Category: Canadian Politics

Kevin Vuong blasts Justin Trudeau over election interference

We don’t often hear from Independent MP Kevin Vuong. The Liberal Party of Canada disavowed Vuong as their candidate during the 2021 election in order to insulate themselves after some previous – but serious – allegations against the Toronto resident came to light during the campaign. Vuong ended up winning the election and now sits as an independent MP for the riding of Spadina–Fort York.

Today, during Question Period, Vuong stood up to ask Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the alleged CCP election interference scheme currently dogging his former party.

“Mr. Speaker, foreign operatives have interfered in Canada’s electoral system and our democracy. Media and CSIS documents have indicated that members of the Liberal Party and caucus were involved. Money and instant on-demand supporters were used to get pro-China candidates elected, and anti-China ones defeated. Cabinet and PMO were well-briefed on the extent of foreign interference, yet nothing was done. Why is the Prime Minister eager to turn a blind eye to shady Liberal nominations, sketchy donations, and having pro-Beijing MPs in his own caucus? Will his personally-selected special rapporteur also be investigating the Liberal Party?

Independent MP Kevin Vuong during Question Period, March 8th, 2023

In response, the Prime Minister gave what has become his standard boilerplate response which you can watch below.

Vuong elicited cheers from the opposition benches whose members may have been surprised to hear a former Liberal take the gloves off to take on his former party.

The now independent MP was ejected as a candidate for the Liberal Party in 2021 after it came to light that he was facing a fine from the Canadian Forces for failing to disclose a previous criminal charge to his commanding officer. That charge had been withdrawn in 2019.

Of course, Vuong’s allegations of CCP interference have not been proven in any court. No charges are pending, and no criminal investigation has been confirmed.

It is still unknown if Justin Trudeau knew about Beijing’s efforts to fund the election campaigns of Liberal candidates during the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, though Global reports that PMO was briefed twice about these concerns.

Marc Garneau retires from Parliament

Marc Garneau is retiring from Parliament after almost 15 years. The Liberal MP marked his controlled descent onto terra firma in the House of Commons in 2008, elected as a Member of Parliament for the riding of Westmount–Ville-Marie (now Notre-Dame-de-Grace–Westmount) in Montreal. The former astronaut then slogged it out in opposition during Stephen Harper’s rise to a majority government in 2011 – until 2015 when the Liberals formed government under the leadership of Justin Trudeau.

The first Canadian in space launched his bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada against the low payload son of a former Prime Minister in 2012, but aborted when it became clear that Trudeau’s selection by Liberal members was following a single-stage-to-orbit trajectory.

In government, Garneau would go on to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Transport, but eventually found himself on the backbench in a push by the PM to renew the faces in cabinet and for superficial gender balance.

Garneau is a cautionary tale for anyone seeking office while relying on their resume to cement their success as a legislator. Though he had some success in cabinet, the navy captain had perhaps the most impressive credentials of any Parliamentarian, but was eventually jettisoned, with the Prime Minister favouring flash over sustained burn.

The Trudeau government’s style has been heavily focused on image in place of the substantive; it is a government concerned more about how their look will play on social media, rather than how their policy will find its foundation.

The former NASA shuttle mission specialist departs at a time when speculation is growing about the successor to Justin Trudeau.

The former private school teacher turned G7 leader is facing a new scandal in Parliament over the alleged interference of the Chinese Communist government during the 2019 and 2021 Canadian federal elections. Beijing is alleged to have agitated and put resources toward the election of a Canadian government led by Justin Trudeau.

During what may be an election year, it is also during this part of the Parliamentary calendar when those who have options outside of elected life start to seriously consider their escape trajectory. This is especially true for ageing governments whose re-election isn’t as likely today as it was yesterday.

Trudeau is more likely than Garneau to be smarting over the loss of his Tik Tok account – now banned from the devices of Parliamentarians as a security risk posed by China. Indeed, Garneau is certainly a man out of time. As the Prime Minister’s image wanes, we may all yearn for an era of renewed substance.

Mapping the results of the 2019 Alberta provincial election

Map release day is always a good day. I’ve been griding away putting together a provincial map of the 2019 Alberta provincial election results. In this election, the newly formed United Conservative Party won a majority government under the leadership of Jason Kenney, defeating incumbent Premier Rachel Notley and the NDP.

The 2019 Alberta provincial election results map with a preview of the vote distribution of Fort Mcmurray-Lac La Biche

You can browse the provincial result riding by riding and click/tap each riding to zoom in and view the results poll-by-poll at a level which describes how different neighbourhoods in Calgary and Edmonton (for example) voted in this election.

The Edmonton-Riverview results map shows an NDP win, but colouring the map on strength (green) and weakness (red) of the United Conservative Party reveals which neighbourhoods where the party that would win the election turned out their vote

Expanding the “poll winner” control will allow you to colour code the riding polls by the strength of each party which contested the riding. Even the relative strength of parties and candidates with little hope can be discerned with ease.

The Calgary-Buffalo map shows the polls where the NDP and UCP battled for downtown Calgary. Expanding the tooltip at the bottom right allows us to see voter turnout poll-by-poll

A helpful tooltip that shows a pie chart of each riding – and at the poll level, each poll – can be expanded to list the candidates and voter turnout for each part of the province.

You may also find it useful to search for ridings by name or by candidate using the search bar at the top of the maps page. Each riding also shows adjacent ridings at the bottom of the page which makes it easy to browse other contests nearby.

A close up of the Edmonton-Gold Bar results map shows houses and apartment buildings. Get a street-level view of the results of the 2019 Alberta provincial election!

The unification of the Progressive Conservative party and the Wildrose certainly changed the political map if you compare the results to 2015 and to 2012. In 2019, a sea of blue with one island of orange in Edmonton with a peppering of orange in Calgary and Lethbridge is the sum of the 2019 map.

The 2015 Alberta provincial election results map shows the NDP defeat of the Progressive Conservative party with the Wildrose in Official Opposition

The 2012 Alberta provincial election results map shows the contest between Alison Redford‘s PCs and Danielle Smith‘s Wildrose party.

So, do take a look! The United Conservative Party’s leadership race is underway after the resignation of Jason Kenney as party leader. How will the party fare against the NDP in the upcoming 2023 Provincial election? Party strategists may find these maps helpful to understand the historical context of politics in each region of Alberta and how the vote has evolved over the past decade.

On a technical note, I switched the maps over from raster to vector format meaning they should look smooth at any magnification. I hope to talk more about that in a later post. As a fun side-effect, you can also tilt the maps!

Downtown Calgary looking south showing UCP areas of UCP strength