Top Liberal is ‘very confident’ in chances of winning a majority

HALIFAX - Finally, someone said it out loud.

Dominic LeBlanc, the New Brunswick Liberal candidate and Justin Trudeau's intergovernmental affairs minister, said Wednesday what his party's leader has not yet acknowledged: that his party is still hoping to win a majority in next week's election.

More than four weeks into the campaign, polls show the Conservatives and Liberals in a virtual dead heat in many regions across the country, suggesting a minority government is the most likely outcome of the Sept. 20 vote.

But with the polls so close, LeBlanc believes it is still possible - with swings in a few key ridings - for the Liberals to win a majority of seats in the House of Commons.

I'm very confident in our chances of forming a majority government," LeBlanc told the Star, marking the first time during the campaign that a senior party official has publicly said as much.

Asked if that means he doesn't believe the Liberals could work with the New Democrats while heading a minority government, LeBlanc demurred. The good news is we'll have all those answers next week," he said. We don't need to speculate."

While Trudeau stayed on the attack Wednesday against Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole, he also directed criticism at his rival for progressive-left votes, charging that NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and his party like to say nice things about what they do but don't actually have a plan."

Trudeau directly appealed to those who might vote strategically to help him stop the Conservatives from forming the next government.

After the year we've been through, Canadians deserve a team with not just a vision and ambition, but a concrete plan to deliver," he said. That's what we have - especially because we are the ones who are positioned to stop Erin O'Toole and the Conservatives from taking Canada back."

Trudeau also slammed Singh for claiming the Liberals have done nothing to deliver on any of their promises, citing his government's record on climate change, housing, child care and reconciliation. It's not nothing," he said.

I think it is cynical of Mr. Singh to continue to pretend that there is no difference between a Conservative government and a Liberal government. I understand that he's open to working with a Conservative minority government. Perhaps that highlights and underscores the fact that he doesn't have a real plan to fight climate change and would be perfectly happy with Mr. O'Toole's plan, but we're not."

LeBlanc later told reporters a Liberal majority would be a better outcome because Canadians will be well served by a rigorous focus on the things that matter to them: the fight against climate change, affordability issues.

I'm hearing in my constituency all the time about affordability challenges around child care, and what's interesting is it's grandparents talking to me about the challenge for their sons or their daughters and their grandchildren in terms of affordable, accessible child care."

LeBlanc also rejected suggestions that the country is facing growing divisions and a national unity challenge. It's not what I've observed over the past 14 months," he said.

He added that the Liberal government worked closely with both Quebec Premier Francois Legault and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney on pandemic-related issues.

Tonda MacCharles is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @tondamacc