VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The Mayor of Vancouver is wading into the federal election, and has come out swinging against Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer.
Speaking on Wednesday, Stewart said he was concerned a new government under Scheer would mean key transportation projects in Vancouver would be forgotten.
“I’m worried that an Andrew Scheer Conservative government could be elected,” he said. “And that would be a disaster for the city.”
Stewart says Scheer’s platform is ‘shocking’, saying the Skytrain to UBC project would be killed, and housing would be made less affordable.
The comments came as a surprise to Hamish Telford, a political scientist with the University of the Fraser Valley.
Also on @NEWS1130 tonight, we break down Kennedy Stewart’s harsh comments towards the leader of the Conservatives, including that Andrew Scheer would be ‘Worse than Harper’. A poli-sci professor says it’s pretty rare for a municipal leader to do something like this.
— Jonathan Szekeres (@jonszekeres) October 17, 2019
He says he can’t recall the Mayor of any municipality ever publically lashing out at a federal party leader.
“I don’t recall a Mayor weighing in on an election in such a partisan fashion. We see this with Premiers all the time. The cities will often make it known what they are looking for, more money for transportation, housing and other sorts of issues,” he says. “But they rarely weigh in for or against any particular party.”
Speaking to reporters, Stewart said he was shocked by Scheer’s platform, saying “Andrew Scheer would be worse than Stephen Harper.”
Telford adds if Scheer is elected, Stewart’s comments could come back to bite him.
“I think he’s taking a calculated risk that Andrew Scheer is not going to get a majority and that he won’t get a minority government either. He is taking that risk in trying to suggest to voters to think about this when they are voting,” Telford says. “But if Andrew Scheer does form a government, he may not look too favorably upon the Mayor of Vancouver.”
Stewart says he’s already met with Elizabeth May, Justin Trudeau, and Jagmeet Singh ahead of the election, but says Scheer has refused.