Local Conservatives had a first-hand opportunity to hear from candidates running for the leadership of the federal Tories.
Six of the 13 registered candidates attended a sold-out question-and-answer session in Hepworth, organized by Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MP Larry Miller.
The candidates, including Kellie Leitch, Chris Alexander, Pierre Lemieux, Michael Chong, Andrew Scheer and Lisa Raitt, fielded questions ranging from seniors issues to the declining rural voice in politics. Erin O'Toole had been scheduled to attend, but was forced to cancel due to a family emergency.
With three weeks to go until the party picks a leader, Raitt admits it's not easy trying to figure out who is leading the race, because the vote in every riding is weighted the same, regardless of party membership. "Some of the ridings are 16,000 people and some of them are 78 people and they have the equal amount of votes, so let's see how it shakes out," says Raitt.
The withdrawal of star candidate Kevin O'Leary from the race has made it a wide open field, according to Chong. "The fact that the supposed frontrunner Kevin O'Leary withdrew out of the race because he didn't think he could win tells you that the whole race is wide open," says Chong. "We believe we have a path to victory and we're fighting for every single vote." The departure of O'Leary has Scheer particularly confident, boasting he feels the race is coming down to himself and Maxime Bernier, who was endorsed by O'Leary. "We've seen a lot of momentum, we're definitely closing the gap," says Scheer. "
As people become aware of some of [Bernier's] policies, like free trade with China, like ending all federal transfers to health care, there's a lot of Conservatives that say 'Are those really the Conservative issues we want to put in the store window?'"
Miller has been reluctant to publicly endorse a candidate, only saying that his ballot will be filled out for candidates that he feels have the best chance to defeat Justin Trudeau's Liberals in 2019, naming Chong, Raitt, O'Toole and Scheer as candidates he feels have a chance to return the Conservatives to power.
As for his own future, Miller says it's too early to say whether or not he will seek re-election to a sixth term as MP. "I'll give it deeper thought probably in another year," says Miller.
