Libs face discontent in East

Photo: The Canadian Press

Less than a year after the federal Liberals won all 32 seats in Atlantic Canada, some East Coasters are feeling taken for granted.

Critics and political observers say a number of perceived missteps are starting to take the form of a political narrative that does not reflect well on the governing party or its telegenic leader, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"When you start adding these up, the cumulative effect can be woven into quite a rhetorical tapestry for an opposition party," says Tom Bateman, a political science professor at St. Thomas University in Fredericton.

"That's what the Liberals have to worry about."

Among other things, Atlantic Canadians have been irked by Trudeau's suggestion that he may not replace a retired Supreme Court of Canada judge from Nova Scotia with someone from Atlantic Canada.

Failure to appoint an Atlantic Canadian would effectively kill a 141-year-old unwritten convention that ensures every region of the country has representation on the country's highest court. Trudeau has argued that other forms of diversity are just as important.

Treasury Board President Scott Brison, the senior federal cabinet minister from Nova Scotia, says it's too early to judge what the government will do, noting that Atlantic Canadians are among those being considered for the job.

"People ought to wait until that appointment is made," he said, adding that the new non-partisan selection process is based on merit, not the cronyism that he says the previous Tory government was known for.

But the new process hasn't won over some vocal opponents.

Earlier this week, trial lawyers from across the region took Ottawa to court to make sure Atlantic Canada keeps its seat.

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil also said the rule should not be dropped, as did two New Brunswick senators: Conservative John Wallace and Pierrette Ringuette, a former Liberal senator who now sits as an Independent.

"Policies to promote diversity need not come at the expense of excluding Atlantic Canada," Ringuette said in a statement earlier this month.