AITCHISON LASHES OUT AT FELLOW CANDIDATE LEWIS FOR PANDERING TO VACCINE CRITICS

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — Scott Aitchison is looking to pick up some serious cash today as he fundraises in Toronto.

The Conservative leadership candidate is $100,000 shy on his million-dollar campaign run.

After six months of positive messaging for the party and the country — and three weeks out from the vote — “My mission is to make sure I don’t have debt or a very big debt when I’m done.”

He says he’s about a hundred grand short.

“Not bad on a $1 million campaign,” he said Wednesday afternoon in Gravenhurst at an event recognizing A.P. Cockburn another Muskoka MP from a century ago.

“Six months ago nobody knew me except in Parry Sound-Muskoka. And that’s changed. A lot of Conservatives (and Canadians) know who I am.”

First elected in 2019 and re-elected last year, Aitchison says “A lot of Conservatives, even caucus colleagues who may be supporting other candidates have appreciated the tone and my message and style. And they appreciate the tone of bringing people together. And speaking to the things that unite Canadian as opposed to what divides them.”

The former Huntsville mayor said “I joked that Canadians are ready for some small town mayor approach to leadership.”

Aitchison has made a name for himself nationally and most certainly in Conservative circles for his measured “tone.”

But his campaign built on civility took a turn yesterday when he accused fellow candidate Leslyn Lewis of pandering to COVID vaccine critics, when in a tweet last week she compared the government’s response to the Nuremberg Code and medical experimentation.

“Leslyn’s email was a dog whistle to these people so loud that it sounds more like a freight train’s horn,” reports quote Aitchison as saying.

He referred to those values in Thursday’s message, saying he has heard from Canadians who were confused and “appalled” at the comparison Lewis drew between contemporary issues and the Holocaust. In her message, Lewis provided a timeline of moments in history when humans have been subjected to experimentation, including some Indigenous children in residential schools who were malnourished.

The exchange shed an uncharacteristic light on the rookie mild-mannered rural member of Parliament.

Aitchison said non-Tories, too, are now getting know who this gutsy rural politician is bit more.

Not since Stan Darling was MP had the riding had a Tory member with this kind of national name recognition.

“Winning the leadership is one thing, but then it’s about winning an election.”

“That’s why I think tone and the way we deliver our message is important. There’s a lot of folks who have signed up to support me who don’t generally vote Conservative.”

The aspiring leader said he visited all 10 provinces, but none of the three territories.

Asked what he know now about Canada that he didn’t back last winter, he said: “First, what it’s confirmed for me is that there’s more that unites us than divides us. And that Canadians do love this country despite whatever frustrations I think this campaign has highlighting and maybe fanning the flames a little bit.

“But Canadians are generally very proud of Canada. They have concerns about the future we’re headed in.”

Can Conservatives work with the federal government?

“Sure you can, I’ve proven it that you can do it. And I think we can do that again, while demonstrating a better plan for the country and form the next government.”

However, he said: “I think it’s important to be speaking to the issues that matter to Canadians where ever they live. And that’s one of the things the Conservative party, we have not a great job of.

“The issues are similar across the country. I think it’s important for our leaders to highlight that it might be politically expedient for Liberals to demonize Albertans to win votes in Toronto. But you know people in Alberta care just as much about the future of the planet as people in Toronto. And there’s a lot of people in Toronto who care about the deficit as much as people in Alberta.”

As for the front-runner Pierre Poilievre, Aitchison said he knew the Calgary-born Carleton MP before the race.

He said “Our offices are next door to each other. So I know him a little bit.

“The race certainly hasn’t helped me get to know him better because I haven’t seen him. We haven’t been around each other, right” — except on stage during debates.

“I’ll say this about Pierre, he always elicits a strong response. He active in a lot of folks across this country. He’s signed up a lot of members. And he’s an effective arbiter, adjudicator and cross examiner of, I think, a pretty tired Liberal government.”

So does Aitchison agree with much of what Poilievre stands for and does Poilievre represent most Conservatives?

“My approach is different than his. I think that’s pretty obvious and that’s one of the reasons why I’m in the race. And I think my approach (to be the party’s moderate voice and a bridge builder) is the right one.

“That said, in terms of his actual policy, we’re probably not that different. I’d say some of his rhetoric is different than mine. In terms of policy he’s probably running a small C conservative campaign — fiscal Conservatism.

“And I think it’s a message that if we focus on and deliver we can sell to Canadians.”

While not explicitly giving up the race until the Sept. 10 result, when asked if he could work with Poilievre, Aitchison said: “Absolutely!”

“I’ll work with whoever is leader to help unite our caucus and movement and help form a platform and message that resonates with all Canadians and all parts of the country.

“I’m a team player. I’ve demonstrated that my whole political life and that doesn’t change in Ottawa.”

Are Conservatives too far right or are you centre right?

“I don’t think people understand what that means. People have called me moderate — yet some of my fiscal platform like getting rid of supply management people said that’s a lot further right than Pierre Poilievre is saying. So I don’t know what it means. I don’t think other people know what it means.”

Reverting back to the theme of his campaign, he said: “I think that people are confused by tone. That’s why I say tone is so important. And honestly I’m convinced that Canadians are prepared to be inspired by leadership as much as angered by it.

“So I think that’s the message that I will continue to operate as a member of that caucus in whatever role the new leader asks me to take.

“I’ll work together.”

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