NowMedia video host Jim Csek welcomed Kelowna businesswoman and former MLA Renee Merrifield back into the studio for another episode of Beyond the Ballot.
In a recent KelownaNow live stream, the duo discussed a range of topics, including Prime Minister Mark Carney's handling of foreign worker policies, immigration, and the housing crisis.
Merrifield highlighted the shifting political landscape as parliament reconvenes after summer.
She noted the return of Poilievre as opposition leader, predicting intensified scrutiny on Carney.
"You're gonna see a different heat on Carney than you saw in this. Don't get me wrong, Andrew Shear did a great job as house leader and also as the acting leader of the opposition in parliament," Merrifield said. "But it's gonna be a different heat and a different attention that Poilievre will command by the Press Gallery.”
Focusing on the temporary foreign worker program, Merrifield praised the Conservatives' social media strategy for exposing what she called Carney's inconsistencies. She referenced a viral campaign contrasting Carney's past statements as Bank of Canada governor advocating to end the program with his current defense of it as PM.
"Great job by the conservatives jumping on that,” she said. “Predicting it and having Carney as the Governor General of the Bank of Canada, saying we need to do away with the foreign worker program and then as Prime Minister saying, ‘no, we really need to keep it.’ Very, very sly and just showing how he's talking out both sides of his mouth.”
Merrifield acknowledged a limited need for foreign workers in sectors like agriculture but criticized their use in permanent roles.
"Even Poilievre’s policy excludes those for farming because that is such a short burst. It's not full-time employment. It's not year round employment. Those jobs are difficult for Canadians to really make ends meet because they're so short in duration," she explained.
"But everything else, like where you have the Tim Horton's assistant manager role for $37 an hour, it is a permanent job... That just seems absurd to me, especially when we have unemployment rates in the 20% for some of those youth."
She was particularly scathing toward former NDP minister Katrina Chen's defense of the program, calling her stance "disingenuous." Merrifield recounted her experience serving with Chen.
"I served alongside her for four years. I hardly saw her in the house. I think she might have been inside the house a total of two months, out of four years... I don't know why people are giving her a microphone other than she was part of the NDP caucus and they're trying to create some drama between NDP peers,” she said, adding that she thought Chen's position was hypocritical.
Turning to housing, Merrifield warned of an industry slowdown under current policies, something she pointed to in last week’s discussion. She cited declining starts in major cities like Toronto (down 65%), Vancouver (down 5%), and Kelowna (down 36%).
She attributed job losses in construction to these trends.
"There's a significant number of those jobs that were actually from the construction industry… we need to sound the alarm bell,” she said.
Merrifield lambasted Carney's housing plan as ineffective, arguing it fails to address bureaucracy and red tape.
"Carney’s plan to basically become a developer is very odd. We're not short of developers. We're not even short of contractors,” she said. “What we're short of are labourers, we're short of suppliers... We are desperately overwhelmed by the amount of red tape that we go through and the costs that are layered onto the development industry.”
In contrast, she endorsed Poilievre's approach, which she said would remove red tape, remove cost and stimulate the housing market.
On broader economic issues, Merrifield warned of capital flight due to Canada's tax policies compared to the US.
"Until we have an equal playing field with the US, you're gonna see a flee of capital... Some people are like, no, then keep the taxes high here because that will get us more money. It's like, no, it will get you no money 'cause that money leaves and goes to the US," she said, sharing an anecdote about an investor liquidating hundreds of millions and moving offshore.
Merrifield urged governments to "get out of the way" to spur housing and investment, echoing Poilievre's call to eliminate capital gains taxes on reinvested funds.
The discussion underscored her view that without policy shifts, Canada's challenges in immigration, jobs, and housing will persist.
