Members of the Carleton Conservatives hosted a reception for Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak and other party members at the Heart and Crown pub in the ByWard Market Jan. 31.
The reception was timed to rally support from Ottawa-area Conservatives ahead of the Feb. 10 party convention in Niagara Falls.
Carleton Conservatives member Kyle Bedford said he was glad to see Hudak move out of Toronto and talk to people throughout the province.
“I’m glad the focus of his rebuilding process isn’t devoted to trying to win Toronto,” Bedford said. “Instead, he’s seeking the opinions of others, even in areas that went Liberal in the October elections.”
Pub televisions announcing the results of the Republican primary in Florida were abandoned in favour of cheering, well-wishing and hand-shaking when Hudak arrived.
“I strongly believe that we have the best damn team of candidates Ottawa has ever seen,” Hudak told supporters.
“I also think they have the best volunteers in the whole province and it was thanks to volunteers like you in the whole province that we added 16 new members while the Liberals lost 19 of their members.”
Although the results from the recent provincial election weren’t enough to form a Conservative government, Hudak said “the wind is in our sails.”
“We have a three-way race for our party’s presidency and a record number of people are fighting to attain executive positions in the party,” he said. “We just have to continue to remind Ontarians that we are the party for creating jobs, balancing the budget, and moving Ontario away from being a have-not, to an economic driver.”
The Carleton Conservatives will be attending a youth conference one month after the main Conservative convention to try to keep youth engaged in the political process.
