Scheer delight
New Conservative leader makes stop in Brookfield on Atlantic Canadian tour
Federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer attended an event in Brookfield Monday as part of an Atlantic Canada tour.
The Conservative Party’s best hope for winning back the electoral support required to form the next federal government arrived in Brookfield with little fanfare on Monday evening.
But most of the nearly 300 people who came out to greet newly minted Conservative leader Andrew Scheer proudly wore campaign buttons bearing the slogan “Scheer excitement” as they lined up to shake his hand and exchange a few words.
“I just wanted to meet him in person,” said Don Wells, of Truro, after meeting the man he hopes will become the next prime minister.
“I think of his confidence,” he said, of his reason for supporting the Saskatchewan MP and political veteran, despite his relatively young age of 38.
Betty Telfer, of Enfield, who attended the rally with her husband Dave, said she too is counting on Scheer to lead the Conservatives to power in 2019.
“I think he’s the right guy at the right time, because of his honesty and integrity and family values.”
And that is precisely the message that Scheer is trying to impart during his tour of Atlantic Canada, which began last week in New Brunswick, where he visited with workers in the lumber industry. Scheer, who is travelling with his wife Jill and five children, spent Canada Day in P.E.I where he met with lobster fishermen, among others, to listen to their concerns.
After stopping in Brookfield for a rally and barbecue at the South Colchester Academy Monday evening, Scheer is planning to travel to Halifax today where he will tour the Irving Shipyards before proceeding to Newfoundland Labrador on Wednesday.
And, listening, he said, is what the tour is all about.
“I wanted to do a tour through Atlantic Canada early on in my mandate,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to build towards 2019 and it starts now. So I wanted to send a signal that winning back the trust of Atlantic Canadians is an important priority for me.”
That is a point, Scheer said, that seems lost on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, despite the degree of votes he received from the region, winning all 32 seats in Atlantic Canada.
“The most common thing that I’m hearing is that the Liberals are already taking this region for granted,” he said.
“At the end of it we have to think about how we’re communicating with people, how we’re connecting with people. That’s what the problem was (with the Stephen Harper government) and that’s what I think I’m best suited to address and that’s why I’m here.”
Besides promising to remove the HST from utility services and lowering taxes, another of Scheer’s leadership campaign promises was that he would return the country to a balanced budget within two years of taking power, should he be successful in 2019.