Latest news with #Conservative-leaning
Hamilton Spectator
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Very proud to be Canadian? That's less likely now for supporters of one party, survey suggests
OTTAWA — With U.S President Donald Trump making economic and expansionist threats against his northern neighbours, a new survey suggests that pride in being Canadian has increased among supporters of all federal parties — except Conservatives. The number of Canadians who feel proud of their country has rebounded overall, according to research shared exclusively with the Star from the Environics Institute, with 62 per cent now indicating that they are very proud to be Canadian, compared to 53 per cent who said the same last September. 'This change marks the first time that this measure has increased by more than a few percentage points from one survey to the next, since our tracking first began in 1985,' a report outlining the survey's findings notes. But when the results are broken down by federal party support, Conservative voters bucked the trend posted by Liberal, NDP and Bloc Québécois supporters, who all showed increased pride in their national identity. Seventy-seven per cent of Liberal supporters now say they are very proud to be Canadian, up five points from last fall, while the proportion of NDP supporters who felt the same way grew from 61 to 68 per cent. The number of Bloc supporters who felt very proud of being Canadian, meanwhile, grew from 30 per cent to 42 per cent, although the report notes that the finding should be treated with caution due to a smaller number of responses from those who backed the traditionally separatist party. By contrast, fewer Conservative voters said they were very proud of being Canadian compared to last fall, dropping from 46 to 43 per cent. The current number is the lowest level logged by Conservative-leaning supporters since the research institute first began tracking this question in 1985. The Environics Institute launched the survey after this spring's federal election, which followed a campaign defined by how parties platformed Canada's strengths against the backdrop of Trump's aggression. The institute released the results of a companion survey last week, which suggested that Canadian public sentiment toward the U.S. had plunged to new lows. The new survey was conducted via telephone with 2,000 Canadians from May 5 to 18, with a sample of this size producing a margin of error within plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Andrew Parkin, the institute's executive director, said pride in Canada has seen the steepest decline overall among Conservative backers. 'The Conservatives today are about half as likely as Conservatives in 2010 to have strong pride in being Canadian,' Parkin said. But he added that the results aren't necessarily surprising, because supporters within the blue tent are contending with an election result for which they don't have much enthusiasm. 'The things that they think are wrong about the direction that the country was heading (in) are not going to change because the government didn't change, or at least the party in government didn't change,' Parkin said. Parkin said a result he did find surprising was that while pride in being Canadian remains lowest in Quebec, the province is the only part of the country where the proportion of Canadians who feel very proud of their country is higher, not lower, than it was in 2010. Compared to 2024, strong pride in being Canadian jumped eight points in Quebec. Alberta, where secessionist sentiment has recently surfaced in some quarters, had a seven-point increase. Also of note, Parkin said, was how strong pride in Canadian identity saw a resurgence in every region of the country, aside from Atlantic Canada, which dropped from 64 per cent in 2024 to 62 per cent now. 'The fact that it's not the highest in Atlantic Canada, where traditionally, going back, it would have been among the highest, I think (is) worth noticing,' he said.
National Observer
a day ago
- Business
- National Observer
Canada's Conservatives still aren't serious about housing
He was so close to getting it. Jacob Mantle, the newly-elected thirty-something Conservative MP for York-Durham, rose in the House of Commons on Tuesday to make a point about housing costs. 'Oxford Economics reports that Toronto's housing market ranks among the worst in the world for affordability. At the same time, mortgage delinquency rates in Toronto are higher than at any time during the pandemic. The financial burden is suffocating the next generation of homebuyers.' But Mantle wasn't actually interested in proposing solutions to that problem. Instead, he wanted to whine about the fact that the Carney government isn't going to table a budget until the fall, which the government has defended on the basis that it will be better able to account for the fallout from Donald Trump's tariffs by then. And despite his supposed concern over housing, Mantle was dismissive of the government's plan to embrace and scale up modular housing in Canada. 'My generation refuses to live in a shipping container,' Mantle said. For what it's worth, I suspect many members of his generation (and mine) would be happy to live in the sort of modified shipping containers that are being designed and built right now, including the ones in his own city. But modular housing is so much more than just the use and conversion of shipping containers. It's an entirely new approach to homebuilding, one that uses factories and their inherent economies of scale to drive down costs. They can be one or two-storey, single or multi-family, and configured in any number of layouts and sizes. In an environment where driving down construction costs is a nearly existential issue for Mantle's generation, you'd think he would be more open to new ideas and economic innovation — especially when it promises to use more Canadian materials and labour. Then again, if you've been paying close attention to the Conservative Party of Canada's approach to this issue, his behaviour was entirely predictable. Under Pierre Poilievre's leadership, the party and its MPs have repeatedly highlighted the very real problem of rising housing costs in Canada and the disproportionate impacts they have on younger people. But when it comes to actual solutions to that problem — ones, at least, that don't involve cutting taxes or regulations and assuming the market will magically solve the problem it has helped create — those same Conservatives either disappear into the metaphorical bushes or come out on the other side of