A federal leadership hopeful is visiting Sudbury this weekend for a meet and greet.
Pierre Poilievre is vying for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada and will be at the Radisson Hotel at 85 Ste Anne Road on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.
The event’s Facebook page bills him as a “candidate for Prime Minister,” and he people can register for the event by clicking here.
During recent gatherings, Poilievre has been credited with drawing big crowds numbering greater than 1,000, where he was noted for greeting people, smiling for photos and selling party memberships.
The politician has served as Conservative MP of Nepean-Carleton, later Carleton, since 2004, and secured approximately 50 per cent of the Ottawa electoral district’s vote in last year’s election.
Poilievre is one of eight names to appear on the final ballot for the Conservative Party of Canada’s leadership race. In addition to Poilievre, those included thus far also include:
- Marc Dalton (Pitt Meadows - Maple Ridge Conservative MP)
- Patrick Brown (Brampton mayor)
- Leslyn Lewis (Haldimand—Norfolk Conservative MP)
- Jean Charest (Past Quebec Liberal premier)
- Roman Baber (York Centre Independent MPP)
- Leona Alleslev (Former Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill Conservative MP)
- Scott Aitchison (Parry Sound—Muskoka Conservative MP)
Greater Sudbury’s two Conservative candidates in last year’s federal election, Sudbury’s Ian Symington and Nickel Belt’s Charles Humphrey, weighed in on the party’s leadership in February, around the time Erin O’Toole was ousted as leader.
At the time, Symington said that Poilievre would have to “soften up a little bit” to find success. He also credited Poilievre with harnessing a high degree of succinctness and persistence that can prove a blessing and a curse, with some people seeing it as too aggressive.
Although neither Greater Sudbury riding saw Conservative candidates elected in last year’s election, both ridings made gains.
