PIERRE LEROUX IS NOW THE OFFICIAL LIBERAL CANDIDATE FOR GPR
Pierre Leroux is now the official Liberal candidate for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell for the June provincial election.
Leroux was acclaimed, April 13, as successor to retiring Liberal MPP Grant Crack, during a riding association meeting in St. Isidore. Traditional superstition has Friday the 13 as an unlucky day but Leroux saw it as a good omen for him and a bad one for his election competition.
“It’s starting off well,” he said during a brief media scrum with local reporters following his confirmation, which included welcoming speeches from veteran senior Liberals like former GPR MP and federal cabinet minister Don Boudria, and Jean-Marc Lalonde, a longtime MPP for the riding under several premiers.
Leroux named two key concerns he will pursue as part of his campaign during the next few weeks. One is the upgrading of the County Road 17/Highway 174 link between Rockland and Orléans, to deal with growing worries over traffic congestion and safety along the route.
The other concern is the problem with the City of Ottawa “borrowing” Prescott-Russell ambulance service units to deal with its growing number of emergency calls, rather than expanding its own ambulance service. The situation often leaves Prescott-Russell without available ambulance units for its own emergency calls.
“That’s something that affects us all,” said Leroux. “The first priority of a municipal (government) is to be able to protect your own residents.”
“He won’t need on-the-job training,” said Boudria, during his congratulatory speech on Leroux’s confirmation. “He’s already trained to do the job. That’s why we need him as our MPP. He ‘gets it’. He knows what it involves to bring in big things for his area. He will do the same for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell as he did for Russell Township.”
During his own acceptance speech, Leroux listed aid for infrastructure, expansion of natural gas service, improved Internet access, and local government autonomy among the needs and concerns for residents of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell. He noted that the riding has a strong tradition of success with a teamwork approach when lobbying the provincial government on issues.
“Together, we can do better,” he said, “and that’s the approach I want to bring at Queen’s Park. Our greatest strength in GPR is its people.”