OTTAWA — Newly sworn-in Labour and Seniors Minister Steven MacKinnon is confident that the Liberals can bounce back from their poor showing in the polls for the past year by drawing a sharper contrast with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s policies.
MacKinnon, MP for Gatineau, Que., took on his new role on Friday, replacing Seamus O’Regan, who announced Thursday he was leaving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, citing personal reasons.
It was a quick fix for the government, as MacKinnon had already been sworn in as a minister for the past six months. He was replacing Karina Gould as government House leader during her maternity leave, but Gould is expected to resume her duties July 31.
As MacKinnon faced reporters on the steps of Rideau Hall in his new role Friday morning, his welcome was a flurry of questions about the calls for a change from several Liberals and what, if anything, Trudeau’s office should do about it.
His answers seemed to indicate that he thinks the government should change nothing.
“We are resolved to continue the work and continue on the path that we have set for Canadians,” he said.
MacKinnon said that while “there is nothing you can take for granted in politics” and that serving Canadians “is something that must be earned every day,” he thinks the Liberal team will be refreshed and ready to go by the time the new session rolls around.
“I detect a resolve among all of my caucus and cabinet colleagues to continue doing the work as we enter what will undoubtedly be a productive year, I think, a challenging year.”
Liberals have been scrambling to find what change they might need since they lost a byelection in a formerly safe Liberal seat in Toronto earlier this summer and are now set to face another byelection in Montreal that will be seen as another test for Trudeau’s leadership.
Former Liberal ministers and one Liberal MP have called on Trudeau to step down, while other unnamed Liberals have called for significant changes in his inner circle or his cabinet.
MacKinnon rejected the suggestion that Canadians are rejecting the Liberals’ programs in a “harsh way” and insisted that the government is “very confident” in the policies it has set.
“We’re also very confident that the contrast between our policies and the policies of our opponents is one that we will continue to make, and one that Canadians, I think, will bring into sharper relief as the year goes on,” he said.
MacKinnon has been involved in politics for decades, having served as an adviser to former New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna from 1988 to 1995 and as national director for the Liberal Party of Canada and adviser to Prime Minister Paul Martin from 2003 to 2006.
He was first elected as an MP in 2015 and was re-elected in 2019 and 2021.
When pressed about any major changes that would need to happen to respond to the Liberals’ poor showing in polls for the past year, MacKinnon chose a reassuring tone, saying that he has seen “a lot of things” in his career in politics.
“I’ve seen things go up. I’ve seen things go down. The one constant is that things change. What we assume to be true today will not necessarily be true tomorrow,” he said.
When pressed about what he meant by that, MacKinnon cited British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan, who famously said “events, dear boy, events,” when asked what was most likely to throw governments off-course during their mandate.
“The fact is that in politics, you can plan all you want, things happen on a daily basis,” MacKinnon said. “I think we’ve seen a lot of them happen all over the world on a daily basis, even as we’ve entered the summer. And so, of course, governments try to plan, manage, but also deal and have the agility to deal with events as they arise.”
The Liberal caucus is set to meet in September, as planned, despite calls from some MPs to hold a summer meeting to discuss the Toronto byelection they lost.
MacKinnon characterized the Liberal caucus as an “incredibly tight-knit group.”
“Of course, we are as diverse in our views and as colourful in our views as the country is. We’re a proxy for the country. So, whether it be today, whether it be last month, whether it be five years ago, we’ve always had interesting discussions,” he said.
He added that the caucus is standing “four-square” behind Trudeau and is “energetically looking forward” to the fall.
National Post
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