Carney has since proved fairly adept in domestic politics, helping to poach a handful of lawmakers from both Conservative and farther-left New Democrat benches. More are reportedly toying with the idea of joining Carney’s Liberals as Canadians continue to sour on Trump’s America.
Trump is also partly responsible for Martin’s decision to run. Liberals had previously tried to recruit her a few times before when the party was tied to Trudeau’s falling star. But the timing never worked out, she said in an interview, citing a mix of factors including a yearning to stay in medicine and having a young daughter home at the time. Then a seat came open when top Trudeau deputy Chrystia Freeland quit his Cabinet amid no confidence he could take on Trump’s “aggressive economic nationalism.” The 49-year-old Martin decided now was the time.
Martin has made boosting a Carney agenda and standing up to Trump key parts of her pitch on the trail.
“We are at a critical moment in this country, and that not just our economy and not just our sovereignty — although that would be enough — but also our values are under threat,” Martin said at her campaign kickoff last month. “That’s why I’m here. I’m here to leave it all on the field.”
Exactly what Carney’s agenda entails, however, is still somewhat unclear. He’s won plaudits on the world stage, but is facing rising concern at home about the cost of living. He’s still fleshing out his policies on a host of issues, including a promised artificial intelligence strategy and health care gaps to meet the needs of an aging population. Meanwhile, simmering separatist movements in Quebec and Alberta also pose threats to national unity.
If polls are correct, Martin and Carney’s Liberals are positioned for victory on Monday. The hard part may come after.
These three elections are the first since Carney made his blockbuster speech at Davos earlier this year, when he called for the world’s middle powers to band together to forge a New World Order. It’s a vision now being tested on the ground in Canada’s biggest city, where the public may care more about their own personal finances than Carney’s geopolitical ambitions.
Two seats here are up for grabs: Martin is vying to keep the downtown Toronto riding of University-Rosedale in Liberal hands, while Doly Begum is striving to do the same in Scarborough-Southwest in the city’s east end after former Cabinet minister Bill Blair was given the top diplomatic post in London. (The third is taking place in the Montreal suburb of Terrebonne after Canada’s top court annulled the Liberals’ one-vote win, forcing a new election.)
Liberal candidate Doly Begum at her campaign headquarters in Scarborough, Ontario, on April 1. | Zi-Ann Lum/POLITICO
Both Toronto ridings are considered safe Liberal seats in one of the world’s most multicultural cities, where more than half of its residents were born outside of Canada. Begum herself was born in Bangladesh and immigrated to Toronto with her family when she was a kid.
Begum is something of a celebrity in her riding. For the last eight years, she has served there as deputy leader of the provincial New Democratic Party, before deciding in February to run for higher, federal office with the Liberals in the by-election, bringing her reputation as an outspoken pro-Palestinian advocate with her to Carney’s increasingly big tent party.
While chatting with her outside on a residential street of detached and semi-detached homes, someone swung their front door open and cried out to her in Bengali, “I thought I heard your voice.” She hadn’t even knocked on the door.
Begum receives a hug from a supporter while door-knocking in Scarborough, Ontario. | Zi-Ann Lum/POLITICO
Another man asked Begum to wait while he got his wife so they could meet. His wife emerged from her house and embraced the 37-year-old politician. The cold kept their sidewalk chat short, ending with an “Inshallah” — wishing Begum luck to continue representing them, as did many other residents as she walked through the neighborhood.
News that Begum had switched parties made a brief sensation, and was another nod to Carney’s wide appeal on the right and left. She said the decision was a long time coming.
“It made sense,” said Begum, sitting at the back of her campaign office, which used to be a Newfoundland bar in a plaza nestled in the east end of the city. Balloons in the Liberals’ red and white colors hung on the wall, taped above a map of the riding where 62 percent of its residents are visible minorities, according to Statistics Canada, with South Asian, Black and Filipino communities among the biggest.