Face of Nation : Justin Trudeau’s election bus rolled into Saint-Hubert, Que. on Friday as he sought to woo NDP voters in a riding where even the sitting MP has abandoned the New Democrats.
The New Democrats’ sliding fortunes in Quebec prompted the incumbent here, Pierre Nantel, to defect to the Greens on the eve of the election call. The riding of Longueuil-Saint-Hubert is just one of a long list of NDP-held seats that the Liberals have targeted.
“All Canadians have a clear choice to make,” Trudeau told a crowd of supporters at candidate Rejean Hebert’s campaign office Friday. “Do we continue to move forward? Do we continue to do the hard work together? Or do we go backwards? Do we go back to the Stephen Harper approach?” Harper isn’t on the ballot of course. But Trudeau wants Canadians to think of Harper when they see Andrew Scheer.
The opening days of this campaign saw Trudeau repeat that message at rallies in NDP-held ridings in Vancouver and Edmonton and on the doorstep of the Montreal-area riding held for the NDP by Hélène Laverdière, who isn’t running again. Trudeau was introduced at the Montreal rally by environmentalist Stephen Guilbeault, a prime spot for the Liberals’ high-profile candidate.
Trudeau’s rally speech in Vancouver Kingsway drew a crowd of more than a thousand supporters. But amidst the cheering, the Liberal leader was interrupted by a shouting Harrison Johnston. The 19-year-old Johnston is one of many opponents of the TMX pipeline in the greater Vancouver area.
Johnston will vote for the first time in this election — his shouted question to Trudeau made it clear it won’t be for the Liberals. “In 11 years, when it’s going to be the tipping point whether climate change becomes irreversible or not, will he be able to look his kids in the eye and tell them he did everything he could?” Johnston said after the rally.
