The Insiders discuss the 2nd anniversary of the Liberals' election victory
Two years removed from Justin Trudeau walking into a Montreal hotel ballroom to celebrate his party's historic election victory, the Liberals are now struggling to regain control of their political narrative.
"There's no advantage in politics like being in government because you control the agenda, so the government has a lot of tools at its disposal over the course of the next two years to take back the agenda," said David Herle of the Gandolf group.
Herle added that: "on the big issue things, whether it is the child benefit, whether it is their approach to the United States, they've been doing well on the most important things. What they need to do is get those kinds of things back in the window, and I think they probably will have a strong set of proposals leading up to the next election."
Jaime Watt of Navigator Ltd. agreed with Herle... to a point. "David is right that the government controls the agenda, that is, until they don't."
Watt argued that the election of NDP leader Jagmeet Singh means that the Prime Minister needs a few political wins in order to be able to introduce some new policies and a fresh agenda.
"He's got to introduce some dramatic and aggresive policies that's going to not just solidify his base, but protect from an incursion on the left for that base."
"We're going to see some spending," predicted Kathleen Monk from Earnscliffe. "They want to change the channel, they want to roll out some good news."
Monk added that the Liberals need to be careful. "The danger that exists constantly for Liberals is moving into arrogance, and I think that they have to be careful about that in the next two years. Remain focused on Canadians, focused on the middle class, and focused on serving them."