Home Election Tracker Federal NDP This is a radically transformed Canada says Alistair MacGregor MP

This is a radically transformed Canada says Alistair MacGregor MP

Wed Dec 18 in Langford | Thurs Dec 19 in Duncan

alistair macgregor, santa hat, holiday open house
Alistair MacGregor, MP (Cowichan-Malahat-Langford) at his holiday open house in Langford on Dec 18, 2024. [Island Social Trends]
CANADA-USA NEWS & ANALYSIS

Wednesday December 18, 2024 | LANGFORD, BC [Posted 11:30 pm]

by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends


Alistair MacGregor, MP (Cowichan-Malahat-Langford) held his annual Holiday Open House in Langford this evening.

As he does each year, MacGregor chatted with everyone in the room, one on one. Then he delivered remarks to the room.

MacGregor’s annual year-end speech is a unique impassioned delivery that he seems to save up for in-person remarks to a friendly room.

alistair macgregor, langford city councillors, dana lajeunesse
Alistair MacGregor at his Holiday Open House in Langford on Dec 18, 2024 with local officials (from left): Langford Councllor Colby Harder, Langford Counclilor Kimberley Guiry, Alistair MacGregor MP, Dana Lajeunesse (MLA) for Juan de Fuca-Malahat, and Langford Councllor Mary Wagner. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

“It’s been a wild couple of days in Ottawa,” said MacGregor in his opening remarks.

He was referring to the resignation of Chrystia Freeland from cabinet and role of Deputy Minister and Finance Minister, the nearly instantaneous swearing-in of Dominic Leblanc as the new Minister of Finance within hours of Freeland’s departure, and the long-awaited Fall Economic Statement simply tabled without fanfare in the House of Commons. And somehow the Fall meeting of Canada’s Premiers got lost in the shuffle of the day on December 16.

All of that was followed by more backbenchers suggesting or demanding that Trudeau resign as leader. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh — whose MLAs have been supporting the Liberals in the House for over two years — insisted it’s now time for Trudeau to resign.

alistair macgregor, speech, xmas
Alistair MacGregor, MP (Cowichan-Malahat-Langford) addressed about 60 people at this Holiday Season Open House in Langford, Dec 18, 2024. [Island Social Trends]

A bumpy ride in Fall 2024:

“Ineptitude and half-measures — policies that look like they were written on the back of a napkin” as well as “rage farming, and bumper sticker politics and phrases that come out in rhymes” is how MacGregor described the dynamic of federal politics by the Liberals and the Conservatives in Ottawa in the past fall session.

“It’s not leaving a lot of hope,” he shared with the crowd of about 60 people.

alistair macgregor, mp, food bill
Alistair MacGregor, MP (Cowichan-Malahat-Langford) in the House of Commons, Nov 27, 2024. [CPAC]

“I’ve always approached this job by thinking about what the least fortunate members of my community and what they really need. You don’t build community, a province or country just by being a collection of individuals. All of the greatest things that we achieve in this country and the way that we’ve lifted each other up is by helping one another. And we do this by collectively using our resources to make sure that we build a country that we can not only be proud of but one that we want to leave for future generations,” said MacGregor without any speech notes.

“It’s been a tough slog over the last number of years. The other federal parties haven’t made it really easy. But with my other colleagues we have been able to build a Canada now where over a million Canadians are getting access to dental care for the first time.” The NDP contributed to the government’s legislative framework that will allow the provinces to negotiate with Ottawa to build a Pharmacare plan.

teen winter ice skating, langford

Who was there:

MacGregor acknowledged newly elected Dana Lajeunesse MLA (Juan de Fuca-Malahat) for attending, as well as most of Langford council including Mayor Scott Goodmanson (and his wife Katy Earl) and municipal councillors Lillian Szpak, Colby Harder, Kimberley Guiry, Mark Morley and Mary Wagner.

alistair macgregor, lillian szpak
Alistair MacGregor MP (Cowichan-Malahat-Langford) with Langford City Councillor Lillian Szpak, Dec 18, 2024. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

“City councillors do a lot of work for your communities,” said MacGregor. “Federal politics is up here at about 30,000 feet but you guys are at ground level — you have a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders.”

MacGregor thanked his loyal staffers– “an amazing team” — for their constituency and parliamentary support work, naming Ashley, Leanne, Lucas and Math in the room as well as Sean and Adam in Ottawa. The constituency has about 125,000 people. “Face to face we’re making sure people are getting the help they need, they get the services they need, and that their interests are being represented in Ottawa.”

welcome table, alistair macgregor event
Sign-in table at the Dec 18, 2024 open house in Langford.

Attending in the audience were Hans Frederiksen (and his wife Rose) of the late John Horgan‘s former constituency office, and long-time NDP campaign worker Sue Stroud.

Connie Foss More of Sue Big Oil was there. Former SD62 trustee Neil Poirier attended.

Langford-Highlands MLA Ravi Parmar was not in attendance. Langford Councillor Keith Yacucha was unable to attend.

westshore parks and rec, wspr, santa swin, family skate

Understanding the angst:

“People are hurting and angry,” said MacGregor about the real experience of people struggling with the cost of living, high rents, continuing grocery price increases and other economic pressures. “It’s okay to have these emotions that we cannot run away from,” he said. “We need to meet people where they’re at.”

