Grits ready to eat humble pie to win back Prairie voters By: Dylan Robertson Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, Aug. 16, 2021

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/08/2021 (1131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The federal Liberals hope a bit of humility on their part, and the public’s scorn over how Prairie premiers handled COVID-19, will help the party win back seats in all three provinces.

“To be attentive and to have a really good understanding of where you have not connected, is the first step to know how to connect better,” said Winnipeg MP Jim Carr, who is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s special representative for the Prairies.

“This is report card time; this is when other people tell you how well you have done, and how well you will do, compared with the others.”

In an interview before Trudeau triggered the election on Sunday, Carr said the Liberals are focused on gaining back seats they won in 2015, which includes a Winnipeg riding, as well as seats in Calgary, Edmonton and Regina.

In the 2019 election, the Trudeau government focused on Quebec and Ontario, but lost its five seats in Alberta and Saskatchewan, plus three of its seven Winnipeg seats.

The result gave momentum to the separatist Wexit movement, while the Liberals were roundly criticized for their lacklustre response to oil giant EnCana pulling out of Canada.

“This is report card time; this is when other people tell you how well you have done, and how well you will do, compared with the others.”
– Winnipeg MP Jim Carr

Trudeau responded by making Carr the point-man for the Prairies. His job was to consult with a range of groups including officials in provincial and civic governments, farmers and artists.

“My role is to make sure that those messages are sent to the centre of the Canadian government; I have (a) megaphone in hand,” Carr said.

“(The job was) made necessary by the unfortunate reality that we don’t have any seats in two very important provinces, so I’m here to temporarily fill a gap.”

He insisted Trudeau has a good grasp of Prairie issues, but concedes the federal government doesn’t always understand how people in the region think.

“Stereotypes are obstacles to progress, and there are no stereotypes that work in the Prairie region, or within any of the provinces. There is diversity all over the place,” Carr said.

“I’m bolstered by feedback from people in my travels, virtually across the region, and what I sense to be a shifting mood of the Prairies themselves.”

In response to criticism, the Liberals decided to split the Western Economic Diversification agency into two branches: one for the Prairies, and one for B.C. They also promised various subsidies to help farmers deal with this year’s historic drought.

“(The job was) made necessary by the unfortunate reality that we don’t have any seats in two very important provinces, so I’m here to temporarily fill a gap.”
– Winnipeg MP Jim Carr

In the spring, after two years of criticism, the Grits finally agreed to stop charging the carbon tax on grain drying. (Many agricultural tasks were already exempt from the carbon tax, as there are few viable fuel alternatives, thus the levy only shifted demand to cheaper commodities from carbon-emitting farms in other countries.)

Carr acknowledged the slow response, but pointed out his government had frequently tweaked pandemic benefits when issues arose, such as widening the eligibility for unemployed people, or slowing the phase-out of business supports.

“When you come out of the gate fast and you trip, you look behind you and see, ‘What did I trip over, and how can I correct any mistakes we have made?'” Carr said.

He argued the pandemic supports have bolstered the Liberals’ ties with people in the Prairies.

“You never know what campaigns bring, but I do know that the political environment has changed significantly since the last election,” said Carr.

Calgary political scientist Duane Bratt said that is due more to the pandemic than the Liberals attempt to change their tone.

“I don’t know if they have pivoted, but COVID has changed everything,” said the Mount Royal University professor.

“The issues are going to be vaccines and COVID response — not pipelines; not carbon tax.”

“I don’t know if they have pivoted, but COVID has changed everything… The issues are going to be vaccines and COVID response– not pipelines; not carbon tax.”
– Calgary political scientist Duane Bratt

Bratt pointed out the Supreme Court put an end to a wedge issue that Prairie premiers frequently used to stir up discontent toward Ottawa, when it ruled the carbon tax was constitutional.

Meanwhile, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney have taken heat for lifting COVID-19 restrictions too early, or botching the vaccine rollout.

Bratt said he’s already heard radio ads that link federal Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, whose approval ratings have plunged throughout the pandemic.

“People don’t really know who O’Toole is, but they definitely know who Jason Kenney is,” Bratt said.

That echoes the 2019 election, when Trudeau successfully linked Andrew Scheer, the Tory leader at the time, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who was widely unpopular.

In Winnipeg, the Liberals have targeted the Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley riding, which was represented by their party from 2015 to 2019. Candidate Doug Eyolfson, an emergency room doctor, is trying to win back the seat from Tory Marty Morantz.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca