EDMONTON – Justin Trudeau kicked off his final day on the campaign trail with rallies in Alberta, the heart of Conservative country.
With only hours before people cast their ballots, the Liberal leader held an event in Edmonton on Sunday where he targeted his message to voters who may have traditionally leaned right.
READ MORE: The home stretch: last day for campaigning in the 42nd federal election
“Our country needs Alberta to succeed,” Trudeau said, his voice sounding strained from the rigours of a 78-day campaign.
“You deserve a government that doesn’t take your votes for granted, or that assumes it will have your votes because of where you live, and a government that understands that the time to invest in Alberta is now, when people need help.”
The Liberals hope that pitch resonates in a province that has been reeling from low oil prices, leading to mass layoffs in its once-thriving energy sector.
Trudeau noted to the enthusiastic crowd of several hundred partisans, who crammed into a banquet hall, that he visited Alberta the first day after the campaign began.
WATCH: Highlights from the final days of the campaign trail
He told the audience how every part of the country matters before using his Edmonton stage to send a message specifically to Quebecers.
“I’m saying this from here, in Alberta, that Albertans, like all Canadians need us Quebecers,” Trudeau, who’s running for re-election in Montreal, said in French.
“Canada needs Quebecers to re-engage. … It is time to unite Quebecers, Albertans, Canadians. It is time to unite to defeat (Conservative Leader) Stephen Harper.”
At a campaign stop later in Calgary, Trudeau hit that theme of unity harder.
“I will never use western resources to try to buy eastern votes,” he said.
Trudeau is also scheduled to attend rallies later Sunday in Surrey and North Vancouver in B.C.
His campaign has clearly been on the offensive over the last week, during which it has made stops in ridings held by the Conservatives and NDP in the last Parliament.
By contrast, Harper has spent a lot of time trying to shore up support in Toronto’s suburbs, where his party won many seats in 2011.
Trudeau, who has been drawing large crowds of supporters in the days leading up to Monday’s vote, hopes the election will help the Liberals find their way out of the political wilderness in Alberta.
The party hasn’t had an MP in the province since Anne McLellan lost her Edmonton seat in 2006.
Liberal supporter Sheila Genaille waited amid a group of supporters who crowded around Trudeau’s bus, hoping for a chance to shake his hand as he left the Edmonton venue.
She said the commonly held belief that all Albertans are conservative-minded is untrue.
“We’re not – there’s a diversity of people here,” said Genaille, who acknowledged the Liberals have long struggled to win seats in the province.
“But things do change. I mean, look at provincially. Who would’ve thought we would have (NDP Leader) Rachel Notley sitting at the helm as a premier?
“So, anything’s possible.”
Comments