Conservatives to talk strategy at Winnipeg meeting

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/07/2017 (3005 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — The federal Conservatives will descend on Winnipeg in September for their first caucus meeting under the leadership of Andrew Scheer, highlighting his focus on Manitoba as a key battleground in the 2019 election.

The Free Press has learned the Tories will meet Sept. 7 to 8 at the Delta Hotel in Winnipeg, to go over their strategy before Parliament resumes. They also plan to hit the streets of Winnipeg.

Portage-Lisgar MP Candice Bergen, who sits among Scheer’s inner circle, said her colleagues look forward to seeing the sights, and many hope to knock on doors around town.

“Winnipeg is a great place to be at the end of summer,” she said. “There’s not that many mosquitoes, the weather’s great.”

Since being voted party leader on May 27, Scheer has visited the Maritimes, Alberta and Quebec, but not Manitoba.

Bergen says having Scheer’s entire team visit Winnipeg will give them a good grasp of local issues.

She says that could mean as many as 98 MPs and 38 senators, and often their spouses and children, visiting The Forks, the zoo and especially the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Numerous Conservatives blame a negative tone for the party’s 2015 election loss, and Bergen says her party is trying to present a positive message, especially in Manitoba.

“We recognize that we took some hits in the city of Winnipeg in the last election,” she said. “We want to be able to earn back the trust of the folks that live in Winnipeg, and those areas.”

That’s why she plans to knock on Manitobans’ doors to “understand them even better,” she said. “Maybe not do as much talking, as we can do listening.”

Bergen says the party will invite their provincial counterparts, including Premier Brian Pallister, to speak.

Her other hope is that Scheer, who represents Regina, will stay to watch that weekend’s match between the Blue Bombers and the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Investors Group Field.

“I’m sure he’s going to be a fan of the Blue Bombers when he’s in Winnipeg,” quipped Bergen. “I may have just gotten myself into trouble for saying that.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits Winnipeg on Friday afternoon, to meet with Mayor Brian Bowman at city hall, and partake in the opening of the Canada Games at Bell MTS Place.

Trudeau’s office said Tuesday he has no plans to visit Churchill, whose mayor invited the prime minister to see the plight caused by losing its rail lifeline nine weeks ago.

That has Bergen hoping Trudeau provides a plan for the damaged rail line, which its owner, Omnitrax, says it won’t repair.

“If something like this was happening in Quebec, I can’t imagine how they would just ignore it,” she said.

“They need to offer some hope, and some solution — or at least some information so that we all know that they are actually working towards a solution.”

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca