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Local Conservatives see opportunity in deepening SNC-Lavalin controversy

At a Newmarket-Aurora Conservative Association fundraising event for candidate Lois Brown last night, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government were criticized for the growing 'scandal'

It was billed as a cocktail party in support of federal Newmarket-Aurora Conservative candidate Lois Brown, but it was more of a barbecue of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his “scandal-ridden” Liberal government.

“Let me say, it’s been a very good week for Conservatives,” said guest speaker Durham MP Erin O’Toole, shadow minister of Foreign Affairs for the Conservatives.

“Let me underscore that, it has been a very good week for Conservatives, no ifs, ands or ‘butts’ about it,” he added, to the laughter and applause of about 75 area Conservatives who attended the event hosted by the Newmarket-Aurora Conservative Association last night at Madsen’s Greenhouse Banquet Hall in Newmarket.

With the federal election eight months away, the mood was ebullient as both Brown and O’Toole spoke about the deepening SNC-Lavalin controversy on Parliament Hill and the unanticipated resignation Monday of Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s principal secretary and top adviser, despite his insistence neither he nor anyone else in the Prime Minister’s Office pressured former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to stop the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

“In 2015, Justin Trudeau promised an open, accountable government — no secrets in his government. Fact: the events of the past two weeks have proven otherwise, and the resignation of Gerald Butts just the other day … has just raised more questions,” Brown said from the podium.

“Surprise, Mr. Trudeau, sunshine is the best disinfectant, call a public inquiry,” she urged, referencing Trudeau’s oft-repeated “sunny ways” phrase during the campaign that saw him and his Liberal Party swept to victory in 2015.

She qued the song Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone, after making note of Wilson-Raybould’s resignation from Cabinet last week.

Brown added that Newmarket-Aurora MP Kyle Peterson was among the Liberals yesterday who voted against the opposition motion calling for a public inquiry into the allegations.

Only two Liberal backbenchers, Toronto's Nathaniel Erskine-Smith and New Brunswick's Wayne Long, joined opposition parties in supporting the motion that was defeated 160-134.

O’Toole, an RCAF veteran himself, also expressed his outrage over another “shameful Liberal scandal” regarding suspended Royal Canadian Navy Vice Admiral Mark Norman, who was charged last year by the RCMP with breach of trust in regards to a $700-million contract to refit a civilian vessel into a Navy support ship.

He also accused the Liberal government of breaking a “fundamental promise” to restore lifelong disability pensions to Canadian veterans — which were abolished in 2006 with support from all federal parties and replaced by a suite of rehabilitation programs and financial compensation for injured soldiers.

“The first thing we owe our veterans and first responders is truth and respect,” O’Toole said to applause.

Brown also took aim at the Liberals' fiscal record, noting they broke a 2015 election promise to run annual shortfalls of no more than $10 billion and to eliminate the deficit by 2019.

In its November fall fiscal update, the government projected annual deficits of $18.1 billion in 2018-19, $19.6 billion in 2019-20 and $18.1 billion in 2020-21. After 2020-21, the annual shortfalls are expected to shrink each year, reaching $11.4 billion in 2023-24.

“Government spending is out of control,” she said. “As you all know, the deficits today are simply higher taxes tomorrow. We have to change that. ...And a return to balanced budgets, well, that is just in the DNA of a Conservative government.”

The gathering was also an opportunity to rally support for Scot Davidson, the Conservative candidate in Monday’s York-Simcoe byelection to replace longtime Conservative MP Peter Van Loan.



 

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Debora Kelly

About the Author: Debora Kelly

Debora Kelly is NewmarketToday's editor. She is an award-winning journalist and communications professional who is passionate about building strong communities through engagement, advocacy and partnership.
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