Election 2019: As campaign ends, Scheer says he’s proud of party’s ’positive’ work
Credit to Author: The Canadian Press| Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2019 19:51:41 +0000
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says he is proud of the campaign his team has run, which he is styling as one of hope.
During one of his final stops, in British Columbia, he said his party has spent the last 39 days making the case for a Conservative majority through a positive campaign with positive ideas.
The Conservative leader said Sunday there is still time for voters to look at party platforms and swing tomorrow’s election, with polls suggesting a tight race between Scheer’s party and the Liberals.
Scheer also said he has been transparent during the campaign by taking questions daily from reporters, and is vowing to maintain that if elected to govern.
“We have had a very open and transparent campaign, being held accountable to Canadians through the media,” he said.
“That will of course be the spirit of openness and transparency that I will continue on with as government.”
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has spent the campaign trying to link Scheer with Canada’s last Conservative prime minister, warning of a return to the budgets of the Stephen Harper years if the Tories are elected to govern.
The Conservative platform also includes several Harper-era policies that the Liberals turned away from, such as narrowly targeted tax credits for transit riders and for children’s arts and fitness programs, and a promise to balance the budget in five years.
“When you look at our platform, we have many new and innovative policies that help lower the cost of living and put more money in the pockets of Canadians,” Scheer said.
“I have my own style, I have my own approach and the choice tomorrow now is a choice between a government that I would lead focused on making life more affordable, focused on leaving more money in the pockets of Canadians, and an NDP-Liberal coalition that we cannot afford.”
Scheer’s schedule for the final day of the campaign has him blitzing battlegrounds in and around the Vancouver area before capping off with an evening rally.
Among the stops is the riding held by former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould, Vancouver Granville, where she is seeking re-election as an Independent after winning as a Liberal in 2015.
Wilson-Raybould resigned from cabinet — and later was removed from the Liberal caucus — over what she said was an improper effort by Trudeau and senior government officials to have her intervene in the prosecution of engineering giant SNC-Lavalin.
Scheer has used the affair as part of his argument that Trudeau should not be given another mandate to govern, often invoking Wilson-Raybould’s name in a positive light for her actions in refusing to intervene.
Scheer said Sunday he had “an enormous amount of respect” for Wilson-Raybould when pressed about why he was campaigning against her on the eve of an election.
“I campaign in support of all our candidates across the country,” Scheer said, stumping for former Conservative staffer Zach Segal.
“We want Canadians to send Conservative MPs to Ottawa so we can start the work to undo the damage that Justin Trudeau has caused, to return to balanced budgets, to lower taxes and help Canadians get ahead.”