PENTICTON — More than 700 people cheered as Conservative leader Stephen Harper made his way to the podium at Brutus Truck Bodies in Penticton on Sunday evening.
Harper landed in Kelowna ahead of the Conservative rally in support of south Okanagan-West Kootenay candidate Marshall Neufeld.
During Stephen Harper’s speech in Penticton, the country’s financial and banking system was defended as being the most stable in the world. A standing applause erupted as the Conservative leader asked supporters to salute men and women on the front lines protecting Canadians from ISIS and other terror groups.
Locally, Harper talked about plans for infrastructure development.
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“The Kelowna rapid bus service, the Apple Valley housing development, expanding and upgrading Highway 97, renovations at the brigadier armory, I could go on,” said Harper.
However, at the heart of the speech, was talk of a balanced budget and tax cuts. If re-elected, Harper promises to lower taxes on small businesses over the next four years. An idea many attending the rally support.
“They drive our economy, we need small businesses, they are the ones who take risks to start up a company, they’re the ones hiring people and giving locals jobs,” says Penticton resident Helen Crowther.
While it was primarily an older crowd of Conservative supporters attending the rally, there was some interest from future voters as well.
“We don’t want the taxes to raise and we don’t want people to lose their jobs; we want this country to be free and strong,” says 12-year-old Zoe Wu, who attended Harper’s campaign stop in Penticton.
The Conservative leader’s campaign stop is the second in the city by a federal party leader. The NDP’s Tom Mulcair was in Penticton two weeks ago.
After Harper’s campaign stops in Penticton and Kamloops, he’s scheduled to be in Burnaby before heading to Alberta.
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