Niki Ashton brought her leadership bid for the national New Democratic Party to North Battleford on Sunday.
The occasion was a barbecue event held on 96th Street at former NDP provincial candidate Rob Feist’s home, attended by party supporters.
The North Battleford event was one that had been in the works for the Ashton campaign for a while. Previously, she visited Weyburn, Swift Current, Moose Jaw, Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert early on in the campaign.
“Saskatchewan feels like a second home to me,” said Ashton, who has been MP for the northern Manitoba riding of Churchill-Keewatinook Aski since 2008.
Saskatchewan is a place where Ashton has done a lot of work, particularly during the period when the NDP had no MPs from the province.
The North Battleford gathering included committed Ashton supporters, as well as others who were uncommitted but interested in what Ashton had to say. The candidate took part in an extensive question and answer session which included topics such as student loan debt, foreign ownership, the cost of living, and policies of the Wall government such as the STC closure.
It was in keeping with the style of campaign Ashton says she wants to run.
“Our campaign is very much a grassroots campaign,” Ashton said in an interview with the Regional Optimist, “so we’ve prioritized travelling across the country and spending time in not just the big cities or the capitals, but getting out into communities where we can meet with activists, where we can hear the issues that matter to them, where we can see sort of the different issues that matter to different communities in our provinces.”
At the North Battleford event, Ashton outlined her policies, part of a platform she described as “very bold and progressive.”
Her proposals include ones to extend medicare by including pharmacare, dental care and mental health services, free tuition and tax reform.
Of her tax reform platform, Ashton said she believes the rich are “getting away legally and illegally without paying their fair share, and that needs to change.”
Ashton believes her campaign is gaining momentum. She pointed to a recent poll placing her second among NDP contenders in the leadership race, and to some positive reactions to her debate performances and her policies.
“Our campaign has made it clear we stand for a bold, principled platform, and that is something that is really resonating with people on the ground.”
Her pitch to party members has been to move the party in a more progressive direction than in recent years.
“In the 2015 election we strayed from our principles,” said Ashton. “We’ve perhaps played it too safe, and we need to realize that there are major challenges that we face as a country – growing inequality, the threat of climate change – and what we need is bold progressive policies to take those challenges on.”
Ashton particularly pointed to Justin Trudeau as an example of how a progressive platform can be a winning one.
But Trudeau hasn’t followed through in office, she believes.
“Trudeau did well in the election with a progressive-sounding platform that he hasn’t lived up to,” said Ashton.
“Whether it’s on electoral reform or the environment, or public services, or his language around the middle class. As he talks about the middle class, the middle class is disappearing in this country. And not only is inequality increasing, but he’s encouraging it through his large-scale privatization plan and bad trade deals.”
As for the Conservatives, Ashton is of the belief their new leader Andrew Scheer is “somebody who could take the Conservatives even further to the right,” pointing in particular to abortion and LGBTQ rights issues.
Ashton was not impressed by the “Trump-inspired ideas” in that contest, and said she is “quite happy that our race is far less divisive in terms of the politics we are talking about for our country.”
This is the second time that Ashton has run for the party leadership. The field of official candidates also includes federal MPs Charlie Angus and Guy Caron and Ontario MPP Jagmeet Singh.
A week earlier, Peter Julian dropped out of the race, freeing up some potential votes for the other candidates. Ashton plans to keep on seeking support to the end.
“It’s a very dynamic race,” said Ashton. “It’s one-member one-vote. Everybody will decide who the new leader is, and as I said, things are looking very good.”
The province of Saskatchewan is heavily in the plans for all four candidates this week, as they were all scheduled to appear at a televised all-candidates debate in Saskatoon at TCU Place on Tuesday night.
North Battleford was also in the itinerary plans of at least one more leadership contender this week. Guy Caron’s campaign has scheduled an afternoon event with local New Democrats on Wednesday at 5 pm. The location was the same 96th Street venue where Ashton’s event was held.
After that, the next important date in the contest is August 17, which is the closing date for members to join the party and be eligible to vote.
The leadership vote itself is being conducted by mail-in or online ballots, with ballot counting and multiple rounds of voting scheduled for October.
