Dairy farmer will run for Conservatives against Bernier
It’s a dairy producer who will run against the leader of the new People’s Party of Canada, Maxime Bernier, in the Beauce riding next election.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer was in St-Elzéar Saturday morning to announce that Richard Lehoux, a former president of the Fédération québécoise des municipalités (FQM), would run under the Conservative banner in the October 2019 election.
In addition to his responsibilities at the FQM, Lehoux was mayor of St-Elzéar for 19 years. He stepped down from the position in 2017 to become a full-time farmer again.
Bernier ran for the Conservatives in the last election but left the party with a roar in mid-August, saying he strongly disagreed with several of its positions and its leader.
Supply management will no doubt be part of the campaign debate, since Lehoux has been a dairy producer for 35 years, and Bernier wants to abolish this system.
Lehoux believes Bernier’s position could hurt his opponent in the rural riding.
“I don’t now where Mr. Bernier consulted to get his position, especially since his region is the second most important in terms of dairy production,” he said.
Bernier already reacted to Lehoux’s possible candidacy last week on Twitter, saying he wasn’t surprised that the Conservatives are choosing a dairy producer to face him.
“Scheer is so intent on proving that he’s beholden to the supply management cartel that he chooses a dairy producer to run against me in Beauce,” he tweeted.
In an interview, Bernier said he was flattered the Conservative party is spending so much energy in his riding.
“It’s a bit of a compliment for me,” he said. “It really means that they’re afraid of the success of the People’s Party. I’m looking forward to have a debate in Beauce about his privilege, and why he wants people to pay twice the price for milk, poultry and eggs.”
Lehoux recognizes that unseating Bernier, who’s been elected since 2006, will be a challenge.
“I had all sorts of challenges, in the end, during my municipal political career that led me to be president of the FQM,” he said. “I think that we’re up to the challenge.”