By Canadian Press

Jeered and cheered in Calgary, Trudeau spends final day of campaign in B.C.

Oct 20, 2019 | 10:01 AM

VANCOUVER — Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is making his final pitch to voters with a whirlwind trip through British Columbia, where he is highlighting the need for local campaigns to get out the vote.

“It’s always important for people to get out and vote. We’ve got a great democracy and we need to make sure we are participating in it,” Trudeau said as he visited the campaign office of Patrick Weiler, the Liberal candidate for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country.

“We are taking nothing for granted,” Trudeau said Sunday.

The riding is one of many battlegrounds in British Columbia, where the Liberals elected Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, the former mayor of West Vancouver, in 2015.

The riding was previously held by Conservative MP John Weston and before that, Blair Wilson, a Liberal who eventually switched to the Greens ahead of the 2008 election.

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Goldsmith-Jones, who decided not to seek re-election but has been supporting Weiler’s campaign, said the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP and the Greens all have support in the riding.

She said her 2015 victory came from a coalition of progressive voters who chose the Liberals.

She was asked what a loss for the Liberals here would mean.

“It could symbolize what I think we are seeing in this election across the country, which is difficulty choosing one way,” she said.

The Liberals have been urging progressive voters to rally behind their party as the only way to stop Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer from becoming prime minister.

The increased popularity of the NDP, Greens and the Bloc, as well as disappointment with the Liberals after four years in power, is threatening their hold on progressive voters.

The Liberals argue that voter intentions do not always translate into ballots cast, which is one reason why their efforts to get out the vote in these final days could be crucial.

The Liberal campaign will make several stops in and around Vancouver today, including in ridings held by New Democrats, before heading over to Victoria for Trudeau’s last rally before Canadians cast their ballots Monday.

Scheer, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and the Greens’ Elizabeth May are all spending the day in the province.

Trudeau, unlike his rivals, is not holding a news conference on Sunday.

The Liberals have faced criticism from progressive voters in B.C. over their decision to purchase the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project for $4.5 billion, but in Alberta, they have been accused of not doing enough for people who work in the oil and gas sector.

On Saturday night in Calgary, the Liberal campaign was greeted by protesters carrying signs accusing Trudeau of treason, as well as about 1,500 supporters who showed up for a late-night rally.

Trudeau told the crowd there are thousands of progressive voters in Alberta, where the Liberals won four seats in 2015 after having not won a single riding in the province since 2004.

“I know that there are thousands upon thousands upon thousands of progressive Albertans who do not feel that (Alberta Premier) Jason Kenney speaks for them,” Trudeau said.

This report was first published by The Canadian Press on Oct. 20.

The Canadian Press