. That case has been grinding towards a conclusion that the BC government was increasingly convinced that the Haida victory would end.” – The Globe and Mail Editorial Board.
The RCMP raid the home of an ArriveCan contractor as Parliament adjourns
“The last time someone was called before the bar of the House of Commons to answer MPs’ questions, it was to demand that a man called RC Miller explain how his company got government contracts to supply lights, burners and bristle brushes on for lighthouses. That was 1913. On Wednesday, Kristian Firth, managing partner of GCSstrategies, one of the key contractors on the federal government’s ArriveCan app, was called to answer MPs’ queries. Inside the House of Commons, it felt like something from another century.” – Campbell Clark
First Nations people have lost confidence in the Thunder Bay police force
“Thunder Bay has become ground zero for human rights violations against Canada’s Indigenous People. Too many sudden and suspicious deaths of Indigenous People are not properly investigated. There have been too many reports on what’s wrong with policing in the city – including ones from former Truth and Reconciliation Commission chair Murray Sinclair and former Toronto Police board chair Alok Mukherjee, and another called “ Broken Trust,” in which the Office of the Independent Review Director of the Police Department said the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) was guilty of “systemic racism” in 2018. – Tanya to tell the truth.
The failure of Canada’s health care system is a disgrace – and a deadly one
“What can be said about Canada’s health care system that has not been said too many times, as we watch more and more people suffer and die while they wait for basic standards of care? Despite our delusions, we do not have “world class” health care, as our Prime Minister put it; we don’t even have universal health care. What we have is health care if you’re lucky, or well connected, or if you happen to have a heart attack on a day when your nearest ER is usually just overcapacity, and without stuffed to the point of incapacity.” – Robyn Urback.
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