Roland welcomes Trudeau to Yellowknife
Conservative candidate pens sarcastic letter ahead of Liberal leader's visit
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Friday, October 9, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Conservative candidate Floyd Roland rolled out a caustic and sarcastic welcome mat to Liberal leader Justin Trudeau on the eve of the federal Liberal leader's scheduled visit to Yellowknife.
Justin Trudeau, centre, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, pauses to take a photograph with supporters during a Northern tour stop in Yellowknife on Jan. 11. - Walter Strong/NNSL photo |
In a letter released yesterday titled, "Open letter to Justin Trudeau," Roland welcomes Trudeau to Yellowknife, adding "better late than never."
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In the letter Roland states no other government in Canadian history has done as much for the NWT and the North as this Conservative Government under then leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"In fact, one of the first things they did after coming to power in 2006 was to put in place a comprehensive Northern strategy. And it was this Government that responded to decades of requests from the people of the NWT who have been asking for greater control of their own destiny," Roland stated. "Now, land and resource management powers have been taken out of the hands of Ottawa and into the GNWT - where it belongs!"
Roland listed other highlights including increased federal transfers to the NWT by 40 per cent ($524 million) from the previous Liberal government, a stand-alone economic development agency for the North (CanNor), tripled infrastructure investments in the NWT compared to Liberal governments between 1993 and 2006 and scrapped an intrusive and expensive long-gun registry.
"Perhaps your candidate has informed you that most common election issue heard on doorsteps throughout the NWT is the high cost of living in the North," Roland told Trudeau in the letter. "Yet, in spite of this, your party has committed to a carbon scheme that will do little to address climate change, but will increase the cost of everything from gas, to groceries to heating our homes."
Roland ended the letter by again welcoming Trudeau to the NWT, adding he hopes he enjoys his brief stay here. He also stated that as a member of a re-elected Conservative government he looks forward to working with Trudeau and his party.
Liberal candidate Michael McLeod said he thinks the letter is inappropriate to come from someone who aspires to be the member of Parliament for the NWT.
"My first reaction to the letter was a sense of disbelief," said McLeod.
"That a potential ambassador to the NWT would write such a letter. Possibly the people he has surrounded himself with and the campaign manager that he has brought in from the south have provided him with bad advice. This certainly is not normal Northern hospitality.
"Once again the Conservatives are talking about things that are not in our platform. He mentions the long-gun registry and the carbon tax. We're not doing either of these things. We've stated that publicly. I think this is a desperate measure and they're spreading misinformation because they really have no plan for the NWT."
NDP candidate Dennis Bevington said Roland's letter smacks of desperation, adding Stephen Harper's annual trips to the North have been nothing more than taxpayer-funded photo-ops.
"When Stephen Harper came here before the 2008 election his big promise was the name of an icebreaker that still hasn't been built," said Bevington.
"When they talk about what they have done, they don't talk about what they have undone. I think the Conservative campaign across the country is in trouble and I think the campaign up here is a mirror image of that."
Green party candidate John Moore did not respond to Roland's letter as of press time.
Trudeau is scheduled to hold a rally at Mildred Hall School at 5:45 p.m. Today.
