By Canadian Press

Trudeau blasts Tories for platform delay before taking fight to Singh’s riding

Oct 11, 2019 | 11:15 AM

OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau took a swipe Friday at the Conservatives for waiting until the eve of a long weekend to release their platform, before the Liberal leader boarded a plane and took the fight to his NDP rival’s riding in British Columbia.

With the federal election campaign heading into the homestretch, the Liberals held a rally in downtown Ottawa, where Trudeau was greeted by cheering staff and supporters. He encouraged them to keep working hard.

At one point during the rally, which was held in a packed restaurant close to Liberal headquarters, Trudeau brandished a copy of his party’s platform, which he said he had made a point to bring to the event.

“It’s a little rumpled right now but it’s been two weeks since we’ve had our fully costed platform out and we know that it’s a real and serious plan to fight climate change, to invest in Canadians and to move forward,” he said.

“Now the Conservatives are finally saying that they might release a fully costed platform later today. The reality is, I think we all know it, you don’t release your best work at 6 o’clock on the Friday of a long weekend.”

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The NDP released their platform costing Friday morning, and the Conservatives are expected to do so later in the afternoon — one day after the final leaders’ debate, which was held in French. Voters go to the polls on Oct. 21.

Trudeau also used the occasion to urge Quebecers to side with his party rather than a resurgent Bloc Quebecois, saying Quebecers “want to be in action, not opposition.”

While Quebec is seen as key for either the Liberals or Conservatives to form government, there have been signs that support for the Bloc has been on the rise, notably at the expense of the Tories under Leader Andrew Scheer.

Trudeau is now en route to B.C., where he is scheduled to hold an event in NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s riding of Burnaby-South before hitting the province’s lower mainland, as he begins what is expected to be a gruelling last stretch of campaigning.

Liberal insiders have described voter intentions in B.C. as volatile, with many environmentally conscious voters upset at the Liberals for having purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline and now looking at the NDP and Greens.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press