Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge MP Marc Dalton’s vote was part of the 87.4 per cent support for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
At the biggest convention the MP has seen, which was held in Calgary on Thursday, Jan. 29 through Saturday, motions from Dalton’s riding were also supported. One asks for a shift toward a focus on treatment and recovery in dealing with the overdose crisis, and the other called for mandatory minimum sentences for those convicted of intimate partner violence.
Dalton called the national convention energizing for the party, noting there were 2,500 party delegates, and hundreds more non-delegates.
“They’re united behind Pierre, and we’re getting our message out,” said Dalton.
Poilievre used his podium to criticize the Liberal government, and highlight its failures.
“This Liberal government doesn’t just leave people behind. It prices and shuts out youth from homes, workers from jobs, and families from groceries. Simply put, Canadians cannot afford life under the Liberal government,” the Conservative Leader said.
READ ALSO: Poilievre receives overwhelming support
Dalton said he is expecting a snap election, possibly as early as this spring.
He said a key issue will be about who is best to deal with US President Donald Trump, and his threats to Canadian sovereignty.
“They’ll play their Trump card,” he predicted of the Liberal party.
But Dalton said there are a lot of issues – including crime, the cost of living, and the national debt – that concern voters.
And on the Trump file, Prime Minister Mark Carney has yet to negotiate a trade deal with the U.S., he noted.
Dalton said the motions from his riding were well received, particularly one calling for a shift toward treatment and recovery to address the crisis of overdose deaths.
Dalton said at his downtown office on the Lougheed Highway, staff saw four people treated for overdose in a 24-hour span.
“In other countries, and other cities around the world, you don’t have this,” said Dalton, adding Canadian government policy is not addressing the issue.
He said that failure is responsible for issues from petty theft to the tragedy of 50,000 overdose deaths in Canada in the past decade.