Mastery of French is incidental to leading the Liberal Party of Canada and becoming prime minister, according to the very first elected official who is officially launching the race to replace Justin Trudeau.
“It’s not the language that’s important. I’ll be honest, [même] when I speak English, many Canadians find it difficult to understand me,” explains Chandra Arya, in reference to his Indian accent in the language of Shakespeare.
In interview at Dutythe backbench MP from the Ottawa region rails against the “artificial barriers” erected by some of his colleagues in the Liberal caucus with the sole objective, he says, of getting rid of candidates who are neither known nor bilingual, like him.
Focusing on the linguistic knowledge of an aspiring chef would be as useless as trying to know the language used by the engineer who laid out his street, he compares. While Quebecers, like Canadians, would be more interested in determining “who can deliver”. “Tell me the name of a perfectly bilingual politician who is ready like me to promise to abolish the monarchy? I am convinced that many Quebecers would agree,” he says.
Several Quebec Liberal ministers and MPs nevertheless insisted on the importance of their next leader being able to speak in the country’s two official languages on Wednesday, on the sidelines of an important meeting of their caucus. “We need someone bilingual, obviously,” said the Minister of Public Services and Supply, Jean-Yves Duclos, for example.
Enough temporary immigration
Himself arriving in Canada as an immigrant around twenty years ago, Chandra Arya clearly states that he sees that other immigrants take advantage of the Canadian system. He proposes linking the arrival of new workers to the needs of businesses, as well as taxing those who return to live abroad after obtaining a passport.
“The immigration problem is very visible. Temporary residents are flooding our system. They train labor at a discount for small businesses. This means that businesses do not invest in productivity, and these temporary residents cause a housing crisis. »
He proposes other important changes to the directions his party has taken over the last nine years in power. He promises to drop carbon pricing, which new technologies make useless, according to him. He also proposed renouncing King Charles III and making Canada a republic. He says he is capable of more than doubling Canada’s GDP to $5 trillion.
Born in India, the 62-year-old engineer was first elected in 2015, but was never appointed as a minister. As recently as last August, he traveled to India to shake hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a scene immortalized on his Facebook page. Canada had, however, accused Mr. Modi’s government of having sponsored an assassination on Canadian soil the previous year.
Mr. Arya was unable to say whether he has received the support of even one of his colleagues, although he aims to become their leader in view of the next elections scheduled later. This year. He says he mocks their approval. “I haven’t even spoken to a single member of the caucus [libéral]. I’m not looking for any endorsement. »
Ministers in waiting
By becoming the first member of the Liberal caucus to officially launch his campaign for the leadership of his party on Thursday, Chandra Arya beats several Liberal ministers who say they are in reflection, waiting to know the rules of the race. Ministers François-Philippe Champagne, Mélanie Joly, Steven MacKinnon and Jonathan Wilkinson indicated their interest on Wednesday. Former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney have remained silent.
Only one other candidate has launched publicly. This is Montreal businessman Frank Baylis, also a former MP for the Pierrefonds—Dollard riding. He had not responded to messages from Duty at the time these lines were written.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that he plans to step down as leader of the country, but not before his party chooses his replacement “following a rigorous and competitive national process.” The PLC confirmed to Duty that its national council met every day this week to prepare for this race, without indicating when the rules will be revealed.
The next Liberal leader will also be the next Prime Minister, but for a period which promises to be short, judging by the stated intention of all the opposition parties to bring down the minority Liberal government as soon as Parliament returns on the 24th. March.
