‘We Have To Be Ready’: Liberals Appoint Re-Election Campaign Committee

The Canadian flag flies near the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 17, 2020. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

The Liberal Party has appointed its re-election campaign committee, a move which in the past has marked the run-up to an election call within months.

“Whenever the next election arrives, Canadians will face a choice between moving forward with a plan to build a better future for everyone or going backward with Pierre Poilievre’s reckless priorities,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a Nov. 8 press release.

Tourism Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada and MP Terry Duguid, parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, will co-chair the Liberals’ campaign committee, the release said.

“Under Soraya Martinez Ferrada and Terry Duguid’s leadership, our party will build an innovative campaign focused on making life more affordable, fighting climate change, keeping our communities safe, and growing our economy and the middle class.”

The prime minister accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of “importing far-right American-style politics here to Canada,” while the Liberals instead focused on “delivering real results to make life more affordable and build an economy that works for all Canadians.”

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Ms. Ferrada told reporters that getting ready for the next election means “getting candidates, getting MPs knocking on doors, getting our volunteers, donating money to the Party.”

“The objective is to be ready. When it will come is certainly not up to me but we have to be ready,” she said.

Previously, the appointments of campaign co-chairs came within months of an election call. In 2021, the Liberals organized their campaign committee on April 9 for a snap election which was called on Aug. 15. In 2019 the Liberals named its committee on Jan. 25, and an election was called on Sept. 11.

As part of the supply-and-confidence agreement the Liberals signed with the New Democrats in 2022, the Liberals will remain in power “until Parliament rises in June of 2025” in exchange for supporting key NDP priorities. “The arrangement lasts until Parliament rises in June 2025 allowing four budgets to be presented by the government during this time,” the agreement reads.

The next federal campaign will see Canadians elect a House of Commons with 343 seats, the largest in history. The redistribution under the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act resulted in one new seat in British Columbia, three new seats in Alberta, suburban Ontario gaining three new ridings, and Toronto losing one.

Recent polls have shown the Conservatives with a substantial lead over the Liberals. A Leger poll released earlier this month showed the Tories with 40 percent support, followed by the Liberals with 26 percent and the NDP with 17 percent.

Ms. Ferrada told reporters Nov. 8 that she’s “convinced” that Mr. Trudeau will lead the Liberal Party into a fourth election campaign.

“I’m going to be honest, the prime minister is one of the best campaigners I have ever seen in all my life,“ she said. ”He knows there is lots of work to do.”