Can the PM compete with Poilievre’s affordability stronghold? | Power Play with Todd van der Heyden

Foreign peas are heading back to Ottawa on Monday after a summer break from Parliament so what’s coming there’s been a big shift in the last couple of months hasn’t there in the political polls but all of them showing the same basic Trend the conservatives up the Liberals down

Pierre polyev up Justin Trudeau down take a look at some of these latest numbers from Abacus data released late this week showing the conservatives 15 points ahead of the Liberals 41 for them liberals of 26 at the NDP at eight percent so how much trouble is the

Government in by the way the Prime Minister this week indicating the next federal election is likely two years away in 2025 that’s a long long time let’s bring in our front bench Mario muntseff knows that well two years is an eternity in politics Melanie Paradis garrat and Singh Christie kirkup Christy

I’m going to start with you how rough is the fall going to be for the prime minister you know I think this has been the most challenging political season that we have seen for Justin Trudeau since really he took on um the role as liberal leader frankly

Because of course lots of liberals got behind him and saw that sweeping majority um in 2015 of course uh subsequent elections have brought the Liberals minority governments which was not ideal for Justin Trudeau and the Liberals but he has he has never seen poll numbers like this and I think what

I will be watching for and I know a lot of other political observers will be watching for as well is essentially whether the Prime Minister has has that fight left in him it’s it’s been eight years and frankly there’s been a lot that has happened in those eight years

Uh don’t forget uh the the height of a global pandemic the war in Ukraine there have been numerous and and massive issues that the Prime Minister has had to contend with but he has never seen as such a political challenge specifically from the conservatives and I think that

Um you know there are there’s a lot of anxiety amongst liberal MPS and frankly we saw that throughout the course of the summer there was this massive cabinet Shuffle that happened at the end of July Justin Trudeau really didn’t provide an explanation as to why he decided to you

Know essentially have this major reorganization of his front bench and you know liberal MPS had been quoted in the media anonymously expressing their frustrations and why is that well they’re they’re hearing it at the doorsteps they’re worried about their Futures yes the next election is uh perhaps two years away if this agreement

With the NDP holds at the same time though when you are a political animal you’re you’re an MP you don’t want to see poll numbers like this and David coletto the CEO of Abacus data has said as much if you’re seeing poll numbers like this like you need to to be

Concerned and so I think that’s what the Caucus meeting was really about this week kind of trying to to bring the team back together to kind of say we need to stay focused on the political opponent of Pierre pauliev and the conservatives uh and and we’ll see whether that sticks

And whether the caucus is um you know pleased with the progress that it sees but frankly we talked about the need for Action I think that liberal MPS certainly are looking for action and they don’t want to hear so much pushback in their own respective uh constituencies because that’s not good

News for them when when they’re really hearing it when they’re speaking to people on the ground Miriam you’re a long time liberal why does it seem do you think many Canadians are turned off right now by Justin Trudeau it has been an incredibly difficult year for Canadians but also uh you know it’s

Been a really difficult political season for the Liberals they’ve had a really difficult time responding in addition to you know the list said Miss kirkup uh provided you know the pandemic inflation a war in Ukraine there’s also extreme climate challenges and don’t forget that Trump presidency that you know took took

A lot of oxygen out of every room um and you know moving forward having had this awful summer uh the challenge that the liberal government will have is going to be showing tangible action on what they have announced the NDP will have the challenge of remaining relevant

And pushing the Liberals to continue to come up with solid practical ideas that provide Canadians with relief when it comes to being able to afford life and being able to feel like government is there for them government cares government works as for Mr pauliev he has had an excellent Year talk about a

Honeymoon the numbers are up he’s riding high in the polls they’ve had a great convention the party’s behind the leader the challenge for him moving forward is going to be standing up to the additional scrutiny that is going to come his way for the statements he makes

For the plans that he announces and you know that’s wonderful makeover he’s had will it hold up will that nice guy facade hold up look Prime ministerial or will he just look mean over time yeah and then lastly I will say this Todd a challenge for the conservative leader is

Going to be how to respond to that right flank the extreme right that was so instrumental in him getting elected as the party leader and having millions of dollars to roll out important and effective ad campaigns how will he respond and relate to these folks without turning off more moderate

Canadians and you’re right two years is a long time if that’s how long it’ll be between now and the next election and a lot can happen let’s get to Melanie so the worry about a honeymoon peaking too soon for pirapalia what do you think I don’t think it’s a worry unfortunately

Because the affordability crisis is going to continue and this is an issue that Pierre polyov has been incredibly effective at hammering on he’s been talking about this since he became mobile since before he became the leader frankly and I think that he’s going to continue to have a large audience for

That there’s two sleeper issues that I think that people should be looking for this fall and one of them ties directly into this home heating is about to go Skyrocket in price across the country if you are on a natural gas oil or propane tank form of heating for your home the

Carbon tax increase that we saw recently you haven’t felt that yet on your winter heating bills this will be the first winter when when Canadians are seeing that that increase and I think it that’s going to be a considerable pain point so it’s not just that groceries are more

Expensive it’s not just that your mortgage rate has gone up it’s now also that your home heating is is more expensive in part because of the carbon tax that that the Liberals refuse to reduce and the second item that has not gotten a lot of coverage yet that I’m

Tracking is the the crisis that we had last year in in children’s medicine and in Pediatrics in particular everything that that happened last year is set to repeat itself again this year because nothing has changed governments have not implemented any of the changes that were needed to shore up our supply

Chains when it comes to antibiotics like amoxicillin and the solutions that are needed to administer those and like things like Children’s Tylenol two children right um and and that’s unfortunately we see another spike in RSV and flu and in covid coming this fall um I am dreading the fall for my toddler

Um and I’m really worried that we may see that crisis repeat itself and as we saw last year every level of government gets blamed when something like that goes horribly wrong all right we’re gonna have to leave it there go out and we’re going to get you next time I

Promise I want to thank all three of you all five of you for coming on the show thanks so much for this much appreciated have a great weekend ahead

The Front Bench panel discusses why Poilievre’s focus on affordability has had a major impact on the PM’s uphill political fight.

Subscribe to CTV News to watch more videos:

Connect with CTV News:
For the latest news visit:
For a full video offering visit the CTV News Network:

CTV News on Facebook:
CTV News on TikTok:
CTV News on Twitter:
CTV News on Instagram:
CTV News on Reddit:

—
CTV News is Canada’s most-watched news organization both locally and nationally, and has a network of national, international, and local news operations.

Reference