Where’s the party?
With election campaign in full swing, candidates are slow to come forward
An Iqaluit resident enters a voting station during the 2019 federal election. Though voters are set to return to the polls April 28, there hasn’t been much activity in the North in the first week of the campaign. (File Photo)
If Nunavut is an NDP “stronghold” — as Lori Idlout asserted — it might explain why her political rivals have been slow to storm the gates.
As of Thursday afternoon — the fifth day of the 36-day federal election campaign — Idlout, the NDP candidate, was the only declared candidate in Nunavut.
Something similar is going on in Nunavik, where three candidates have stepped forward to contest the Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou riding — Bloc Québécois MP Sylvie Bérubé, who is running for re-election, and Conservative Steve Corriveau, who also ran in 2021. The Liberals announced Thursday night Quebec Cree Grand Chief Mandy Gull-Masty will be their candidate.
It’s hard to believe Liberals and Conservatives in Nunavut have been so slow to get started, considering the Liberal party controlled the timing of the election and Conservatives have been itching for two years to force one.
This snap, spring election is the shortest campaign allowed under Canada’s election law. So why would anyone serious about winning give the sitting MP at least a five-day head start?
Idlout outlined on social media her plan to visit 10 communities before her competition even showed up.
Idlout concluded Nunavut must be an NDP “stronghold” earlier this month when a reporter asked about the relatively small number of Nunavummiut who voted in the Liberal leadership race that resulted in Mark Carney’s selection to replace former leader Justin Trudeau.
Only 33 Liberals in Nunavut voted in that leadership contest.
Idlout said the small Liberal turnout must be a sign that her constituents are satisfied with her performance as MP since 2021.
“To me, it means that Nunavummiut are impressed with my work,” she said.
It’s a bit rich for a politician who literally won her own party’s 2021 nomination on a coin toss to dismiss the relatively small number of Liberal members as a sign of her own popularity or her party’s.
As strong as Idlout thinks she is at home, the NDP is vulnerable across the country. National media are reporting on polls that show the NDP could face annihilation as the campaign turns into a tight two-way race between the Liberals and Conservatives.
The longer it takes to name candidates in the North, the harder it will be for them to catch up to sitting MPs. Voters would be right to wonder how serious other parties are about trying to win Nunavut or Nunavik.
Everyone knew this election was coming, so it’s a bit surprising so many political parties weren’t ready for it. Legally, the election had to come by October. But since last fall when the NDP ended its agreement to keep the Liberal party in power, it seemed like an election might come sooner.
If the Conservatives or NDP are going to come to power by ending nine-plus years of Liberal rule, they need to win ridings like Nunavut that don’t have a long devotion to any particular party.
Over the past 20 years, Nunavummiut have elected MPs from the NDP, Liberal and Conservative parties. Idlout is the riding’s fifth different MP in 20 years.
The Nunavut riding should be considered up for grabs, but the political parties have been slow to get in the game.
It is surprising (yet somehow, not surprising) that the Conservatives especially do not have a candidate ready to go on day one, they’ve been angling for an election for months. Is the party okay? They seem to be having a few issues these days.
As for the NDP, if things don’t change they are likely to lose party status. My feeling is Lori is gaslighting herself with this ahistorical and delusional story about the Nunavut ‘stronghold.’