Candice Bergen will remain Tory House leader, vows to be ‘voice of Manitoba’

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This article was published 20/07/2017 (2468 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — The leader of the federal Conservatives has hand-picked a Manitoban for his top ranks as the party gears up its opposition to the Liberals halfway through their four-year term.

Portage-Lisgar MP Candice Bergen will continue as the party’s House leader, a job she took on an interim basis last September. In keeping the position, she’ll hold one of the caucus’ top five positions.

The job involves negotiating with the Liberals over scheduling debate of legislation and helping her party’s MPs shepherd private members’ bills.

But more visibly, Bergen will continue taking the Liberals to task in the Commons over their controversial proposals such as limiting the days Parliament sits.

Standing next to Bergen at a news conference Thursday, Tory Leader Andrew Scheer said she’s had “incredible skill” with the job. In choosing her and four others as the party’s lead MPs, Scheer is giving Bergen a strong voice in how the party prioritizes issues and regions.

“I intend to be the voice of Manitoba at our government-in-waiting table,” Bergen said Thursday.

Bergen says she’s in close contact with the provincial government, who largely share her political views. Provincial Finance Minister Cameron Friesen served as Bergen’s campaign manager. She’s friendly with Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, who frequently disagrees with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Bergen says she intends to keep track of the Liberal’s carbon tax, which all provinces except Saskatchewan and Manitoba have signed on to, as well as the updated agreement on health funding, on which Manitoba remains the only holdout.

“The payment to Omar Khadr has been prominent and concerning to Manitobans,” Bergen said. She’s also watching for the fallout of the government’s changes last year to Winnipeg’s aerospace industry.

More recently, Bergen has closely watched the situation in Churchill, the northern Manitoba town whose rail line has been cut off since May 24. The province says it’s waiting to learn whether Ottawa will pay to repair the line or present a future for the town.

“Everybody is operating in a vacuum. They seem to be sending the message that rural and remote communities will be given lip service, if that, but really nothing else,” Bergen said.

She added that Trudeau should visit the town, because he “has not bothered to visit the Arctic and our North” — but Trudeau’s office noted he visited Yellowknife and Iqaluit in February.

While many see Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr as the closest Manitoba voice to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Bergen slammed Trudeau’s decision to break with the tradition of naming select MPs as responsible for a province’s issues.

“I was part of a government that recognized the different regions of Canada,” she said.

“It’s very clear that Justin Trudeau has centralized the power.”

Trudeau spokesman Cameron Ahmad rejected the idea, saying each MP advocates for their communities.

“We will not take the approach the previous government took by pitting one region against another,” Ahmad said.

Bergen said her party will closely watch how the Liberals approach next month’s NAFTA negotiations. She said Conservatives will quietly raise concerns with the Liberals, and if they’re listened to they’ll present a united front to the Americans.

“We absolutely are united — we’re in step with all of our colleagues in the House of Commons,” she said.

“We’re positive about Canada and the future of our country.”

Bergen, 52, was first elected in 2008, and spent two years as social development minister under Stephen Harper.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca