Todd Doherty says it’s the wrong time to call an election but he’s ready to put the pedal to the metal to rev up his campaign engine.
The 52-year-old incumbent Conservative MP for Cariboo-Prince George says he’s looking forward to visiting the constituents of his riding to hear their concerns over the next 36 days now that Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has triggered the Sept. 20 federal election.
Trudeau is trying to win a majority government for the second time in his political career. At the time Gov. Gen. Mary Simon granted the prime minister’s request to dissolve Parliament, the Liberals held 155 seats, followed by the Conservatives 119, Bloc Québécois 32, NDP 24 and Greens two. There were five Independents MPs with one seat vacant.
“We knew it was coming and it is disappointing, obviously, but we’re ready to go and we’re ready to bring our message to Canadians,” said Doherty.
“I think (the election) is unnecessary. It was in May when the prime minister said he would not send Canadians to the polls during the pandemic. We are entering the fourth wave... and much of our province is in unprecedented wildfire concerns and in a situation where they’re under evacuation or evacuation alerts.
“We didn’t pick this fight but we’re up for it and we’ll gladly finish it. We’ve already hitting the campaign trail, getting our campaign office up and running, and we’ve got 36 days to travel our riding to see as many constituents as possible. Our signs should be up in the next day or so, if not today.”
Audrey McKinnon will run for the NDP and she is the only other candidate so far identified in Cariboo-Prince George.
In Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, Conservative incumbent Bob Zimmer will be seeking his fourth term. Zimmer was first elected in 2011 as the Member of Parliament for Prince George-Peace River. The 52-year-old Fort St. John resident retained his seat in the renamed Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies riding in the 2015 and 2019 elections.
Catharine Kendall (Green Party) and Dave Jeffers (Maverick Party) will also contest the seat. Kendall, a community development consultant and the executive director of the Connaught Youth Centre Society in Prince George, ran as the Green candidate last fall in the provincial election.
Voting for the federal NDP candidate is taking place today. The Liberal candidate has not been announced.
Doherty would not reveal how confident he is that the Conservatives, under leader Erin O’Toole, will gain enough seats to unseat Trudeau as prime minister. He said he would prefer to focus on the issues that affect the people of his riding as he tries to retain his seat for a third term.
“It’s a fool’s practice to be overly confident in anything; ultimately, Canadians will have a decision to make,” Doherty said. “My responsibility is to make sure that the good people of Cariboo-Prince George know they’ve always got somebody fighting for them.
“We’ve been working tirelessly for this riding for six years. This position is the greatest honour of my life whether it’s championing our resource sector or championing our most marginalized communities and trying to make sure that we as a riding are able to face down every challenge and achieve every opportunity.”
