OTTAWA – Conservative leadership hopeful Tony Clement says his party needs to move beyond the niche approach to politics and policy that characterized its decade in government.
Clement says he wants to drop the boutique tax credit system and also start taking the party’s message to ridings that may not have had a Conservative presence for years.
READ MORE: Tony Clement joins race for Conservative leadership
He says a lesson learned from recent political upheaval in Britain and also the current political climate in the United States is that people feel politicians aren’t listening.
Clement says if Canadian politicians fail to listen as well, this country could find itself grappling with similar problems.
The longtime Conservative MP formally joined the leadership race this week, the fourth candidate to throw his hat into the ring.
The Tories are scheduled to choose a new leader next May.