Winnipeg Free Press

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Offer valid to Oct. 31. RESERVATIONS REQ’D. 204-885-3330 on any Thurs, Fri or Sat in the Terrace Dining Room with this coupon. SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER 204-885-3330 ASDowns.com VEGAS-STYLE RACING from top tracks 11 AM - 12 AM daily (Big betting pools!) VLTs 9 AM - 2 A M daily O TTAWA — New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh says he’s not inter-ested in forcing a federal election with a second wave of COVID-19 loom- ing, if he can work with the Liberals to bring much-needed help to struggling Canadians. Singh’s comments Friday were his clearest yet on whether the NDP plans to support the minority Liberal govern- ment’s throne speech next week. The speech will be followed by a confidence vote that the Liberals must win to keep governing. The Liberals need the support of one party to carry on, and the fourth-place NDP have enough seats to make that happen. Singh, who spoke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later Friday, said he would make the case for the govern- ment to extend benefits for unemployed Canadians that the Liberals are plan- ning to reduce. “We are absolutely prepared to fight an election. But I want to be very clear about this point: it is not my goal to tear down government, it is not my goal to force an election,” Singh said in a speech outside the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., with Par- liament as his backdrop across the Ot- tawa River. “But we know with the coming second wave, with the help that Canadians need right now, our focus is on making sure that families, working people, small businesses get the help they need.” Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole also spoke Friday to Trudeau about his wish list for the throne speech. In a statement later, the Conserva- tives said O’Toole, who was self-iso- lating after an aide tested positive for COVID-19 , urged Trudeau to ramp up testing capabilities and to ensure that Canada becomes more self-reliant in the production of personal protective and medical equipment. The Conservatives issued another statement later Friday, saying O’Toole had tested positive for the virus, that he was feeling well and his wife and chil- dren had tested negative. O’Toole also emphasized the need for more financial support for small busi- nesses and for “workforce recovery,” particularly in the hard-hit tourism sec- tor. And O’Toole echoed the premiers in calling for more unconditional funding to provinces for health care. According to the statement, O’Toole also pushed back against Trudeau’s de- sire to “build back better,” particularly with respect to the prime minister’s goal of building an environmentally sustainable economy. He told Trudeau western alienation is largely due to his government’s environmental assess- ment process for infrastructure pro- jects, which critics have dubbed the “no-more-pipelines” bill. “Mr. O’Toole emphasized Canadian natural resource industries are global leaders and any Canadian resources prevented from reaching the market are replaced by resources from coun- tries with poor records of human rights and environmental standards,” the statement said. In his speech and in remarks to re- porters afterwards, Singh accused his Liberal and Conservative counterparts of doing the bidding of big business dur- ing the pandemic. Singh took aim at Trudeau and O’Toole as he laid out the NDP’s pri- orities. He told his supporters his two main political rivals are essentially in the back pocket of big business and the “super rich,” who he said have profited massively during the pandemic at the expense of working people. “Megacompanies like Netflix and Amazon pay virtually no tax in Can- ada,” he said. “Tax loopholes and giveaways con- tinue to let the richest Canadians get away without paying their fair share. This isn’t an accident. The system de- signed by the parties of Justin Trudeau and Erin O’Toole doesn’t work for work- ing people. It works for the rich and powerful.” Later, when he was answering ques- tions about whether he would support the government, Singh said: “The rich- est have made profits in this pandemic, but everyday people have actually felt the pain. And so we need to get help to them.” He made clear that unless the Lib- erals focus more on working people than on bigger corporate interests, his party’s support will evaporate. “If the Liberal government continues down a path where they’re more inter- ested in helping themselves, they get caught up in scandal, and they’re not willing to do what’s necessary… and they’re more worried about helping themselves, then we are prepared to fight an election.” Singh wants the Liberals to extend benefits for unemployed Canadians he says they are planning to curtail. He’s also called on the government to do more to help seniors, and address the crises in climate change and affordable housing. Also Friday, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet announced he has tested positive for COVID-19. Blanchet said in a statement he feels healthy and will stay in isolation at his Shawinigan, Que., home until Sept. 26. Quebec’s public health rules say a person who tests positive but doesn’t have serious symptoms must stay iso- lated for 10 days. The Bloc leader was already in self- isolation, along with much of his caucus and other aides, after a staff member contracted COVID-19. — The Canadian Press Singh focused on getting help for Canadians; O’Toole, Blanchet test positive for COVID-19 NDP not interested in forcing election MIKE BLANCHFIELD SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said Friday during a speech in Gatineau, Que. the Liberals must prioritize working people over corporate interests. OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called two byelections less than a day after the Liberals named their candidates in each of the Toronto ridings. A short notice from the Prime Minister’s Office says the votes in York Centre and Toronto Centre will take place on Oct. 26. The Liberals are hoping to hold the seats left vacant by the resignations of two government MPs. The party named CTV broadcaster Marci Ien as its can- didate in Toronto Centre, which was held by Bill Morneau before his sudden resignation as finance minister and MP in August. Ien announced her candidacy for the nomination in a ser- ies of tweets on Thursday, only to be declared the party’s standard-bearer by the end of day. TD Bank Group executive Paul Saguil had previously de- clared his candidacy for the nomination and so had Scotia- bank deputy chief economist Brett House. The Liberals gave the same treatment to Ya’ara Saks in York Centre, a seat left vacant by the resignation of MP Mi- chael Leavitt at the beginning of September. Green Party leadership hopeful Annamie Paul said she wants to run for her party in the Toronto Centre byelection but needs special permission to do so. The Green Party requires any of the eight people running for the leadership to ask permission if they want to run in a byelection before the winner is named Oct. 3. Paul said the Liberals are making politically motivated de- cision to call the byelections now, when COVID-19 numbers in Toronto are spiking and before the government knows if it will survive a confidence vote on next week’s throne speech. She said the Liberals also know very well the Greens are two weeks away from picking their next leader, and that she was the Green candidate in Toronto Centre in 2019. “The timing is fairly cynical,” she said. One of Paul’s rivals for the Green leadership also has ties to Toronto Centre. Glen Murray was the Ontario Liberal MPP for the riding of the same name from 2010 to 2017. — The Canadian Press Trudeau calls byelections for late October A_16_Sep-19-20_FP_01.indd A16 2020-09-18 10:11 PM ;