Alistair MacGregor has been elected as the new chair of the federal NDP caucus.
In this new role, MacGregor, MP for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, will oversee NDP caucus meetings and will serve as an important liaison for NDP MPs, he said in a press release.
“I’m really honoured to be taking on this role as caucus chair and the new responsibility it brings,” said MacGregor.
He said it will give him the chance to raise some of the biggest concerns people in the Cowichan community have including the costs of groceries, rents and mortgages, and climate change.
MacGregor will continue to serve as the NDP’s Agriculture and Food Price Inflation Critic.
MacGregor and the NDP fought for the measures in the fall economic statement to lower food prices, the release said, including giving more power to the Competition Bureau to crack down on price-gouging and price-fixing and to give further powers to Canada’s Competition Commissioner to keep markets competitive for small businesses.
MacGregor is critical of the country’s two other major political parties on the file, saying that the Liberals have acted only when the NDP forced them to, and the “cut-and-gut” Conservatives want to scrap services people rely on, pointing out that they recently voted against a national school food program for kids.
“The government should be working for you, not for CEOs,” MacGregor said. “That’s the future New Democrats are fighting for, and I look forward to continuing this fight as the caucus chair.”