the issue. In Calgary, for example, opposition to a city-wide measure to increase affordability and density while reducing sprawl came mostly from Conservative-leaning councilors like Dan McLean, Peter Demong and Sean Chu, with some conspicuous cheerleading work coming from federal Conservative MP Greg McLean. In British Columbia, provincial Conservative party leader John Rustad decided to go to bat for the very 'gatekeepers' standing in the way of new housing that Poilievre had repeatedly promised he would eliminate. Even in Ontario, where Conservative politicians have been more visibly and vocally on-side with pro-supply measures, the results of the Ford government's efforts have been underwhelming, to say the least. We are not in a moment where we can afford to reflexively turn our noses up at potential solutions. And yet, Conservative politicians like Mantle seem determined to find fault in every proposed approach that doesn't flatter their own pre-existing ideological and political biases towards cutting taxes and reducing government involvement. Modular housing will not be, in and of itself, the solution to a problem that has been building for more than two decades. But that's only because nothing on its own will, or could, be the solution. The Carney government has embraced modular housing as a way to lower costs and improve affordability in Canada's housing market. Canada's Conservatives, on the other hand, seem determined to miss the mass timber for the trees. Instead, we need every possible lever being pulled right now, from regulatory reform and improved operating efficiencies to direct government involvement, procurement, and even development. Mantle is right that the status quo has failed his generation. But he's wrong to indignantly oppose a good-faith effort at challenging and changing it, and all the more so as he pretends to speak on behalf of an entire generation. We can only hope that his party and its online proxies don't decide to turn modular housing into this year's iteration of the 15-minute city and throw a self-evidently good and decent idea into the stew of online conspiracies it always seems to have at low boil. Yes, that might feed the eternally hungry appetites of their increasingly online political base. But it won't do anything to address the problem Conservatives like Mantle claim to care about. At some point, Canadians may conclude that they're not actually all that interested in solving it.
Hamilton Spectator
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Over before a single vote cast? Redistribution, turnout, and political shifts played role in Niagara South flip
A combination of electoral boundary changes, higher turnout, and a collapse in third-party support helped Conservative Fred Davies defeat Liberal incumbent Vance Badawey in Niagara South during the April 28 federal election. Davies, a Niagara Region councillor for Port Colborne, won 47.8 per cent of the vote, compared to Badawey's 43.9 per cent, according to Elections Canada validated results . The result marks a significant political shift in a riding that had leaned Liberal for nearly a decade. But analysts say the change may have occurred before a single vote was cast. The new Niagara South riding was created during the 2022 federal redistribution. It absorbed Fort Erie from the Niagara Falls riding, and ceded parts of St. Catharines, replacing more progressive areas with Conservative-leaning territory. 'In the 2021 election, Conservatives actually would have won Niagara South on its current boundaries by around 300 votes,' said EKOS political analyst Earl Washburn. 'Adding (Fort Erie) to the riding made it significantly more Conservative. It basically flipped the riding without an election even happening.' Fort Erie leaned strongly Conservative in 2021, while parts of St. Catharines, now removed, had supported the Liberals and NDP. That left Badawey, who held the former Niagara Centre since 2015, starting the race behind. Washburn said Davies also benefited from a dramatic collapse in support for both the NDP and the People's Party of Canada. In 2021, the NDP received about 25 per cent of the vote in Niagara Centre. In 2025, that number fell to just over five per cent, with NDP candidate Chantal McCollum raking in 5.61 per cent of the vote in the riding. 'That NDP vote, most of it looked like it went Liberal, but a little bit probably went Conservative,' Washburn said. 'And the People's Party vote? That probably just all went Conservative.' He noted many PPC voters had been new to federal politics in 2019, galvanized by pandemic-era rhetoric, and remained engaged under Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. 'In 2021, it was the pandemic,' he said. 'Those (voters), for lack of a better term, were in echo chambers and they're bubbles right? That kept their momentum.' This consolidation on the right helped Davies edge ahead in a newly redrawn, politically volatile riding. 'When the People's Party shed out, and when Poilievre became Conservative leader, those people flocked to him, because he's the kind of (candidate) that would appeal to them.' According to Elections Canada, the election saw a voter turn out rate of 68.65 per cent. This translates to the highest voter turnout rate in 30 years. Washburn believes the higher participation likely helped the Conservatives in ridings like Niagara South. 'You kind of saw that in 2021,' he said. 'I think you're getting a lot of new voters that were vying for the People's Party in 2021. So those people definitely came out and voted again but they didn't vote PPC, they went Conservative.' Elections Canada won't be releasing poll-by-poll results for several months but Washburn noted that early trends suggest Fort Erie voted heavily Conservative, while Welland and parts of St. Catharines leaned NDP or Liberal. Port Colborne, hometown to both Davies and Badawey, appeared to split its support. 'Then you have Port Colborne, that's a bit of a mix,' he said. 'Of course both candidates are from (Port Colborne) so who knows how that broke out, just based on their own personal popularity.' Davies will now represent a diverse district that includes Fort Erie, Welland, Thorold, and Port Colborne. His long-standing regional profile and focus on local issues may have helped him appeal to voters looking for a change with a familiar face. The newly drawn Niagara South riding stands as a case study in how redistribution, voter turnout, and partisan realignment can reshape electoral outcomes. Elections Canada will release poll-by-poll results and data in the coming weeks.
