O’Toole hits Tory talking points in town hall

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This article was published 22/08/2021 (1124 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FEDERAL Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole was quick to remind participants of a telephone town hall Monday night that he had lived in Winnipeg for a year when he was in the Air Force.

As O’Toole answered calls from the Winnipeg-only audience and explained his party’s plans for the economy, he referred to his time in the city.

He denounced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to call an election, saying he put his own desire to win a majority government ahead of “focusing on the recovery, on fighting the delta variant, fires in British Columbia and the terrible chaos in Afghanistan.”

He said his party would enact strong anti-corruption laws “for transparency and to restore faith in Ottawa.”

O’Toole launched the first of several attacks on Trudeau’s fiscal record. He scolded Trudeau for adding to the national debt, as he answered a question about his party’s promise to erase the deficit.

Much of O’Toole’s focus was on economic issues — whether suggesting the Liberals are inept or boasting about his own party’s financial prowess. He said his government would create a million jobs, including by giving companies incentives through substantial tax breaks.

Questions that made it through were generally favourable to the Conservative party, although some tougher questions were asked about aspects of “Canada’s Recovery Plan,” a document that details Conservative party promises.

O’Toole scorned the Liberals often and launched the odd strike at the NDP and Green party.

At one point, O’Toole hearkened back to former prime minister Jean Chrétien, saying that underfunding the military, or at least allowing equipment to decay, was a “pattern” of the Liberal party.

The Conservative leader promised a culture of accountability in the military.

On climate, O’Toole said the party would aim to reach the goals laid out in the Paris Agreement, while also attackingTrudeau’s carbon tax. O’Toole expressed his support for pipelines in Canada.

He opposed a universal basic income in no uncertain terms, saying it would disrupt the labour market and pointing to CERB as an example of how that has already happened.

O’Toole denied any support for a two-tiered health-care system. “I 100 per cent support our public and universal system, full stop,” he said.

After the event, the party said 16,106 people had watched it.

cody.sellar@freepress.mb.ca