‘Pallister is beatable,’ Liberal leader tells AGM

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This article was published 27/04/2019 (2326 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dougald Lamont says opportunity is knocking for the Liberal party, if Premier Brian Pallister calls a snap election this year.

Speaking to the party’s annual general meeting at a downtown hotel Saturday, the provincial Liberal leader encouraged the rank and file to set high goals.

“Pallister is beatable,” he told members, and “there’s no safe seat for the NDP.”

About 180 Liberals registered for the AGM, which was held in conjunction with a gathering of the Manitoba wing of the federal party.

It was Lamont’s first AGM since winning the St. Boniface by-election last July, a victory that vaulted the Liberals to official party status (four seats) in the Manitoba legislature.

He told members that for far too long voters have felt they only had two choices when casting a ballot in a provincial election — the NDP and the Progressive Conservatives. Manitobans now have “a progressive and practical option” in the Liberals, he said.

“The electorate is extremely volatile,” he said in an interview. “If we can present ourselves… as a creditable option, I think we have the opportunity to pick up many seats.”

He noted that across the province, more than 4,000 Manitobans spoiled their ballots in the 2016 election. “They cared enough about democracy to go and vote, but they had nothing to vote for.”

It appears that Pallister is intent on calling an election this year — even though one isn’t scheduled until October 2020. Lamont says that could backfire on the premier.

Governments that call “an opportunistic election” often see the strategy backfire and “lose a ton of seats,” he said.

Pallister’s austerity measures will wind up shrinking the economy, he predicted.

“Good health care and good education and good infrastructure aren’t just costs to be cut. They are the foundation of a modern economy,” Lamont said. “They’re what makes an economy competitive.”

An early election would put the party at a financial disadvantage to the other main parties, especially the Conservatives, who finished 2018 with more than $1 million in the bank. The Liberals, meanwhile, had just over $53,000 in cash on hand while the NDP had $194,000.

But Lamont said his party would be ready for an election when it is called. Candidate vetting is well under way, and a number of nomination meetings will be held in the coming month.

“We should have a full slate of candidates and a fully funded campaign,” he said. “That’s our goal.”

Meanwhile, the federal wing of the party is also focusing on election readiness, with a national vote slated for October.

In a session on the economy and the environment, International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr said Liberals have a lot to toot their horns about as the federal vote draws near.

He said 900,000 jobs have been created in Canada since the Liberals were elected in 2015. The Canada Child Benefit, introduced by the Trudeau government, has lifted 875,000 Canadians out of poverty, including 300,000 children, he said. A total of 282,000 Manitoba children have benefited from the program, he added.

Meanwhile, the World Bank has ranked Canada as the easiest country out of all G-20 nations in which to start a business, Carr said.

“Let’s be bold as Liberals and ask… Canadians: Are you better off today than you were when the Harper government was defeated in 2015?” he said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca