Roundup: Singh needs to start giving details

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We have seen plenty of coverage thus far in the election about how popular Jagmeet Singh is, and how authentic he seems to his audience, and plenty about his personal likeability, but I am not seeing a lot that is pushing back against the things he is proposing. We have a couple of such examples yesterday, first with his pharmacare proposal. Essentially, the current government has put in the work, and established the Canada Drug Agency transition office, and thus far has signed up one province – Prince Edward Island. The other premiers have all balked at this, including the NDP premier of British Columbia, John Horgan, which I find mighty interesting in the current context. So, just what would Singh do differently? Well, he won’t say. Per the CBC:

When pressed by reporters on how he would get the provinces to sign onto his plan, Singh was light on details but committed to partnering with provincial and territorial governments. “We’d work with provinces and territories, I know it’s going to be hard work, but it’s going to save families money,” he said.

Great. He’ll “partner” with provinces that have thus far said no, and lo, he’ll do it by next year when it’s going to take years to negotiate a national formulary for said programme – something that seems to be a surprise to Singh, if you go by their stunt of a private members’ bill in the previous parliament, where they essentially proposed a framework where the provinces pay for prescription drugs and the federal government will then sign over a cheque. Yeah, it doesn’t really work like that. But I haven’t seen this being hammered home – you can’t just keep handwaving promises, particularly promises in areas of provincial jurisdiction, and not provide details on how you’ll accomplish it, and no, just promising to “work with” those provinces is not good enough. The current government has been doing that, and if you’re going to complain that they haven’t moved fast enough, then you need to explain how you’re going to do it differently. And no, the fact that you’re not Justin Trudeau is not an answer.

But he didn’t stop there. No, he also opined on vaccine passports, saying that the federal government should just go ahead and implement it federally – but again, didn’t say how they should, given that they don’t control the vaccination data because the delivery of healthcare is a provincial jurisdiction. These particular details matter, and you can’t just handwave them away. We need to start pressing Singh for details, because his answers aren’t good enough, and if he’s going to present himself as a serious contender for government, he needs to be asked the implementation questions so that he can answer them – and be made to answer them.

On the campaign trail:

  • Justin Trudeau was in Mississauga to say he will create a $1 billion fund to help provinces develop vaccine passports.
  • Trudeau’s planned rally in Bolton, Ontario, was cancelled after so many anti-vaccine protesters showed up that they outnumbered police by ten-to-one.
  • Erin O’Toole in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, to insist he’d extend EI sickness benefit, but he also stated he wouldn’t live up to the newer climate targets.
  • Jagmeet Singh was in Thunder Bay to promise universal pharmacare (as though he can convince the premiers where Trudeau can’t).
  • Singh is also apparently not ruling out keeping the Trans Mountain pipeline in operation if he should happen to form government.
  • Former NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau is running to reclaim her old seat.
  • A report compares the Liberals’ $10/day child care plan with the Conservatives’ tax credit plan, and for some Toronto families, it’s a $10,000/year difference.
  • Researchers found that the Liberal video slapped with the “manipulated media” tag was spread more rapidly by the coverage, and most people believed its message.
  • Bruce Anderson looks at the data on swing voters and wonders if the Liberals haven’t left their centre flank exposed for O’Toole to exploit.
  • Chantal Hébert notes the trouble that Trudeau finds himself in, and wonders if the potential loss of progressive programmes will drive NDP voters to him.
  • Susan Delacourt measures up the three positions on vaccine passports, and why it’s making for a terrible debate (though We The Media have a lot to blame for that).
  • Paul Wells goes through the history of Justin Trudeau’s many “shakeups,” and applies it to how he’s trying to position the need for this election.

Good reads:

  • Marc Garneau says than an additional 500 Afghans bound for Canada left Kabul aboard an American aircraft.
  • The Star contrasts how Afghan veteran parliamentarians Harjit Sajjan and Alex Ruff are taking the events in Kabul this week.
  • The Moderna vaccine has now been approved for kids aged 12 to 17.
  • Dr. Theresa Tam will hold an in-person briefing next Friday on new COVID modelling data.
  • Ontario will finally be implementing their own vaccine certification or passport system to be announced next week.
  • Kevin Carmichael talks to Anne McLellan in her capacity as co-chair of the Coalition For A Better Future advisory group (but I disagree on the “no plan” talking point).
  • Matt Gurney contemplates Canada’s usual shock-and-denial response to any crisis that slows down our ability to deal with them, as demonstrated by the fall of Kabul.
  • Ken Boessenkool lays out the state of Conservatism in Alberta, why the anger at Jason Kenney is impacting Erin O’Toole, and what it means for Kenney’s future.
  • My Xtra column compares the NDP and Conservative platforms on LGBT+ issues, as they compare to what was in the Liberal budget.
  • My weekend column looks at the housing promises by the three main parties, and what’s good and what’s incoherent within them.

Odds and ends:

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: Singh needs to start giving details”

  1. Media won’t press him or O’Toole on anything because the pack hive mind has decided they want to get rid of PMJT. They criticize Trudeau for running a “negative” campaign when it’s been Singh and O’Toole who’ve done nothing but bash him relentlessly without any facts. Media doesn’t care about lies and hateful invective as long as they get their “mediocre bald white guy” in office (per Cosh’s asinine column on “Toolemania”) in part by Singh splitting the vote. Singh is the kamikaze candidate like Sanders in US 2016.

  2. It doesn’t matter that Singh will not supply details/proposes to override the provinces. It is sufficient as NDP dog-whistling to the lumpenproletariat. He needs those low-information voters.

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