Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Did Trump's trade war impact Ontario's byelections results

Transcript

Did Trump's trade war impact Ontario's byelections results · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Ontario's Queen's Park remains unchanged after last night's by-elections. Premier
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives held on to the two seats
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: they had up for grabs in Hamilton East, Stoney Creek,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: and the Conservative stronghold riding of York's Simcoe, whereas the
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: New Democratic Party kept its seat in Scarborough Southwest. Canada's
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: trade war with the U.S. loomed over the by-elections, with
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: PC candidates saying it was a big issue for voters.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: As we continue to Enter into uncertain times with our
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: largest trading partner to the south. It became more and
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: more apparent. People are feeling incredible anxiety. They're feeling some
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: real fear. What does the future hold? And it became very,
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: very apparent that somebody like Premier Ford is really best
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: suited as the champion of Ontario.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: We're going to continue to fight. We're going to fight
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: against Donald Trump. We're going to make sure that we
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: protect people's jobs. protect their communities and protect them.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: For more on last night's by-elections, Margaret Stiles is the
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Ontario NDP leader and she joins me now. Nice to
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: see you. Thanks for coming on.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: Thanks. Great to be here.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: So you retained one seat but fell short in two
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: of the other by-elections last night, including one in Hamilton,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: which is historically friendly territory for the New Democrats. What
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: do you think the message was from voters last night
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: for the Ontario NDP?
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: Well, we held the seat that we went into these
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: by-elections with. We came close. Our amazing candidate in Hamilton
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: East Stoney Creek, Monique Taylor, who was elected for 14
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: years previously in the Hamilton area, came within seven points
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: of winning that election from the Conservatives. And, you know,
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: certainly what we were hearing at the doorstep from many
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: people in Hamilton, East Stoney Creek and in Scarborough Southwest
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: was that people were looking for a change. We came
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: a little short in the Hamilton by-election, but I think
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: part of the story there was the Ontario Liberal Party
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: was a quite distant third. and may have handed the
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: Conservatives and Doug Ford a win last night.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's the problem, right? There are folks
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: who are looking for change, but there's vote splitting going
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: on right now, and that's effectively guaranteeing the results that
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: we saw last night. You and the Liberals are dividing
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: sort of the anti-Ford vote, if you will. And I
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: guess as long as that's happening, some analysts say the
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Premier is just going to cruise to victory again and
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: again and again. What do you say to that? Is
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: there any talk of an alliance with the provincial Liberals
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: to try and stop the PCs?
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: Look, it was pretty clear from the results last night,
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: and we've seen this pretty consistently, that really we're the
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: only ones with the, the NDP is the only party
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: that has the ground game to defeat conservatives. We've seen
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: that again and again. And I think that it's becoming
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: even more clear that the next election is going to
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: be about the Ontario NDP up against the Doug Ford Conservatives.
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: And I do want to say, you know, for us,
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: without question, you know, this was we were really excited
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: about holding the seat in Scarborough Southwest. We know that
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: the Conservatives went hard trying to win that seat there.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: and take that away from us last night. But people
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: in the community are struggling. And that's what we're seeing
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: all across Ontario. Ontarians lost 18,000 jobs just last month alone.
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: And people are really struggling here. And, you know, certainly
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: in the last year and a half since the last election,
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: Doug Ford has not lived up to the promises that
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: he made to help protect us from tariffs, to help,
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: you know, save Ontario jobs. And life has just become
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: more and more unaffordable for Ontarians. And that is definitely
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: what we were hearing on the doorsteps in these by-elections.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: You mentioned tariffs. Of course, the premier's political brand is
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: so closely tied to this trade war. The public sort
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: of knows him for talking tough, telling the president to
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: kiss his ass, calling Trump a loser, the king of bankruptcies.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: That sort of rhetoric really seems to be resonating with
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: voters in the moment that we're in right now, given
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: how angry folks are. How do you counter what seems
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: like a winning style?
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: Well, I'm not so sure that it's working for them
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: quite as much as people think. And I know you
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: see the polls and everything, but I see what's going
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: on with people in their communities on the doorstep. And
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: I got to tell you, people are really frustrated. It's
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: easy to go out there and throw insults around. It
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: was a lot harder to deliver actual results for people.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: And the last election, which was like a year and
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: a half ago, that election was called a couple of
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: years early by Mr. Ford, ostensibly to give him a
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: mandate to move forward on a whole bunch of pushback
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: against Trump's tariffs. And we didn't see anything happen. I mean, really,
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: the proof is in the pudding. There have been no results.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: This is a premier who just recently, in the last
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: few months, gave a $ 60 million contract to an American company, Staples,
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: to deliver school supplies, a sole source contract for our
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: education workers. And that company is jacking up the prices
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: right now, taking advantage of Canadians. We've seen this from
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: this government over and over again. And in fact, Mr.
