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Edmonton MP Heather McPherson is running to become the next federal New Democrat Party Leader, and is spending some time in Saskatchewan this week, meeting with party members across the province. She spoke to Evan Bray this week.
Listen to Heather McPherson on The Evan Bray Show:
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These questions and answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Evan Bray: What was the downfall for your party in the last election?
Heather McPherson: The election in April was devastating for New Democrats, where people were trying to vote for something they didn’t want instead of something they wanted.
Folks were terrified of (U.S. President) Donald Trump — what he would mean to our economy — but people were also afraid of (Conservative Party Leader) Pierre Poilievre.
They were afraid of what he was proposing. He is an angry, mean-spirited person and I don’t think a lot of Canadians felt they wanted him as their leader.
So people were voting out of fear, that’s part of it, but I think we (NDP) have to take responsibility for the fact that we stopped talking to folks about the things that are that are most important to them.
We need to be reaching out to Canadians and talking to them about those issues that are most important to them — affordability, housing, health care. The things that New Democrats have always been known for are the things we need to connect with people on. And I don’t think we did that very well in the last election, and that has to change.
Bray: What is your strategy for the Federal NDP? What needs to happen to rebuild the party?
McPherson: The Liberal Party under Mark Carney has done more than just move the needle. There is a reason that Conservatives feel comfortable walking across the floor and joining this version of the Liberal Party.
This is a Conservative government. Some of the legislation that Mark Carney has brought forth is why the Conservatives are voting with the government. Bill C-5 for example, is very much right out of the Conservative playbook.
That’s why it’s so important we rebuild our party. It’s urgent. We have to do it quickly because, because there is no one taking up that space on the progressive side, there’s nobody fighting for those things that are so important for Canadians.
As an Albertan, I saw Danielle Smith make the biggest attack on our public health-care system since Tommy Douglas and the NDP brought in Medicare, and and this week Scott Moe’s is talking about following, following in her footsteps.
He follows in her footsteps in a lot of things, but, but the fact that our health-care system is under attack, and the federal government has an obligation with the Canada Health Act, and Mark Carney has said nothing is a real problem.
That’s why we need the New Democrats. That’s the space that the New Democrats need to be in, and that’s where we need to be fighting.
Bray: What do you need to do to drum up support for the federal NDP in Saskatchewan?
McPherson: Right now we have a Conservative government in Saskatchewan and in Alberta, but we also have massive Opposition parties. The New Democrats under Carla Beck are the biggest Opposition party that we’ve seen in a long time.
These NDP provincial parties are poised to be the next governments, and that’s really important to build on. It’s also important to recognize that, when you look at NDP membership across the country, the most members in the NDP are in Alberta and Saskatchewan. That’s that’s our base. This is where our party came from.
I am from the Prairies, I have been able to to win for three elections, tand I’ve been able to beat Conservatives in Alberta.
The Edmonton, Strathcona model that we use, that’s what I want to take across Alberta, Saskatchewan and across Canada. That’s how we get more New Democrats elected.
I believe at my core that when New Democrats are elected, we hold the government to account, we make sure they deliver on the promises they make to Canadians, and we get things for Canadians.
In the last parliament, think about the dental-care program — six million Canadians have seen a dentist that didn’t have the access to a dentist before because of New Democrats
Bray: The Saskatchewan NDP seem fairly disenfranchised with the federal NDP party. What about that relationship?
McPherson: I think the relationship was bad, and that’s one of my priorities.
We can rebuild those relationships. The provincial parties are very successful across this country. We are government in two provinces. We are official Opposition in four provinces, huge Oppositions in Alberta and Saskatchewan. So there is the opportunity to work together.
It’s one of my concerns with some of the other candidates we know have caused problems for the provincial parties. My goal is to build to work together, to work on the 99 per cent of things that we all agree on, and to keep those channels of communication open. I think it’s vital.
Bray: When is the NDP leadership decision going to be made?
McPherson: People have to buy or renew party membership by Jan. 28 and voting starts in March. People can do that online, or at the convention, and the decision will be made in Winnipeg on March 29.
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