Thursday March 20, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Today Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre revealed his party’s pla to create ‘Canada Shovel Ready Zones.’
This comes on the same day that Prime Minister Mark Carney announced dropping the GST on the purchase of new and significantly renovated homes, as well as a significant plan to energize infrastructure development across the country in a way that is “faster and at a different scale”.
In the Conservative model, shovel-ready zones would be essentially pre-approved for construction, bypassing the usual approval processes.
The zones would be areas already permitted for construction, which according to the Conservatives means:
• The permits will take less time and be completed when a company decides to build a mine, LNG terminal, or pipeline.
• Thousands of jobs will be created for Canadian workers.
“Control of our economy will be taken back from the Americans,” say the Conservatives in a news release today.
Election context:
That is the same message delivered by Carney today for the Liberals. No party in Canada wants this country to become the so-called “51st state”.
The election which will now be called on Sunday March 23 will set in motion a campaign that pundits say will be a horse-race between the Liberals and the Conservatives.
Polls show the Conservative (once significantly in the lead in national opinion polls) now in a dead heat against the Liberals. The Liberal fortunes have improved since their leadership race and putting Carney in the top job as prime minister.
But there are three other parties with official status in the House of Commons that are also ready for the fight: NDP, Greens, and Bloc Quebecois. All of those parties have also spoken out strongly about protecting Canada’s sovereignty in the face of the economic warfare being directed at Canada by the United States.
There are 343 electoral areas (ridings) across Canada, up from 338 in the last election. Both the Liberals and Conservatives eye the vote-rich southern Ontario regions as well as Quebec. British Columbia has 12 of the 24 NDP MPs at the moment, six of which are on Vancouver Island.
Environment and social safety net:
In the necessary haste to protect Canada from the US onslaught it’s quite possible the environmental impacts may get at least temporarily sidelined.
The smaller parties can likely be counted on to key an eye out for protecting the social safety net during this economic transition. In particular, the NDP are highlighting the need to change the Employment Insurance system so that all workers are covered (presently only 40% are).
===== RELATED:
- Bank of Canada Governor: more uncertainty, tough decisions as trade war escalates (March 20, 2025)
- Carney on tariff challenge: do things faster and at a different scale (March 20, 2025)
- Re-elected Liberal government will drop GST for first time homebuyers (March 20, 2025)
- NEWS SECTIONS: CANADIAN FEDERAL ELECTION 2025 | CANADA-NATIONAL | LIBERAL PARTY of CANADA | CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA | FEDERAL NDP | GREEN PARTY OF CANADA