NDP must decide if it wants to be Parliament's conscience or win: polling analyst
A polling and political analyst says the New Democrats need to decide whether they want to be the "conscience of Parliament" or win an election.
Philippe Fournier of 338Canada.com says polls consistently show that NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is more popular than either Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole.
But the NDP must win over suburban as well as urban voters and attract Liberals tired of the ruling party to stand a chance of forming government.
The NDP gained just one more MP in last year's federal election, despite spending $25 million on the campaign, and did not attract enough support in rural areas or the suburbs to come within reach of power. The NDP has 25 MPs, fewer than the Liberals, Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois.
The NDP caucus is wrapping up a three-day virtual retreat to talk about priorities, policies and strategy for when the House of Commons resumes sitting at the end of the month.
Fournier said polls show that Singh is well thought-of by many Liberal voters. But he risks alienating them by brutally attacking the Liberals, and should turn his fire on the Conservatives.
"Does the NDP really want to win or be the conscience of Parliament?" Fournier asked. "If they want to win they are doing very poorly."
He said polls show that Trudeau still has the support of "the vast majority of Liberal voters" and not many are shifting their support to the NDP.
But eventually "the wear and tear of government" will lead to an erosion of Liberal support.
"How the Liberals will eventually lose is if more voters will be disenchanted. They will flock to the NDP or the Greens," he said.
Fournier, who analyzes multiple opinion polls, said the latest polling on voting intentions puts the NDP at around 20 per cent of the national vote.
NDP MP Charlie Angus says levels of insecurity felt across class divides are changing the political discourse in Canada.
Angus said there is now an opportunity for the NDP simultaneously to reach working-class, middle-class and young and elderly voters, all of whom are feeling the pinch from housing and living costs, and are "seeing their lives get more precarious."
He said there was now a "broader working class" including middle-class people who are not living at the standards of their parents, and are struggling to afford housing and even groceries.
"More and more people are saying the middle class I am in is not the class my parents were in -- there's been a shift on class issues," Angus said. "Professors at university are making less money than someone who works at Tim Hortons."
The NDP MP said younger voters interested in justice were feeling the same economic insecurity as older, working-class voters to whom the Tories have been working to appeal.
Angus said it was "a false dichotomy" to assume that the NDP could not appeal to traditional working-class voters and young Canadians motivated by racial justice and green issues.
"I think there are ways of bringing those two narratives together and I think that is something we can start to do in this coming year," he said.
"This younger generation really understands economic insecurity. They are not putting up with it in a way 10 years ago they were expected to," he said. "They are beginning to speak out, like 'How come I don't have a living wage? How come I have no place to live?"'
Singh said he and all NDP MPs had received pleas from seniors, including those unable to afford their rent, groceries or medication. The party leader said they were looking to the NDP "for a solution."
"Canadian families have gone through a lot these past two years whether it has been dealing with losing their jobs, losing benefits they rely on to get by, or struggling to get COVID-19 vaccines and tests. They want a government that is standing up for the issues affecting them most," he said in an emailed statement.
Karl Belanger, a former senior adviser to the NDP and president of consulting firm Traxxion Strategies, said the party was right to focus on living costs, including the affordability of housing.
He said, as the fourth party in the House of Commons, the NDP must be "nimble at all times" and showcase all their MPs so they become recognized national figures.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2022.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
Local Spotlight
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
'I'm committed': Oilers fan won't cut hair until Stanley Cup comes to Edmonton
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
'It's not my father's body!' Wrong man sent home after death on family vacation in Cuba
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
'Once is too many times': Education assistants facing rising violence in classrooms
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
What is capital gains tax? How is it going to affect the economy and the younger generations?
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
UBC football star turning heads in lead up to NFL draft
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Cat found at Pearson airport 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly on a mission: N.S. student collecting books about women in sport for school library
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.