There were plenty of familiar Liberal faces Thursday as Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre formally opened his campaign office on Notre Dame Avenue.
Surrounded by his family and supported by former provincial Liberal cabinet ministers Rick Bartolucci and Glenn Thibeault, Lefebvre said his government had secured millions in infrastructure dollars for Greater Sudbury, including for the Maley Drive extension, and more recently, to complete the four-laning of Highway 69.
With the city boasting low unemployment and a shortage of skilled workers in some trades, Lefebvre said ensuring residents have the right skills for jobs in the future will be key to the city's long-term success.
“We need skilled labour,” he said, adding some employers can't find qualified people to fill jobs.
Citing middle class families, health care and the environment as priorities for the next term, Lefebvre said he and his team plan to “work really hard to be re-elected, and from there continue down the path of growth.
“I really want to make sure that we have a society where it doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, that we all have the same chance of success.”
In an interview after addressing supporters, Lefebvre was asked how he plans to respond should the campaign rhetoric turn nasty, as was the case in the recent municipal and provincial elections.
“That could happen,” he said, noting the tone of debate in Ottawa has become increasingly hostile. “I don't know what my my opponents will do. Time will tell, but for me, I'll be doing the same thing as I'm already doing. I like to talk to people, but my approach has never been to attack or counter-attack.
“I'm going to be the same person that I was in the last election, be very pragmatic.”
His priority will be seeing Highway 69 completed – “I want to fight for the last third” -- and he said he'd like to see more federal jobs decentralized out of Ottawa and moved to the city.
“So if we're elected, I think that's something that can really happen.”
And with Canada's – and Sudbury's – aging population, the Liberals have been putting money toward supports for seniors to keep them in their homes as long as possible, and to make it affordable.
“We have a historic amount of funding that was made available for housing across the country,” Lefebvre said. “(Our) budget actually provided $5 billion in funding to the provinces five for home care and mental health care.”
Canadians go to the polls Oct. 21.