Calgary Herald
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
'Behemoth of Conservative support:' Why Liberals' hoped-for breakthrough in Calgary fizzled
Their campaign did all the right things but ran into a brick wall fortifying Calgary's Conservative fortress, said the campaign manager for Calagary Centre Liberal candidate Linsday Luhnau. Article content Article content It's a sentiment shared by non-Tory candidates, particularly Liberal, whose efforts failed to breach that bastion to realize a much-discussed breakthrough in the city, with four seats supposedly at play. Article content Article content When the dust from Monday's federal election cleared, the Liberals were left with one seat, a status they carried into the contest and their one sitting MP – George Chahal – was defeated. Article content Article content 'Calgary is such a massive behemoth of Conservative support and voters view Conservatives as the home team,' said Hannah Wilson, campaign manager for Lindsay Luhnau, who went down to defeat at the hands of Calgary Centre incumbent Greg McLean. Article content The riding, along with Skyview, McKnight and Confederation, were widely considered fertile for Liberal success among the 11 Calgary constituencies, but in the end, only the latter one fell into the Grit camp, and narrowly at that. Article content Wilson said she's convinced Luhnau and her team ran a top-notch campaign and encountered encouraging signs along the way, including a receptive doorstep audience, an excited volunteer group and motivated Liberal voter base. Article content Article content Article content But that campaign got on its feet five days after the writ was dropped and against a well-established incumbent meant 'we were always playing catch-up.' Article content Luhnau, did well among advance voters, she said but some of the election day locales, such as Inglewood, proved more Conservative-leaning than expected. Article content 'A lot of voters felt left out (by the Liberal government) and that was hard to overcome – I don't think it was Lindsay herself,' she said. Article content Liberal leader Carney, she said, might not have communicated his pro-energy stance clearly enough, added Wilson.
Winnipeg Free Press
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
ER doctor takes back Winnipeg riding from Tories
Doug Eyolfson will again leave the emergency room and head to Parliament Hill after taking down Marty Morantz, the Conservative incumbent in Winnipeg West. 'In 2019 when I lost, I vowed that I was going to be back one day, and I never really gave that up,' Eyolfson, 61, told the Free Press at his campaign party event at the Portage Avenue Holiday Inn. 'I always kept working at this while doing my day job, and I had a feeling that one day it was going to happen again. It was worth every moment.' JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Liberal candidate Doug Eyolfson greets supporters at his campaign party after winning the Winnipeg West riding, Monday. The doctor, who often spoke to media on the state of Manitoba health care during the COVID-19 pandemic, was the MP for the area for one term, from 2015 to 2019, but lost to Morantz in both of the subsequent elections. Over at Morantz's campaign office, the mood was gloomy as polling results rolled in. Supporters, many of whom were young, wiped away tears. Morantz was not at his campaign office by 11 p.m., but his campaign manager said he planned to speak with supporters and media. During Elections Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election. Morantz and Eyolfson appeared to take different approaches on Election Day. A small convoy of trucks and sign-twirlers on sidewalks carried blue placards that called on voters to cast their ballot for Morantz. Eyolfson stuck to the bus benches and lawn signs that had been in place all month. Morantz, 62, a lawyer before entering politics, was the city councillor for Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood from 2014 to 2018, serving on then-mayor Brian Bowman's executive policy committee. In 2023, the name of the riding was changed from Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley to Winnipeg West and gained Conservative-leaning Tuxedo and the rural municipality of Rosser. The change was made to improve voter parity and balance the scales tilted due to low population growth in the original riding compared to elsewhere in Manitoba. Malak AbasReporter Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg's North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak. Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
