Even though nothing has been confirmed, the federal NDP party has been building up its candidate roster in anticipation of a likely election in the next few months.
North Island-Powell River MP Rachel Blaney, however, would rather just continue with things as they are.
“My personal opinion is that we should do our work,” she said. “We’ve been elected to do this work for four years and I think there’s nothing wrong with having the challenge of a minority government. Often when minority governments actually work together they get things done that are a little more fair.”
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“I really wish we just had to do our jobs because it means we have to collaborate with just one party and we’ve got three opposition parties that they can work with right now,” she added. “So far it works… sometimes we support them, sometimes we don’t, and they work with people to get the work done and I think that is often a lot more fair than just having one majority government that decides things.”
If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls an election, Blaney says if he does he will in August, the NDP are ready. The party is taking a different approach than the Liberals and Conservatives. According to North Island-Powell River MP Rachel Blaney, the party is looking to its membership to make decisions about candidates, rather than just appointing people as candidates.
“A big priority for us is diversity. We want to make sure that we’re looking at the right people from a lot of different populations,” Blaney said.
Currently of the candidates in the NDP, approximately seven per cent are Indigenous, 30 per cent are racialized, 17 per cent are from the LGBTQ2SIA+ community, 19 per cent are people living with disabilities and 9 per cent are youth candidates.
“I’m proud to see the diversity we’re seeing. I think it’ll make us a stronger party. We’re ready,” Blaney said.
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