A former Conservative cabinet minister who is running for his party’s leadership was in Winnipeg Monday and Tuesday as part of a cross-country tour.
Peter MacKay told 680 CJOB after his experience with the city’s diversity and multiculturalism, he’d like to see the Conservatives embrace Winnipeg’s ‘welcoming’ feeling.
“I met with members of the cultural community here today, from the Filipino community, from the southeast Asian community, from the African community,” he said. “This city is very representative of the country.
“It’s a very multicultural, a very inclusive, warm welcoming feeling here even on a chilly day here in Winnipeg… that has to be also the mode and the method of the Conservative Party.”
MacKay – who was in town to speak to a crowd of local Conservatives at CanadInns Polo Park Monday night – said his decision to throw his hat in the ring to replace outgoing leader Andrew Scheer was due to a profound concern about the country’s direction.
“I’m concerned about where the country’s headed,” he said.
“The direction of our economy, the divisions that exist, the fraying of edges among certain regions of the country… and I think it’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of effort, but it’s the country and it’s important. That’s why I’m doing this.”
MacKay, 54, was a member of Parliament representing a riding in his native Nova Scotia from 1997 until 2015, when he stepped away from politics to focus on his young family.
Despite being from eastern Canada, MacKay said he feels a connection with the prairies and the west, and said Canada’s success is dependent in large part on the success of the western provinces, as well as those east of Manitoba.
“The problems that we’ve seen, in large part created by Ottawa, have negatively impacted the economy of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and certainly here in Winnipeg and Manitoba as well,” he said.
“If we want to see our entire economy improve, we have to help and support and make certain adjustments in the west that will benefit everyone.”
“When Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are doing well, Canada’s doing well.”