Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s self-proclaimed closure of the working class is bogus. The head of the country’s largest labor organization made the comments on April 18, urging unions to do everything possible to unmask him ahead of the next election.
Canadian Labor Congress president Bea Brasky made the call in a speech to union leaders gathered in Ottawa to strategize ahead of the election. The next general election must be held before 2025.
“We must do everything in our power to bring out the voice that Poulievre is,” Brasky said. We must have no illusions.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also addressed the April 18 rally. In the speech, they heavily criticized the Conservative Party. All three parties compete primarily for Canada’s blue-collar vote.
The war of words began the day after the Liberals presented the federal budget. The budget raised taxes on the wealthy and included funding for NDP priorities like pharmacare and dental care.
Poilievre was not invited to speak at the event. Brasky said Poulievre has been known as an anti-labor politician for 20 years, regardless of what he claims now. My question to you, have you ever seen him walking the picket line anywhere in Canada?
For the past two years, Poulievre has toured Canada to portray himself as a leader who can only understand the pain and anxiety of working Canadians in the current era of declining purchasing power. Conservative spokesman Sebastian Skamsky said in a statement on April 18 that Justin Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh have abandoned working Canadians.
