Pierre Poilievre visits Woodstock amid byelection, ignores party in-fighting

WOODSTOCK – It’s not so much what Federal Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre said to a large, adoring crowd on Saturday. It’s what he didn’t talk about.

In a stump speech at the Woodstock fairgrounds to kick off Oxford byelection candidate Arpan Khanna’s campaign, Poilievre sounded familiar notes – about axing the carbon tax, bashing the Liberals and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and supporting farmers and hunters.

What he didn’t even hint at was the local bees’ nest stirred up over Khanna’s nomination and the move by Dave MacKenzie, the Oxford MP for 19 years until his retirement in January, to announce he’s supporting David Hilderley – a Woodstock realtor vying for the Liberal nomination.

MacKenzie, who has said he is still a Conservative, is miffed by the federal party’s handling of the Oxford nomination, which led to the selection of Khanna, who hails from Brampton, failed to get elected there in 2019 and was the Ontario co-chair of Poilievre’s leadership campaign.

Khanna beat out two candidates, including MacKenzie’s daughter. MacKenzie has said it should have been won by someone local. There were obviously some bruised feelings in the Tory stronghold – two leaders of the local Conservative riding association resigned right after Khanna’s nomination.

Hilderley, who barely lost last fall’s Woodstock mayoral race to Jerry Accione, is set to square off against Woodstock lawyer Elizabeth Quinto for the Liberal nod. The byelection must be called before July 29.

Acchione was one of the local politicians at the Poilievre appearance, along with longtime Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman, who introduced Khanna.

Khanna introduced Poilievre to the enthusiastic crowd of about 1,000 people. When he made mention of Trudeau, he heard a healthy, supportive chorus of boos.

“I love Oxford,” he said.

Poilievre took a number of swings at Trudeau, to the crowd’s delight. He made promises to cap government spending, balance the federal budget, get tough on crime and said he would be “bringing home freedom. “

His biggest cheers were for pledges to cut the carbon tax and defund the CBC.

“You’ve been pinching your pennies long enough. It’s time for the government to start pinching his pennies too,” he said.

Poilievre also referred several times to “dirty foreign dictators” he says are cozying up to the government and criticized Trudeau for frequent overseas trips.

But not a word about MacKenzie. He ended his speech and posed for photos with fans who lined up for a chance to meet him. There was no media scrum to ask him about the byelection.

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