Conservatives look to avoid distraction as convention hits Halifax
Posted Aug 23, 2018 09:10:06 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Thousands of members of the Conservative Party of Canada will be in Halifax beginning on Thursday as the party's national convention gets underway.
It's an opportunity for the party to set policy and strategize heading into next year's federal election.
The conservatives were shut out in Atlantic Canada in 2015 as the liberal party swept the region.
“People from Atlantic Canada sent a message in 2015, and we're responding,” said Scott Liam, the party's president. “We've got a good message with our new leader that we want to give about a positive vision for Canada.”
That new leader is Andrew Scheer, and this will be his first convention as leader of the party.
But the conservatives are also hoping to avoid the distraction that could come in the form of Quebec MP Maxime Bernier.
Bernier went on a Twitter tirade about immigration a week before the convention, prompting Scheer to condemn Bernier's position and assert he does not speak for the party.
“Whatever Mr. Bernier does, we'll see, but I'm not even sure if he's going to be here,” explained Liam.
Liam said the party was expecting about 3,000 members to come to the convention, which would make it the largest in the party's history.
The convention will run from Thursday, Aug. 23 to Saturday, Aug. 25.
