Taking on Conservative budget the ‘fight of my life,’ Turmel says

With two months left as interim leader of the New Democrats, Nycole Turmel vowed Wednesday morning to make the upcoming Conservative budget the “fight of my life,” naming jobs and health care as specific priorities for the upcoming session.

On jobs, the focus was mostly on broad policy ideas the NDP have massaged for months in the House of Commons — that Canadians, struggling under an economic downturn, ought to have help from the federal government on jobs and health care in order to make ends meet.

She also said the prime minister was too preoccupied with MP pensions, which have recently been criticized for being too large and too costly for taxpayers by groups like the Canadian Taxpayers Association.

Turmel suggested Wednesday there be an arms-length committee set up to review MP pensions, but that Prime Minister Stephen Harper ought to be more concerned about maintaining retirement savings for average Canadians.

On the jobs front, she also noted the particular recent case of Electro-Motive in London, a Caterpillar plant currently embroiled in a labour dispute that’s resulted in a lockout. The plant has been a stop for NDP leadership candidates of late, and Turmel made sure to mention it again.

“This is a company that took Stephen Harper’s corporate tax cuts over the years, but instead of creating jobs in Canada, they’ve locked the doors on their own workers,” she told the crowd of NDP staffers and MPs crammed in the railway room of Centre Block on Parliament Hill. “They told them either they take a 50 per cent cut in their pay and their pensions, or their jobs will be shipped to the U.S.”

Caterpillar, which owns Electro-Motive, has said little on the dispute.

Turmel said the situation proves the prime minister’s “inaction” on job creation.

She then switched gears to health care, telling everyone the NDP “won’t let our cherished health care wither and die.”

In December, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty handed the provinces a new deal on health transfers that will, after 2016-17 be congruent on growth with a guaranteed base level, rather than a steady 6 per cent. The plan was quickly panned by a number of provincial finance ministers, including those from Ontario and Quebec, who decried the proposal that they said was presented without discussion.

The NDP, Turmel said, will act as a sympathetic ear in Ottawa for the provinces.

“The fight over health care services of Canadians is far from over,” she said, directing her comments at the premiers. “We will work with you to take on these Conservatives, to improve health care, to hire more doctors and nurses, to implement practical solutions to reduce prescription drug costs.”

The rhetoric was both an echo of the NDP’s minority report on pre-budget consultations and a preview of how the party will approach the government in the coming months. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Turmel was vague when asked whether the NDP would put forth a specific, shorter, list of requests for the upcoming budget. Wednesday’s speech appeared to confirm the party’s direction is to attempt to set a critical, socially minded meta-narrative for the time being.

Turmel also noted her temporary stay as party leader will soon come to a close, but that it shouldn’t matter, in the end.

“In a few short months, we will have a new leader in place,” she said. “But New Democrats are not going to wait around until then.”

Original Article
Source: iPolitics 
Author: Colin Horgan