Canada PoliticsJason Kenney versus Justin Trudeau: The battle for the ‘ethnic vote’
"In the past, the so-called ethnic vote, in other words the vote of specific communities, has always been the prerogative of the Liberal Party.Unfortunately, we Liberals have for too long considered this support a proven and sure thing. It was a strategic error. The Conservatives were good at proposing specific issues a bit at a time that interested single communities in exchange for their support.
The Liberal Party has to start anew with the communities: not following the government to the land of promises that cannot be kept, but listening to everything beginning with the presupposition that the differences are just superficial when in fact, these differences represent our strength."
— Justin Trudeau, 2010
If it hadn't already, the battle for the 'ethnic vote' in the next federal election has begun.
In 2011, it's widely believed that the Conservatives, led by then-immigration minister Jason Kenney (aka Minister of 'Curry in a hurry'), won that battle handily.
From 2009 to 2011, Kenney criss-crossed the country with the sole purpose of wooing visible minority voters over to the Tory tent. And he was good at it.
As explained by Postmedia News, Kenney's office claims that the Tories captured "42 per cent of the ethnic vote and 24 of 25 suburban Toronto ridings."
As of the cabinet of shuffle, earlier this month, Kenney is now Minister of Employment, but retains the 'ethnic file." It's presumed that the new minister of state for multiculturalism, Tim Uppal, will assist Kenney.
[ Related: PMO, Jason Kenney slam Justin Trudeau over his new pot policy ]
Enter Justin Trudeau.
Days before Trudeau became leader of the Liberal Party, an Ekos poll gave the Liberals 35 per cent support among immigrants, compared to 29 per cent for the Tories and 22 per cent for the New Democrats.
Over the summer, Trudeau has made an effort to buoy that support. He has attended large events for with the Filipino, Indo and Chinese-Canadian communities.
And, contrary to what he said in the quote above, he has entered the "land of promises."
As explained by Sun News' Lorne Gunter, last week, Trudeau was "pandering to a crowd of Indo-Canadian voters" about reversing "the Tory crackdown on “family class” immigration."
It looks like Trudeau's tactics are working. Check out this gushing review in The Link — one of Vancouver's Indo-Canadian newspapers.
"Trudeau with great looks and having finally found his mojo is a fundraising machine and he knows how to work a crowd. He took time to take pictures with every single person in attendance.
That’s what the Federal Liberal party needed and got with the pretty boy with a sharp intellect to match but his leadership skills is what Conservatives worry about. Canada is in a love affair with this young leader and the party hopes that he will return them back to power."
Radio India talk show host Umendra Singh, however, suggests Trudeau made a mistake with regard to his stance on legalizing marijuana.
"Trudeau keeps shooting himself in the foot with ideas like he doesn't want to abolish the senate and wants to legalize marijuana," Singh told Yahoo! Canada News.
"Ethnic communities are very conservative when it comes to things like drugs."
[ More politics: Is new star Liberal candidate Chrystia Freeland the new Ignatieff? ]
This video was taken prior to Justin Trudeau officially announcing his leadership intentions last Fall.
But, along with the ethnic-friendly announcements, there's a good chance, that we'll see more of this type of thing as we head into the 2015 election.
(Photo by Andy Radia)
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