Contenders for the federal Conservative leadership tossed out partisan red meat to local party members at a Tory barbecue Saturday afternoon as they roasted Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government.
In an unofficial Calgary kickoff to the Tory leadership campaign, declared and potential candidates Michael Chong, Kellie Leitch, Tony Clement, Lisa Raitt and Andrew Scheer appeared at a $200-a-ticket constituency fundraising barbecue and forum at Symons Valley Ranch hosted by MPs Michelle Rempel and Blake Richards.
With each candidate given time to make their case, many took the opportunity to blast Trudeau, whose Liberals took down Stephen Harper’s Conservative government last fall.
Leitch, who like Chong has officially registered as a leadership candidate with the Conservative party, told the crowd that Trudeau is cut from the same cloth as his father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, whose National Energy Policy was deeply unpopular in Alberta.
The former labour minister slammed Trudeau for not coming sooner to Fort McMurray in the aftermath of its devastating wildfire and said the prime minister doesn’t represent Canadian values of working hard and taking care of others.
“The Trudeau government does not have that same approach. They don’t live these values that we have,” said Leitch, a physician who is originally from Fort McMurray but is the MP for the Ontario riding of Simcoe-Grey.
Tony Clement, the former Treasury Board minister who has not official declared but is intending to run for leader, castigated “Liberal elites,” especially in the area of foreign affairs.
“They’re cozying up to Putin, who invaded Ukraine and is threatening our north, they want to make friends with the Iranian government that supports terrorism around the world and bow to Chinese communists when they come visiting our country,” said Clement, whose campaign in Alberta is being helped by former provincial cabinet minister Gary Mar.
Trudeau won a massive majority last fall and almost all polls show the Liberals with a significant lead over their rivals. But each candidate affirmed their belief the Conservatives can come back to win the 2019 federal election.
Chong said the Trudeau government appears flashy and new but is built on old ideas from the 1960s and 1970s.
“It’s a government led by a Trudeau, that is racking up mountains of debt and deficits without any clear idea how to pay it back. It’s a government that is punting everything to a commission or a consultation because they have no idea what to do,” said Chong, who is perhaps best known for resigning from the Harper cabinet on a point of principle in 2006.
Lisa Raitt, the former Transportation Minister who will decide by the end of the summer whether to enter the race, said the senior Trudeau was more popular than his son when he was first elected in 1968 but the Liberals came within two seats of losing the next election in 1972.
“They weren’t trusted to govern the country and continue to deliver a healthy economy. Four years from now, we’re going to have the same discussion,” she said.
The Conservative race won’t actually be decided until May of 2017 and there are some big players still undecided on the sidelines, including Calgary MP Jason Kenney and former cabinet minister Peter MacKay, neither of whom chose to attend the Calgary event. Businessman and television personality Kevin O’Leary —who has mused about a leadership run — couldn’t make it to the barbecue.
Another candidate who formally declared for the Conservative leadership, Maxime Bernier, originally intended to come to the Calgary event but cancelled because of other obligations.
Chong, Clement, Leitch and Raitt all represent Ontario ridings while Scheer, the opposition house leader, holds a Regina seat.
Scheer said he is still undecided on whether he will actually run but said Conservatives have to do a better job in delivering their message in the next election.
He said politicians on the left are able to sell the notion they are acting out of compassion in their policies.
“Nobody doubts the sincere motives of all these do-gooders, these bleeding hearts. We think they’re misguided but we don’t think they’re bad people,” said Scheer.
“In fact, their ideas are not full of compassion. There is nothing compassionate about getting people addicted to welfare or stuck on First Nations reserves.”
jwood@postmedia.com