Trudeau’s Regatta Day appearance a sign of Liberal anxiety over N.L. seats, Brazil says

Politicians turned out in droves to the Royal St. John’s Regatta on Wednesday, seizing the opportunity to work Newfoundland’s largest crowd of the year amid the backdrop of what some say is growing displeasure with the current federal government.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the rounds around Quidi Vidi Lake under the midday sun, casually dressed and smiling as he shook hands with throngs of regatta celebrants.

But in spite of Trudeau’s laid-back attitude, it was a visit David Brazil saw as entirely strategic — and indicative of fears the federal Liberals may lose some of their Newfoundland and Labrador strongholds in next fall’s federal election.

“People are saying it’s time for this prime minister to look at what he’s been offering to people. And they say he’s failed,” said Brazil, the former interim leader of the province’s Progressive Conservative Party and now the federal Conservative Party nominee for St. John’s East. It’s often an unprompted remark he encounters while knocking on doors, he said.

“The first thing they’ll say is, Trudeau has to go.”

Brazil spent the afternoon just as he’s been spending most of his says lately: gathering intelligence ahead of the next federal election, which has to be held by mid-October 2025.

He says he stands a solid chance against Joanne Thompson, the riding’s current Liberal MP — and believes Trudeau’s presence Wednesday all but confirms it. 

“People on my team are saying that [the Liberals] feel they’ve got a race going on here now, so they’re bringing down all the big guns to try to give some more exposure to the Liberal candidate,” Brazil said.

“They’re saying the polling here is not looking good for them.”

Thompson herself stuck to a positive messaging strategy Wednesday, telling Radio-Canada she stands by Trudeau and thinks the Liberal track record should matter more than whoever leads the party.

“I’m proud that we’ve been able to carry a strong social platform and be fiscally responsible,” Thompson said.

“So absolutely, I’m proud the prime minister is here today.”

Two longtime Liberal MPs — Seamus O’Regan of St. John’s South-Mount Pearl and Ken McDonald of Avalon — recently announced they won’t be running in next year’s election, opening the door for Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives to step in.

But they may be up for a battle if the NDP can leverage public opinion against the Liberals for their own gain.

Mary Shortall, the federal NDP candidate for St. John’s East, says she’s hearing from people who feel Ottawa has turned its back on them.

That’s pushing some toward Poilievre, who Shortall said offers only catharsis, not a solid plan for change. “Especially from Conservatives, [voters] are not hearing solutions,” she said. 

“They’re hearing someone who responds to their anger, and responds with little sound bites about that anger, but not about clear, concrete solutions.”

Shortall said she sees Trudeau’s regatta presence as beneficial for constituents unhappy with what she framed as a lack of action on cost-of-living issues.

“I’m sure people will want to talk to him,” Shortall said. “There’s a sense that the Liberals have not been listening to those issues. So here’s an opportunity for the prime minister to listen.”

Federal woes seeping into provincial politics

Meanwhile, the provincial PCs have been aggressively comparing Premier Andrew Furey’s government to Ottawa in a bid to capitalize on anti-Trudeau rhetoric, going so far as to call the parties the “Trudeau-Furey Liberals” in a press release last month.

Bernard Davis, provincial justice minister, endorsed Trudeau’s visit but distanced his party from their federal counterparts Wednesday over outcry over the carbon tax.

“I think it’s great the prime minister took time out of his schedule to come down here,” Davis said. 

“Whether he’s popular or not is immaterial. He’s the prime minister of the country. It’s great he decided to come to [St. John’s] and celebrate with us.”

PCs are likening the provincial Liberals to their federal party in the lead-up to the byelection, but Davis says the two levels of government don’t always see eye to eye

“We’re two different parties,” Davis said. “We don’t agree on everything. We didn’t agree on the carbon tax and the way it was administered. It wasn’t the right measure at the right time, the way the people in this province are experiencing the cost of living.”

Trudeau did not speak to reporters Wednesday.

Political posturing was the furthest thing on Mayor Danny Breen’s mind, though, as he told Radio-Canada he was merely there to carry on a long-standing family tradition.

“We always got a new shirt for Regatta Day. Used to come down in the morning with my father, usually for the first race,” Breen said.

“The atmosphere is what it is for me. It’s just so inbred in tradition and culture and memories for people.… If I wasn’t a politician, I’d still be here.”

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