Liberal insiders say Navdeep Bains leaves a big hole in Justin Trudeau’s electoral machine. Who will replace him? – Toronto Star

The 905 is a key political battleground. And just as questions about a coming federal election grow louder in Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said goodbye to a top political lieutenant with strong roots and a solid track record in the crucial suburban region around Canadas biggest city.

Navdeep Bains is leaving electoral politics after an almost 17-year run. He left his post as Trudeaus Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, prompting a surprise cabinet shuffle on Tuesday as the prime minister fielded questions about his appetite for a federal election in the coming months. (Trudeau didnt rule it out, but said his preference is to hold off until the pandemic crisis is over.)

But while Bains said Tuesday that he will be there to help the Liberals whenever that campaign comes, his decision to step out of the spotlight brought his stature as a key political figure of the Trudeau era into high relief.

Hes been hard at work for quite a while, and at the centre of certainly the rebuild of the party, said Anna Gainey, the Liberal party president from 2014 to 2018.

I dont think you can (overstate Bainss) voice and his leadership and his contribution to this party, she said.

Scott Reid, a longtime Liberal strategist who was director of communications to prime minister Paul Martin, similarly described Bains as a powerhouse organizer who played a central role in the Liberal partys turnaround after the devastation of 2011, when Bains lost his seat as the Liberals were trounced and fell to third place in the House of Commons. Bains was part of the team that helped Trudeau take over and lead the party back to power with a majority government in 2015.

He was tapped as co-chair of the Liberal campaign in Ontario that year, and was one of five campaign co-chairs for the national campaign in 2019, when the party fell to minority status but maintained its grip on ridings across the Toronto area including all of Brampton and Mississauga, where Bains has spent his political career.

But Reid said Bains influence transcends the 905 region, describing him as the person who stood at the centre of the organizational, structural, political operation. And it delivered quite a startling victory in 2015, coming from third place.

For former Liberal strategist John Duffy, the loss of Bains will be felt less in the effort to attract votes during an election and more in his touch for organizing the machine around such efforts: fundraising, recruiting volunteers, and clinching good candidates to run under the Liberal banner.

A discussion with Nav about what life in politics was like and what the party could do to support a good candidate thats nominated thats been a big part of making everything happen, said Duffy.

Omar Alghabra, the Mississauga Centre MP promoted to transport minister on Tuesday, said the gap left by Bains is huge.

I dont think anybody is going to be able to fill that hole, he said. Navdeep had a massive impact on my life, on the Liberal party and I would say even in support of the prime minister over so many years. And nowhere do I think or I imagine Ill be able to fill that hole. I will hopefully play a part, I dont know what it is, but I dont expect nor do I think that I can fill that hole.

Bains himself said the Liberals were able to recruit some top-tier talent in 2015 that will help the party when he steps back.

Its not a new team. We have incumbency, we have experience, we have people that have done a couple of campaigns, and so thats why I have enormous confidence in the team, he said.

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Bains also said Tuesday that he will play a part in the next campaign, something Reid welcomed as a Liberal partisan with high praise for the outgoing minister.

He was the guy responsible for the political machine, Reid said. The federal Liberals would be very worried if he wasnt around on the next go around.

With files from Tonda MacCharles

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Liberal insiders say Navdeep Bains leaves a big hole in Justin Trudeau's electoral machine. Who will replace him? - Toronto Star