NDP candidate Tracey Ramsey on green jobs, Jagmeet Singh and the party's 'surge' in the polls

As It Happens requested interviews with the leaders of all four major political parties with representation in the House of Commons ahead of the Oct. 21 federal election. Three of four offered other elected members to speak on their parties' behalf. You can read our earlier interviews with Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Conservative deputy leader Lisa Raitt, and Liberal candidate Chrystia Freeland. 

Transcript

The more Canadians get to know NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, the more they love him, says the NDP's Tracey Ramsey.

According to the CBC Poll Tracker, which aggregates all publicly available polling data, the New Democrats are sitting at 18.8 per cent leading into Monday's federal election, up five points from the beginning of the month.

Ramsey, the NDP candidate for Essex in Southwestern Ontario, spoke to As It Happens host Carol Off about how the party would wield influence should it hold the balance of power in a minority government.

Here is part of their conversation.

Why should Canadians trust the NDP with possibly the balance of power?

Canadians are really struggling from coast to coast to coast. And what they see in us is a party that represents, you know, a way to make their lives better — whether that's affordable housing or pharmacare or acting urgently on the climate crisis.

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We were just hearing [Conservative Leader] Andrew Scheer say that the first thing he would do if he were prime minister would be to scrap the carbon tax. If that's a minority government and the NDP could influence a vote in that, how would you vote? 

It's unknown whether or not we'll end up with a party even with the most seats in the House at this point because the race appears so close. So, you know, we're excited about what we offer to Canadians and we'll certainly be prepared to vote when new legislation starts to move through the new House.

Now we're getting into some specifics, because Canadians need to have these answers before Monday before they vote. [Singh] wouldn't say whether the NDP would defeat the Conservatives if it came to that, because if you did vote against [scrapping the carbon tax], you could trigger the end of that Conservative government if it was a minority. 

Until we see the outcome of Oct. 21, which we're feeling very hopeful about in the NDP, you know, it's really premature to talk about pieces of legislation that would be put through by any party at this point.

Canadians, one thing that's on their minds is whether or not whoever they vote for is going to lead to them having to go back to the polls in six months from now.  I would imagine a lot of them want to avoid that. So they want to know what you might trigger, in the way of a minority government, what you might trigger as a non-confidence vote?

We've been very clear, and Jagmeet Singh has been clear, that we wouldn't prop up a Conservative government.

Whatever the outcome, we said that our priorities are pharmacare, climate change, affordable housing, taxing the most wealthy and corporations in our country in a way that would garner a lot of revenue [and] eliminating student debt. 

There are a lot of people trying to speculate and trying to interpret what might happen, but until we actually get those results back, we won't know what we're facing. And so it's, you know, very premature, I think, to try to determine what that outcome will be.

So you would leave the carbon tax on the table. That's not a priority to see that scrapped?

That is not what I'm saying at all. What I'm saying to you is that until we see the outcome of Oct. 21, until we find out who will be governing our country, we are still in this race for Jagmeet Singh to be the prime minister of Canada and for us to send as many MPs as we can back to Ottawa.

Is the Trans Mountain pipeline negotiable as well?

I think again like Jagmeet Singh has been very clear about that. 

And the clarity would be what? What is the position [on] the Trans Mountain pipeline that Canada owns, Canadians bought through the Liberal government? What would Jagmeet Singh do with that?

Certainly, we have to look at what is involved in potentially selling this, what is involved, what are the commitments that they made to this.

The Liberals have been very unclear. They went out and bought this pipeline and put all Canadians' taxpayer money into purchasing the 65-year-old leaky pipeline without providing us any of those details. So, you know, we really don't know what exactly the Liberals have agreed to here.

What we've been clear on is our opposition of the pipeline.

OK, so would the NDP bring down a Liberal minority in order to block the Trans Mountain pipeline?

Again, we need to see the outcome on Oct. 21 and we are not going to predict that.

There has been a lot of support for the NDP over the years traditionally coming from labour ... and unions ... What do you say to those people who regard the policies the NDP is putting forward [as] job-killers for people, particularly in Western Canada?

I know that the climate plan that we're looking at is very bold, but it does not leave working people behind. It is a plan for working people, for the future, for the green economy, that will actually create the jobs in the future and reduce that instability that they've been experiencing.

My heart goes out to everyone who is in Alberta who is facing this crisis right now. It certainly is something we've seen in other sectors across our country. And, of course, the party that stands with working people is the NDP, and that will never waver.

They have to pay their mortgages this month. They have to pay their bills right now. So what you're offering is something down the line that is going to be helpful to them. But they're looking at losing their jobs or not having work now. What do you say to them?

It's not that things happen overnight and that people lose everything overnight. 

That's why we've included a lot of education and training in our plan. We want them to have the opportunity to transition out of the sector that has cost them so much insecurity and uncertainty about how they're going to support their families.

Would you support that pipeline that would — for the time being, while you're making this transition — allow for people in Alberta to have those jobs?

I would say that the decision of the Liberals has not provided them any security either. There is no security in what the Liberals are offering because, as you said, they're suffering today.

Because they need a pipeline in order to get their product to market. Let's leave the Liberals aside here for a moment. Would you support that pipeline?

What we've been clear in our climate vision for Canada is that we do need to transition away, and that means a just transition for working people. So what they need now are opportunities to retrain so they can get themselves back to work in a job that will be a job that will not be stuck in the cycle of boom and bust.

But what if they can't pay their mortgage now? What do they do [if] they haven't got a job now? What do you say to them? You're the party that represents labour. You represent unions. Answer these people

I've been laid off. I'm an auto worker and I lost my job for three years after having worked there for 12 years. I know exactly how they feel. I know what that feels like in a time when it doesn't look like your sector is going to have any opportunity in the future.

I was fortunate to be able to go and retrain. I'm saying that retraining, being able to go back to school, to go into a different sector where there's stability, is a lifeline for people right now who are struggling.

There is a path forward for them and we need a government that's engaged in it, and not fear-mongering about it and trying to make people feel that unless they go with one party, they're not going to have a future and a life, because that's a false choice.

Jagmeet Singh has run a strong campaign, as you know. We've all seen it. ... But he has said, by his own admission, that there were serious problems with organization and fundraising that left you behind going into this election, that momentum was interrupted and perhaps you'd be further ahead even now had that not happened. Do you think that progressive voters might worry that Jagmeet Singh can't keep his nose to the grindstone for political work to make the NDP into the effective force and win in a minority Parliament?

Absolutely not. Progressive voters across Canada are watching Jagmeet Singh and they're excited. They love what they see in our NDP platform. They see his work ethic, how hard he's working across the country, and he represents something different.

Ottawa continues to try to tell people they're doing well, that the economy is doing well. Well, that's not the case. And Jagmeet Singh has really been on a surge because Canadians — when they were introduced to him and got to know him — loved him.

And so we're really happy to see the connection that's happening between New Democratic values, our leader and Canadians right now.

Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview produced by Kevin Robertson. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.