New Brunswick‘s premier compared Quebec to Canada’s favourite child on Friday.
Blaine Higgs was asked if he believed Quebec to be Canada’s favourite child, to which he commented that the province has always received preferential treatment.
“Well not right now, it’s been a continuous thing,” he said.
“It’s been forever really”
The statement from Blaine Higgs came with only three days left in the federal election campaign, as Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer made his third visit to New Brunswick to support a candidate that finds herself in a tight three-way race.
Conservative candidate Andrea Johnson, Liberal incumbent Matt DeCourcey, and Green Party candidate Jenica Atwin are locked in a neck-and-neck race in Fredericton, one of the most visited ridings this election.
Mackenzie Thomason and Jason Paull are also on the ballot representing the NDP and PPC respectively.
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“We’ve got a very strong three-way split and I think having the leader here for the third time shows that this is a priority for him — the people of New Brunswick are a priority,” said Johnson after a Scheer campaign stop at the Piccaroons Roundhouse on Fredericton’s north side.
In a testament to the close nature of the race, Scheer even took a rare shot at the Green Party to go along with the Liberal laments that are speech staples.
“The types of projects that they would cancel – leading to thousands of people being out of work, the massive spending that is contained in their platform as well, we can see that if those policies are adopted, it would be even costlier for Canadians,” Scheer said.
After the event Scheer’s top provincial ally, Higgs took the opportunity to throw his support behind the Conservative leader, continuing to take aim at Quebec.
Higgs complained of Quebec’s opposition to pipeline projects crossing its territory, long a favourite topic of the energy-friendly premier.
“When you get $13 billion a year in transfer payments for being part of a nation, then there has to be some obligations that come with that,” he said.
When asked if he was saying Quebec should be obligated to participate in pipeline projects, Higgs said “they should recognize where their money’s value is coming from.”
After his Fredericton stop Scheer headed to Quebec where he campaigned in Beauce, the riding of Maxime Bernier, his former rival for the Conservative leadership and current leader of the People’s Party of Canada.
Maxime Bernier was in Quebec City on Friday. As for the other party leaders, Yves-François Blanchet was in Quebec, Jagmeet Singh and Elizabeth May spent the day in B.C. and Justin Trudeau was campaigning in Ontario.
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