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: Ford has been hiding from the media, hiding from recalling
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: the legislature. Because he knows that Ontarians, at the price
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: that people are paying for the fact that he has
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: failed to deliver on those promises he made just a
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: year and a half ago, that the price people are
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: paying is a really steep one.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: You mentioned the Staples deal, but there are also new
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: subway cars for the Ontario line that I think are
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: being manufactured in Maryland, if I have that right. Right,
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: absolutely right. Yeah, and as you've pointed out as well,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: a major American firm is building a new hospital in Mississauga,
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: or at least partly... going to be building that new
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: huge infrastructure project. Do you think the province should cut
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: off all American procurement entirely, including firms that have Canadian
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: employees here in this province?
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: I think every single contract needs to be reviewed. I
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: think all of those recent contracts should be cancelled. I
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: think that there's no excuse. for the Canadian or, in
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: this case, Ontario government to be purchasing any services or
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: supplies from the U.S. companies at all right now. And
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: I think it's inexcusable. And I mean, many Ontarians were
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: not even aware of this until these elections were called. So,
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: excuse me. So, I am actually... asking the Premier to
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: recall the legislature. He's refusing to do so. We want
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: him to ban those contracts. We want him to cancel
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: those contracts. We want stronger procurement language. And we want
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: relief packages for Ontarians. People right now are struggling. Many
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: Ontarians taking on multiple jobs if they can find one,
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: struggling to put food on the table, let alone pay
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: rent or mortgage. This has to stop.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: I'll just point out that the government has said that
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Staples Canada won that contract through a fair process via
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Supply Ontario and that Staples was offering half the price
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: of the next competing bidder. Do you think that this
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: could potentially be an issue? Because we know the Americans
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: have raised procurement policies in the tariff negotiations. They are
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: concerned with provinces blocking off American firms. from bidding for
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: government work here in this country. I mean, taking a
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: more radical approach, that frankly could make the prime minister's
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: job harder. Our negotiators could have a tougher time getting
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: a deal with the Americans if we kind of go
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: with the nuclear option and block them entirely from bidding
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: on stuff in this country.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: Well, look, first of all, those are our Canadian-Ontario taxpayer dollars.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: And so the very least we can do is say, look,
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: make the same decision that every Ontarian right now is
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: making in their own lives to choose to buy Ontario,
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: to choose to buy Canadian. That's what people expect us
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: to do. And we should be doing that right now.
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: I do believe very much in a united, strong Canada approach.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: And I do worry, and as I think many Ontarians have,
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: that some of Doug Ford's Freelancing on various issues and
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: in various ways has not necessarily helped us at the
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: negotiating table. We need a united Canada approach headed up
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: by the prime minister. Doug Ford likes to throw around
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: a lot of insults. He likes to go on US television.
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: He likes to block Ontario and Canadian media at his
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: press conferences. He doesn't wanna be answerable to the people
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: here in Ontario and they're feeling that. And again, I
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: can't stress enough that it is Ontarians here in regular
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: people in the province of Ontario Anyways, that are feeling
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: the impact of tariffs, but certainly also of this government's
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: failure to deliver the kinds of services that they need.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: I mean, my goodness, I wish the premier would just
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: get in his own lane occasionally and actually address the
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: issues that Ontarians are grappling with. Like if a premier
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: is responsible for anything, surely it's delivering basics like health care.
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: a strong education for our children, a more affordable life.
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: And I'll tell you, we've brought forward in the NDP,
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: Ontario NDP official opposition, we've brought forward motions to have
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: the government, for example, cancel the tax on all groceries,
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: just like Wab Kanu did in Manitoba. And this government,
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: this premier has voted against that. So he's taken opportunities
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: to do the right thing and he's just shrugged them off.
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: And meanwhile, regular people are really suffering while his friends
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: and insiders struggle actually are making a lot of money
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: off these deals.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: All right, let's leave it there. Marit Stiles, Ontario NDP leader.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: Appreciate you making time. Thank you.