Harper swoops down

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This article was published 14/08/2015 (4035 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some gentle jabs at the Selinger government, some well-worn stump speech lines and one Winnipeg MP dominated Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s first visit to Winnipeg during this election campaign Thursday night.

About 350 Tory loyalists joined Harper for a short rally at the Tijuana Yacht Club, where he spent equal time criticizing Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Tom Mulcair. That’s despite the fact the Grits offer the Tories their biggest challenge in at least three ridings in Winnipeg.

Early on, Harper unleashed his campaign’s well-worn anti-Trudeau tag line, that the young Liberal leader is “just not ready.”

“I don’t know where I heard that,” quipped Harper.

And, citing Greece’s recent woes, he said the NDP’s big spending, high tax approach to government “would wreck the economy in so many countries and so many provinces where it has been tried.”

“Raising taxes is in the DNA of the NDP, as you in Manitoba know well,” said Harper.

He said Manitoba’s NDP government is fairly moderate compared to the federal party. The Conservative leader has taken bigger shots at NDP governments elsewhere in Canada, particularly Alberta. But his jabs earned applause in a province where the Progressive Conservatives hope to unseat the NDP in next spring’s provincial election.

Harper conformed to his campaign message, noting Canada’s economic strength and arguing recent troubles are confined to the energy sector. He highlighted a list of tax breaks and rebates to families, including the recently increased universal child care benefit and income splitting. And, he touted his party’s record battling the Islamic State group, saying the Liberals and NDP aren’t up to the job of protecting Canada against terrorism.

One of Harper’s few local references was to the Waverley Underpass, which earned a big round of applause. Days before Harper kicked the campaign into gear, Winnipeg South Centre MP Joyce Bateman announced the Conservatives would chip in $46 million for the underpass at Taylor Avenue, a key traffic choke point in the riding.

Harper’s next Winnipeg reference, to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, earned more muted claps.

After a few local elections on the defensive, picking up seats that were once seen as no-hopers, the Conservatives are now trying to hold on to five Winnipeg ridings. That includes Bateman’s, who was the homegrown star of Thursday’s rally. Her supporters packed the dance club, sporting signs and buttons and delivering her the largest cheer when she was introduced. Before she, in turn, introduced Harper, Bateman quipped she is seeking re-election in “that well-established Conservative riding.”

Bateman is facing a well-organized challenge from Liberal Jim Carr as well as an insurgent campaign from NDPer Matt Henderson. Winnipeg South Centre was for decades a Liberal stronghold until Bateman, a former Liberal, won it in 2011.

MPs Joy Smith, Rod Bruinooge and Shelly Glover have all stepped down, leaving rookie Tory candidates to face strong Liberal challengers in Kildonan-St. Paul, Winnipeg South and Saint Boniface-Saint Vital.

In Elmwood-Transcona, Conservative MP Lawrence Toet is running to hold on to what’s a traditionally NDP seat, one New Democrat Daniel Blaikie hopes to win back.

Wendy Muracz, a resident of Winnipeg North, said she once supported Liberal Kevin Lamoureaux and still thinks he’s a good representative for the area. But, after studying the platforms of each party, she switched her vote to the Conservatives in 2011 and is now a huge fan of Harper.

She said it’s Harper’s record on the economy and his tax cuts that have earned her support. She noted Canada’s record on job creation is the best among G7 nations, a common Harper refrain.

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“I wish we could get that message out to the majority of people,” she said, adding the media often distorts Harper’s message.

Brenda Schneider, a volunteer on MP Candice Bergen’s campaign in Portage-Lisgar, echoed that, adding praise for Harper.

“I think he has a lot of integrity,” she said.

Thursday’s event was Harper’s only in Winnipeg. He took no questions from reporters. He was headed next to Hay River, N.W.T.

maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca