2 federal party leaders fight for votes in Hamilton with seats up for grabs ahead of next election

As polling shows ridings up for grabs in the Hamilton region, politicians from three federal parties visited the city within the last eight days to promote policies and gain support from locals. 

But two experts tell CBC Hamilton it's the Conservatives who seem to have the upper hand, despite the fact that Hamilton elected just one Tory MP in 2021. 

On Friday morning, Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre was at steelmaker Stelco to promote an economic plan including tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles and parts. 

At the same time, over at downtown event space Mills Hardware, local Liberal members of parliament Filomena Tassi, Chad Collins and Lisa Hepfner highlighted federal investment into festivals and events such as Hamilton's Supercrawl and Theatre Aquarius. 

WATCH | NDP's Jagmeet Singh in Hamilton talking about grocery stores making record profits: 

Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says he's the only leader to take on 'profiteering' grocery CEOs

4 months ago

Duration 0:41

Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh told CBC Hamilton about his efforts to address high food costs.

And last week, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was in Hamilton to meet local politicians and make the case to end federal funding for bad corporate landlords. 

Although he cautions not to make too much of summer tours, Peter Graefe, an associate professor of political science at McMaster University, says it's likely that a number of Hamilton ridings will be competitive.

For example, polling research from 338Canada shows four local Liberal seats leaning Conservative: 

• Burlington

• Burlington North—Milton West

• Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas

• Hamilton East—Stoney Creek

The 338Canada model shows the currently Liberal Hamilton Mountain riding represented by Lisa Hepfner, as a Conservative-NDP toss-up. 

Overall, Graefe said, there has been a "significant weakening of the Liberal vote and a strengthening of the Conservative one," especially in suburban areas. 

NDP and Conservative leaders visited Hamilton with days of each other

Lydia Miljan, a professor of political science at the University of Windsor said after the Liberals lost a supposedly safe seat in a June byelection, "it really does seem like all seats are in play." 

"It seems to me that whatever the Liberals are doing, it's not working."

At Stelco on Friday, Poilievre called workers there "the greatest workers in the world" and said that housing has become unaffordable to those with average manufacturing jobs. 

The Conservative leader added that while he thinks the traditionally working-class-focused NDP would have once been outraged by this, now they've "signed on." He also called Singh a "sell-out," for working with the Liberals via a confidence and supply agreement. 

The NDP made that deal with the Liberals in 2022, supporting the government on confidence and budget votes in exchange for NDP priorities including pharmacare and the anti-replacement worker legislation, Bill C-58, that bans federally regulated workplaces from bringing in replacement workers during a legal strike. 

Singh addressed this criticism — which the Conservatives included in a recent attack ad — while speaking with CBC Hamilton. 

"We need to remind people what they already know about Conservatives. Conservatives cut," he said. "[Poilievre] is going to cut the things that you need. He's going to cut EI. He's going to cut pensions."

Graefe said that while Singh has pursued policies like dental care and pharmacare geared toward his party's traditional base, he may find it difficult to translate that into votes. The experience of coalitions in Europe is that smaller parties usually "pay the price" because they "take the blame for what's unpopular, while the government can take credit for their successes," Graefe said.

Miljan agrees that the NDP are in a difficult position due to the agreement, and added that with the Conservatives courting union support, the NDP is likely trying to hold onto its base. 

Singh grilled grocery store CEOs

When asked why the Conservatives seem to be making gains at the NDP's expense, Singh said that's something the party has "really focused on more recently," noting his efforts to call out grocery store CEOs, who he says are profiteering. 

"I grilled them directly saying, 'Well, how much profit is enough? You're making record profits. People can't afford their groceries. Is there any limit?' No answer to that. And so it became very clear that they are ripping off people. And then Liberals and Conservatives have done nothing about it," he said. 

Poilievre did not take questions from CBC Hamilton at his news conference, but a party spokesperson shared an email statement from deputy leader Melissa Lantsman, who said the Liberals and NDP have caused food prices to go up through "inflationary policies and punishing taxes."

Experts have previously said the rising costs in grocery stores are influenced by factors like inflation, a lack of competition, recent natural disasters, wars, logistical bottlenecks and the amount of food production within Canada, among other things.

Lantsman said Conservatives would address high food prices in part by eliminating the federal carbon tax. 

In an email, Tassi, the minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, and member of parliament for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas said "Canadians' grocery bills are way too high," and the government is taking action to bring prices down with a grocery code of conduct, which aims to increase competition.

"Long term, we are strengthening the Competition Act and granting new powers to the Competition Bureau, who will take full advantage of the new powers to further address high food prices," Tassi said.