'Getting the work done': Randy Boissonnault on what’s next for the federal Liberals

Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages Randy Boissonnault discusses the recent Liberal caucus retreat, the upcoming session of parliament and more.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michael Higgins: Former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney took center stage at this week’s Liberal caucus retreat in Nanaimo. He was introduced to MPs as the party’s new economic advisor, a development that comes as questions over leadership linger, and the possibility of an early election looms.

Edmonton MP and Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages Randy Boissonnault joins us now. Let’s start on the individual Pierre Poilievre has taken to calling the “Phantom Finance Minister”.

Where do you see Mark Carney making an impact, and maybe pushing your government in a new direction?

Randy Boissonnault: Well, I'm not so sure that it's a new direction.

Look, I listen to Mark. He's a fellow Edmontonian, and he's a smart guy, right? He was the governor of the Bank of Canada, governor of the Bank of England, and so for us to be able to have him be an advisor to the party as we're getting ready for the next election is a smart move. We like to have smart people on our team.

I think Pierre is blowing off some steam because he's upset that Mark didn't go join the Conservatives. Mr. Carney's indicated who he's with - he's with us.

This is about making sure that we have all the right people around the table so that we can keep delivering for Edmontonians and Canadians. Inflation is coming down, we've got interest rates coming down, and we want to use what is the healthiest balance sheet in the G7 to benefit Edmontonians, Albertans and Canadians. And Mark's going to help us do just that.

MH: You and your colleagues return to Parliament next week.

How do you navigate the road forward with Jagmeet Singh and the NDP pulling the plug on the supply and confidence agreement?

RB: Look, Jagmeet Singh caved after seven days of pressure from Pierre to tear up the agreement.

We're going to do now what minority parliaments have always done, which is make sure that for every piece of legislation that's a confidence motion, we're going to find somebody that will help support that.

Could it be the New Democrats? I'm sure on some things it will be, and I hope they actually find the courage of their convictions to support us on progressive legislation, like a safe Long Term Care Act.

You know what happened to seniors during the pandemic? We never want to see that happen again. I want to make sure that legislation gets in the House and clears the House and is off to the Senate, so that our seniors can be protected.

I hope that Jagmeet will take a look at that. But look, we have other dance partners in the House.

MH: On that point, how much do you lean on the Bloc Quebecois?

Premier Danielle Smith certainly weighing in on that this week, suggesting the feds have no mandate to bargain with separatists.

RB: The Bloc Quebecois is a party in the House. If they want to work with us to get legislation that benefits all Canadians across the goal line, we'll take a look at that.

That's the unique nature of minority parliaments. We did this from 2019 to 2021, we also did this in the first six months of this mandate, before the agreement was in place. So it means that we have to negotiate on every confidence motion.

For us it's about getting the work done for Canadians. I want to make sure that every province and territory signs on to the National School Food Program.

I want to see more done on PharmaCare, more done on dental care. So that means we've got months ahead of us in the House.

MH: Jagmeet Singh seems right now to be a little noncommittal on the issue of consumer carbon pricing, the Premier of B.C. is now campaigning saying he’s open to ditching carbon pricing.

Where does that leave your government?

RB: This isn't the first time that Jagmeet has toyed with the idea of abandoning carbon pricing. He did that in May and June, when he was getting a lot of heat from Pierre Poilievre.

It's really clear to Albertans and people who care about climate policy - smart climate policy - that you've only got one choice now, and it's the Liberal Party, because we're not backing down.

We're going to keep going on this pricing on pollution that gives eight out of 10 Canadians more money. It's actually a conservative market mechanism that we use to make sure that if you're going to spend more, if you're going to have more GHG emissions, you're going to have to pay more.

But we don't want the middle class caught in that, and that's why the Canada Climate Rebate that comes to people four times a year, and keeps going up every time we see our price on pollution go up, means that eight out of 10 Canadians are better off than if we had nothing.

I'm going to have a role to play in the rebuild in Jasper. I don't want to see us lose any more mountain parks. I don't want to see smoke in the air. I don't want to smell it in the air. So you need a government that has smart climate policy. So we're sticking with what we got.

MH: Also building on the radar, pushback against plans to resettle asylum seekers.

Premier Smith has put out a statement that until further notice, Alberta is not open to having additional asylum seekers settled in our province.

How does your government respond to that?

RB: I'll say directly to Danielle Smith: that's not who Albertans are, and her statement is false.

Any time we look at resettling asylum seekers to any part of the country, it comes with some supports. That's part of the international agreements that we sign with other countries.

Ontario and Quebec have taken more than their fair share of asylum seekers, and it's a little rich for Danielle Smith to say, give me more international students, but I don't want any of those asylum seekers. So which is it? Is it more people or not more people?

I know that we have to have an immigration flow that makes sense, that's orderly, that makes sure that our health care system and our housing system can handle it.

At the same time, Alberta is growing. Of the students that I met today, many were from Alberta, but two were from out of Alberta, because they see the opportunity here, and that opportunity is both for international students, for Canadians that want to come here, and it's also for people that we have to help from the rest of the world.

Look, we have big hearts. We've taken a good percentage of Ukrainian refugees. Asylum seekers are fleeing war torn areas. They're fleeing drought, they're fleeing all kinds of terrible conditions in their country. Albertans have big enough hearts to welcome them here, and the federal government will make sure that supports are in place to get them settled.

MH: Monday you return to Parliament. Monday is also a very critical pair of byelections in Montreal and Manitoba.

Many suggest they will be a crucial test for leadership of your party. What hangs in the balance?

RB: What hangs in the balance is: do we get another one or two members joining our team?

That's important because it's a minority Parliament, and every MP matters, and representation matters. It's like having me here from Edmonton, being part of the the Liberal Party of Canada, and being a minister - that representation matters.

We've got boots on the ground. We've got people that are fighting it out. It's a close three way race. We're going to do everything we can to pull off LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, and in the case of Elmwood-Transcona, we've got people working there as well.

At the end of the day, byelections can also be a way for communities to react strongly. We'll see what the voters say Monday night, and let's chat once we've seen what the tally is.