Mandryk: Downtrodden federal Liberals still think that they can win

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There’s nothing quite like a leadership race to inject hope into a floundering political party.

One gets it. Sometimes, you just need a little hope … whether it’s grounded in reality or not.

And few had a greater sense of hopelessness than the federal Liberals, who were in utter chaos even before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his pending resignation.

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However, hope springs eternal … or so seems the case for the closest thing Saskatchewan has to an elected federal government representative — Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, who was raised in Saskatchewan and was once employed in the provincial justice ministry’s constitutional branch under the Roy Romanow NDP government.

Wilkinson now claims Liberal hopes are soaring beyond vague aspirations of preventing Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives from absolutely crushing them in the upcoming federal election.

“If you had asked me that a couple months ago, I would have said, in our heart of hearts, that’s probably what we were aiming to do — try and hold Poilievre to a minority,” Wilkinson said in an interview this week after announcing in Saskatoon $41 million in federal government spending to support the first carbon-neutral copper mine in Canada.

“But today I actually think we can win. I think we will. And I think the polls will actually show that.”

Wilkinson noted a recent EKOS poll showing the Liberals have moved to within seven points of the Conservatives, but said he was as heartened by a political event in Saskatoon Monday night while stumping for presumed leadership frontrunner Mark Carney.

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A Liberal event that would normally have trouble attracting flies drew 120 people.

Similarly, he says his own North Vancouver riding membership has quadrupled to between 1,200 and 1,300 for this leadership race in which every constituency in the country is allotted 100 points, regardless of its membership numbers.

“Even if you are in Brampton where there are 5,000 members versus Yorkton-Melville that may get 100 (members) you get the same number of points,” Wilkinson said. “So there are a lot of leadership candidates who are very focussed on Saskatchewan ridings.”

What’s re-engaging Liberals — and perhaps other Canadians, as well — is the havoc U.S. President Donald Trump is creating, Wilkinson argued.

“I think Canadians are increasingly offended by some of the things being said in the United States, including ‘becoming the 51st state’ garbage,” the federal minister said.

According to Wilkinson, the clear answer for the Liberals and the country is Carney; the two men met 25 years ago while in business and seeking investments for clean technology.

“Mark Carney is actually the deepest thinker in this country on finance and economic issues,” Wilkinson said. “That’s reflected in not only his experience with the Bank of Canada but also with the Bank of England …

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“But he’s also someone who has, throughout his career, evidenced a strong concern about the climate issue. I think that marriage is exactly what Canadians are looking for.”

Wilkinson scoffed at the criticism that Carney is a repackaged version of what Canadians have got from Liberals for 10 years, arguing it’s the Conservatives offering career politicians like Poilievre, who “has never had another job since being elected to the House of Commons as a 25-year-old.”

“That was the same with (former Conservative leader) Andrew Scheer,” Wilkinson said. “The comparison is stark. I actually think if the ballot box question is ‘Who is best to deal with Donald Trump?’ … My goodness. It’s an easy choice. And it’s not Pierre Poilievre.”

Recently hammered by Scheer and Poilievre as just another radical environment minister following Catherine McKenna and Steven Guilbeault, Wilkinson said it may be Conservatives who now have the image problem.

“If you were CEO of a company that was embarking on a major negotiation with another party, would you hire someone that has no experience in negotiations?” Wilkinson asked. “Would you hire somebody with no background in business? Because that’s what the Conservatives are proposing.”

It all still seems like vague hope … but, for Wilkinson, at least it’s hope.

Mandryk is the political columnist for the Regina Leader-Post and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

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