“But we don’t want to feed it with more rage-baiting and turning people against one another because that’s not how we build a country and community,” said MacGregor in his 14-minute speech.

alistair macgregor, canada day, 2024
Alistair MacGregor, MP (Cowichan-Malahat-Langford) on Canada Day July 1, 2024. [X]

“The chickens are coming home to roost right now,” said MacGregor, articulating that these current economic conditions are a result of “four decades of successive Liberal and Conservative governments that have put in place the corporate deference that has built the policies that you see,” said MacGregor, with a verbal ease that makes the problem understandable.

“You’ve seen a federal government that’s pulled itself out of the housing game, leaving struggling municipalities and provinces to fill in the gaps. This housing crisis that we’re in wasn’t built overnight. The cost of living crisis is happening at the exact same time when many corporate sectors are seeing absolutely sky-high record profits.”

Oil and gas, telecom, and grocery and retail have seen mergers and acquisitions so that there is less competition and less choice, the MP said. Of the remaining companies, most are subsidiaries, he said.

alistair macgregor, colin plant, randall garrison, federal, ndp
Two long-time NDP MP’s were there to back Colin Plant in his bid for NDP candidate in Saanich-Gulf Islands, on April 27, 2024 in Sidney, BC. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

He said that politicians sent to Ottawa by the voters need to “have the guts to face up against that — we need a wholesale rethinking of how politics is done in Ottawa”.

“It makes me mad that my community members are suffering because we have this level of indifference that has lasted decade, after decade after decade,” said MacGregor to a fully attentive audience.

xmas tree, langford legion
Decorate Christmas tree at the Langford Legion, Dec 2024. [Island Social Trends]

“That is the stuff that keeps me going,” said the three-term MP who is running for a fourth term next year.

“It is a systemic change. We have to have this ability to imagine a Canada that is better, one where we’re going to put people before profit. I know that’s a much-used slogan but we’ve got to start living that. We’ve got to start sending politicians to Ottawa who are actually going to fight for that.”

monk office, holiday season

Accomplishments in 2024:

MacGregor and the NDP are pleased with the new dental plan that has served over one million seniors on a single income who haven’t been to the dentist for years, which often leads to health issues that are later more costly to the health-care system.

He lauded the emerging Pharmacare plan that has started with dental as well as introducing free contraception and coverage of diabetes support (things that are already in place in BC). He said that over the past 50 years the NDP have led health care reform in Canada.

alistair macgregor, santa hat
Alistair MacGregor, MP (Cowichan-Malahat-Langford) at his Holiday Open House in Langford, Dec 18, 2024. [Island Social Trends]

MacGregor is also pleased that the NDP has protected workers in federally-regulated industries with the right to strike and a ban on replacement workers, as well as strengthened child care agreements with various provinces.

This is a “radically transformed Canada”, says MacGregor.

castle liquor store, sooke, christmas greetings

2025 election looming:

MacGregor will be heading into his fourth election campaign in 2025. He was first elected in 2015, and re-elected in 2019 and 2021.

“After nine years that fire and passion to do right by you is still there,” said MacGregor. He is Victoria-born and has lived in the Cowichan Valley for 30 years. “The whole south Island is my home,” he said, adding that “we live in one of the best places in Canada — just about as far away from Ottawa as you can get — but that’s not necessarily a bad thing”.

Alistair MacGregor, vote
NDP incumbent Alistair MacGregor was out voting on September 10, 2021 — the first day of Advance Voting in the 44th federal election. [Twitter]

As to when the next election will be? MacGregor thinks it would be best if the Liberals were to hold a leadership race, present a budget, then call an election. The scheduled date for the next Canadian federal election is October 20, 2025 but it could well come sooner.

“It’s going to be a rough and tumble 2025,” said MacGregor, adding that the 44th Parliament doesn’t seem to have a lot of runway left in it.

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Open house in Duncan on Dec 19:

MacGregor will hold another open house on the east side of his riding on Thursday evening (Dec 19) in Duncan, sharing that event with new NDP MLA Debra Toporowski (the BC government’s Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Health) at the Cowichan Exhibition Grounds, 7380 Trans Canada Highway, 4 to 6 pm. Constituency office contact: 1-866-609-9998.

Alistair MacGregor, Debra Toporowski, holiday open house

The footprint of Cowichan-Malahat-Langford includes Duncan, Lake Cowichan and North Cowichan within the Regional District of Cowichan Valley as well as Langford and Highlands and areas north of Sooke and Metchosin, and several small islands.

cowichan malahat langford, electoral area map
Electoral area map for the federal riding of Cowichan-Malahat-Langford. [Elections Canada]

With practical considerations for local travel, the riding (aka electoral area) falls to two sides of the Malahat stretch of Highway 1.

The transportation challenges of relying on the Malahat for getting two and from Duncan (where MacGregor’s constituency office is located) and Langford (within the Greater Victoria area) are evident. The Malahat takes time and can be challenging in snowy weather.

Vancouver Island stronghold:

There are seven federal electoral areas on Vancouver Island, six of which are currently held by the NDP.

ist main, macgregor open house
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