Nova Scotia election: Tory leader won’t invite Pierre Poilievre to join campaign

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is riding a question of popularity successful astir parts of Canada these days, but you wouldn’t cognize it if you asked the person of Nova Scotia’s incumbent Progressive Conservatives.

Tim Houston, who is seeking a 2nd word successful the premier’s office, said Monday helium had nary plans to invitation Poilievre to articulation him connected the run up of the Nov. 26 provincial election.

“No, due to the fact that … I’m not a subordinate of immoderate national party,” Houston told reporters during a run lawsuit in Halifax.

“There is nary national equivalent to the Nova Scotia PC enactment … determination is simply a Conservative Party of Canada. That’s a wholly antithetic enactment with a antithetic leader. I americium not a subordinate of that party. I person nary volition of inviting the person of the Conservative Party of Canada to run with me.”

He did not notation Poilievre by name.

Houston went connected to explicate that nary existent part exists betwixt the national and provincial wings of the New Democratic Party and the Liberal party.

“I americium not beholden to immoderate national person similar my counterparts successful this predetermination are,” the 54-year-old erstwhile accountant said, referring to provincial NDP Leader Claudia Chender and Liberal Leader Zach Churchill, some of whom are contesting their archetypal predetermination arsenic enactment leaders.

“It would beryllium a invited show if either Mr. Churchill oregon Ms. Chender would enactment Nova Scotians earlier their enactment politics.”

For the past week, however, Houston has often taken partisan shots astatine Churchill, trying to nexus him with the flagging popularity of Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

But that strategy — a favourite among blimpish premiers — tin beryllium risky, said Erin Crandall, a authorities prof astatine Acadia University successful Wolfville, N.S.

“If you’re framing the attachment betwixt a national and provincial enactment arsenic a detriment … it would beryllium contradictory to spell up and run with what would beryllium the equivalent enactment person astatine the national level,” Crandall said.

More importantly, Crandall said the latest polls suggest Atlantic Canadians are not that impressed with Poilievre.

Last month, Abacus Data released the results of a nationalist survey of 1,900 people, showing that 40 per cent of committed voters surveyed successful Atlantic Canada would enactment Poilievre, but that fig was the 2nd lowest successful the country, with Quebec voters showing the slightest involvement successful the Tory person astatine 24 per cent.

On Saturday, Abacus CEO David Colletto released a Nova Scotia canvass showing Houston’s enactment was good up successful elector support, but it was wide that uncovering had small if thing to bash with Poilievre.

“One of the important findings from our … survey is the comparative unpopularity of some Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre successful Nova Scotia,” Colletto said Sunday successful a societal media post. “As successful different provincial elections, Trudeau volition beryllium a factor, but successful (Nova Scotia), truthful excessively could Poilievre.”

While 56 per cent of those surveyed successful Nova Scotia held a antagonistic presumption of Trudeau, Poilievre wasn’t acold down astatine 45 per cent, the provincial canvass indicated.

Crandall suggested Poilievre, good known for his combative, hardline attack to politics, is astir apt facing the aforesaid benignant of pushback that led to the decision past period of New Brunswick’s Progressive Conservative authorities led by Blaine Higgs.

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Under Higgs, the Progressive Conservatives adopted a socially blimpish attack that included championing, among different things, a determination to bid teachers to question parental consent earlier utilizing the preferred pronouns of transgender students nether 16 years of age.

“What we recovered successful New Brunswick was that ended up alienating immoderate traditionally blimpish voters, those who presumption themselves arsenic fiscally blimpish but not socially conservative,” Crandall said. “There does look to beryllium little tolerance for that benignant of attack to politics.”

Poilievre did not instrumentality portion successful the New Brunswick predetermination campaign.

And it’s astir definite Trudeau volition not run successful Nova Scotia.

Churchill, a 40-year-old erstwhile argumentation expert and pupil organizer, said arsenic overmuch connected Monday during a run lawsuit astatine the provincial Liberals’ run office in Halifax.

“We’re moving our ain campaign,” said Churchill, who was archetypal elected to the legislature erstwhile helium was 26. “Tim Houston is trying to instrumentality and fool radical that this provincial predetermination has thing to bash with whose governing the country. It doesn’t. So, no, we don’t program (on inviting Trudeau).”

As for Nova Scotia’s NDP, which the Abacus provincial canvass said was successful a choky contention with the Liberals for 2nd place, Chender was joined connected the run way by national NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh connected Friday and Saturday, marking the extremity of the archetypal week of the campaign.

“Jagmeet is our national person and a friend,” Chender, a 48-year-old lawyer and erstwhile consultant, said Monday during a run lawsuit in Halifax.

“We heard connected the doorsteps however blessed radical are astir things similar the (federal NDP’s) dental attraction programme … radical are truthful excited to yet get dental attraction erstwhile they couldn’t spend to before.”

Crandall said the national NDP’s determination to enactment Trudeau’s number authorities for astir 3 years done a now-defunct assurance and proviso statement astir apt won’t person overmuch of an interaction connected the result of the Nova Scotia election.

“In examination to the Liberals close now, the NDP national person is comparatively popular,” Crandall said. “I don’t deliberation (the national NDP/Liberal alliance) is going to person overmuch of an interaction successful the eyes of (Nova Scotia) voters.”