Doors open at Coe’s office
Progressive Conservative nominee currently sitting on top of Whitby-Oshawa poll
Regional councillor Lorne Coe is currently sitting on top of the polls, with the first gauge of public opinion for the byelection showing him with 37 per cent support.
By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
Lorne Coe has less than a month to convince voters in the Whitby-Oshawa riding to send him to Queen’s Park.
And if you ask one of the deputy leaders of the Progressive Conservative Party, Coe is the man for the job.
“I know better than anyone about byelections in the winter. I was elected on March 4, 2010 in a byelection. I took over when Bob Runciman, the former leader of our party and leader of the opposition, was appointed to the Senate. So I knew that I had pretty big shoes to fill, and I think Lorne realizes that he’s in the same position with the big shoes to fill,” says Steve Clark, the MPP for Leeds-Grenville and a deputy leader of the Progressive Conservative Party. “Obviously, Christine Elliott and the late Jim Flaherty. And I’ll tell you something. I knocked on doors, and this guy, he’s got what it takes to be the MPP and represent this area. Lorne Coe is a force to be reckoned with during this byelection.”
Clark was one of many PC supporters on hand for the official opening of Coe’s campaign office, from which he will work to keep the Whitby-Oshawa riding in the hands of the Progressive Conservative Party. The riding and the ones that came before it have been PC blue for years.
“We’ve been canvassing for a long time because we understand the importance of this riding to the party. We understand the importance of this particular riding, that the legacy of Christine Elliott and the late Jim Flaherty and all the…work they did to represent this riding,” Coe said.
According to the first public poll of the byelection, conducted by Mainstreet Research and Postmedia, Coe holds an early lead with 37 per cent of those polled, with a margin of error of plus or minus four per cent. His closest competitor, Elizabeth Roy of the Liberals, sits with 29 per cent.
“I’ve been in every part of this riding. What’s prevailing is that people are sick of the high electricity prices. They’re sick about the healthcare costs, the cuts that have affected every sector of our community, whether it be seniors, whether it be youth, all aspects. They’re sick of the job losses that have taken place. They’re sick of a lack of a plan for our economy,” Coe said. “Life is tougher under the Liberals. And it’s our time to bring Ontario back to where it should be.”