KENORA – This past weekend saw a landslide victory in the Conservative Leadership race as Pierre Polilievre earns 68.15 per cent of the available points on the ballot.
Kenora MP Eric Melillo’s reaction to the Polilevre victory was one of hope and unity.
“I’m excited about it,” said Melillo. “It was a decisive victory of course on the first ballot. I think Pierre has a great campaign. He brought in thousands of party members into our movement and showed such a strong result. Something we haven’t seen in our party in quite some time, such a dominant win. So, I think that it’s great to see his message is certainly resonating with people and he seems to be talking about the issues that matter to Canadians.”
Polilievre won 338 electoral districts and lost eight to former Quebec premier Jean Charest.
Melillo goes on to explain how there is renewed energy in the caucus.
“We had a great meeting today,” said Melillo. “Pierre’s opening remarks certainly set the tone for how the meeting went. He is talking a lot about the issues around affordability and getting our country’s finances back on track that certainly where our focus is as a party and where we will try to push the government in the fall session and beyond. I think everyone is real focused and united around Pierre right now.”
When ask if Melillo will be speaking to Polilevre about the redistribution of the federal riding boundaries, Melillo was optimistic about ensuring that the concern over lost in a seat for Northwestern Ontario was a party concern.
“That is something that our party has talked about quite a bit over the summer,” said Melillo. “Pierre will certainly be a part of that conversation going forward. He has been a little distracted with the leadership, up until this point, but obviously, now that is behind us, we are going to continue to talk about that. I think there are some concerns in Northern Ontario as a whole. We don’t want to lose our seat. That is something we are all united in across Northern Ontario and any role we can play from the party perspective in pushing election Canada in the right direction, we are certainly going to.”
