​Williamson’s Ice Cream War Goes Soft

Come now, Mr. Williamson, are there no more pressing concerns for a Member of Parliament than declaring to the world on Facebook that Haagen Dazs “isn’t ice cream?”

What about other concerns in your modest-income N.B. Southwest riding: homelessness, addictions, poverty, the housing shortage, the cost of gasoline, and, for many people, most important of all, the price of groceries?

After a trip to the grocery store, MP Williamson wrote in a recent Facebook post: “No wonder the Haagen Dazs was on sale at Loblaws. This isn’t ice cream. This should be illegal. The large store sign read: Haagen Dazs Sale…

The MP continued: “Parliament needs to pass a Truth in Labelling law so when consumers believe we are buying milk, we get milk from a cow or when we purchase what we think is ice cream, we go home with real dairy-made ice cream and not a bloody plant-based product that downplays the true ingredients.”

And the Conservative MP concluded: “Vote for the NDP-Liberal Trudeau government coalition,” strongly implying that all this was the fault of political foes.

Adam Huras, a reporter for the Telegraph-Journal newspaper, told this story last week. He noted that MP Williamson’s original post drew seven hundred comments online, and the vast majority of these were negative.

Huras’ story was accompanied by a photograph showing that the Haagen Dazs container was very clearly identified as “plant based.” How could the MP construe this as downplaying the true ingredients?

Since Mr. Williamson’s Haagen Dazs meltdown, the MP has redeemed himself, at least to some degree, by acting in a more substantial and parliamentary way on another issue. The federal MP noticed that Canada’s rocky and isolated Machias Seal Island, had not been included in a recent version of a Canadian electoral map of Williamson’s New Brunswick Southwest riding. Williamson saw the danger in not maintaining the historical claim to the island and it was a cause worth fighting. He argued successfully to have the island included in the most recent Elections Canada map of the riding.

Well done! That is more like it, Mr. Williamson.

But the MP’s work cannot end there. He occupies a seat in the House of Commons which can rightfully be called a safe Conservative seat. Williamson must work hard if he is not to occupy a lonely seat on the back benches after the next election.

If Pierre Poilievre becomes Conservative Prime Minister as appears likely if the current opinion polls are correct, Mr. Williamson’s chances do not appear particularly good for him to make it into Cabinet.

Despite being an apparent philosophical ally of Poilievre on the far-right side of the Conservative Party, Williamson does not appear to be one of Poilievre’s favorites. A strong indication of this is the fact that Williamson is not a member of Poilievre’s Shadow Cabinet. One of the realities of politics is that for a member of Parliament to be able do well for his/her constituents, province, or country, being in cabinet is vital.

Let’s consider where Mr. Williamson sits in the pecking order with his fellow N.B. Conservative MPs following the 2021 election.

• Williamson won 18,309 votes or close to 50% of the vote in N.B. Southwest. His nearest rival, a Liberal, took just 24.9%.
• Richard Blagdon, Tobique-Mactaquac, captured almost 51% of the vote.
• Rob Moore, Fundy-Royal, took a 48.4% voting share.
• Jake Stewart, Miramichi-Grand Lake, had the lowest share of votes of these four at 43.7%, still a substantial total.

The province’s three overwhelmingly francophone N.B. ridings still appear to be solidly Liberal. In the 2021 election, these three ridings gave the Liberals vote shares ranging from 55 to 64%. Moncton and Saint John were solidly Liberal ridings in 2021, but their history makes them “swing ridings” between the two main parties, the Liberals, and the Conservatives.

The Fredericton riding looks to be too close to call at this point. The incumbent, Jenica Atwin, initially won the riding for the Green Party over the incumbent Liberal MP in the 2019 federal election but crossed the floor to join the Liberals in 2021. Three months later, Ms. Atwin won the riding narrowly over the Conservatives. Political observers say that MP Atwin has been working hard to keep the riding in the Liberal column, but the ascendency of the Poilievre Conservatives could be difficult to overcome.

If they run again, all the current Conservative MPs appear likely to be re-elected. They all have very strong vote totals, but Jake Stewart appears to be closest personally to Mr. Poilievre and has the inside track, for now, to make it into Cabinet, assuming the Conservatives win the next election. A Conservative win in Saint John, Moncton or Fredericton could also produce a candidate for a Cabinet seat.

All this to say, Mr. Williamson has a strong chance of being re-elected in the next election which must be held not later than October 2025, but he has his work cut out for him to make it into Cabinet. All politicians in our Parliamentary system normally aspire to be part of a government. If they do not show they want to be in Cabinet, chances are they will never make it into the one government committee which really matters.
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So, if Mr. Williamson wishes to be successful in the longer term, he should not waste his time on mere ice cream politics. He should bear down and work much harder on real issues.