TORONTO — Danielle Martin was going door to door meeting voters when a woman, newly released from the hospital, really wanted to show off her stitches. “I said, ‘I’m really sorry, but I don’t feel like that would be appropriate,’” Martin, a high-profile family doctor-turned-Liberal candidate, recalled with a laugh. “I’m not sure my insurance covers that.” Martin became Canadian famous after defending the country’s health care system before a U.S. Senate committee a dozen years ago. Now, she’s bringing a health lens to some of the biggest challenges facing the country — “housing is a health issue, the economy is a health issue” — as she runs for office under Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal banner to fill a downtown Toronto seat that could prove pivotal for Carney. Voters will hit the polls Monday in three by-election parliamentary races — contests to fill mid-term vacancies in the House of Commons — and winning just one would turn Carney’s minority government into a slim majority. That would give him some real breathing room to enact his agenda and would secure his grip on power until at least 2029, when the next national election could be held. It’s the latest turn in a remarkable trajectory for Carney. Until a year ago, he was a political neophyte. He had a sterling economic resume and international contacts to match, but he had never run for office. Then Donald Trump started mouthing off about annexing Canada and imposing tariffs — pissing off Canadians, accelerating the end of the Justin Trudeau era and vaulting Carney into a stunning election victory over a collapsing Conservative Party.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 after a series of events beginning when Trudeau deputy Chrystia Freeland quit his Cabinet amid no confidence he could take on… [TheTopNews] Read More.
4 weeks ago
