Fresh from her first televised debate performance the night before, Ontario PC leadership hopeful Caroline Mulroney stopped in Guelph Friday to meet some of the local party supporters.
Friday also happened to be the last day for people interested in voting for the party leadership to sign up as members of the Ontario PCs.
The party does not yet have a local candidate for the provincial election, expected to be held on June 7.
Mulroney stopped in at Fionn MacCool’s pub in Guelph Friday afternoon, before another event at the Legion Hall in Kitchener and a series of scheduled appearances in Toronto.
In an interview, Mulroney said her goal is to meet as many people as she can prior to the March 10 leadership vote and that Guelph was an important stop for her in her quest to convince Ontarians to support her.
“People here are very eager to talk about what is wrong with Ontario and what the party can do, so I was very happy to have the opportunity,” said Mulroney. Even with the name recognition of being the daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney, she said it is a challenge introducing herself to Ontarians after intentionally staying out of the political sphere for most of her life.
“I spent 25 years out of Ottawa. That was my father’s job, not my job. I am very proud of my dad, but I have worked 20 years in the private sector, I started a charity called the Shoebox Project that I am very proud of and I did that while raising a family,” said Mulroney.
A total of seven prospective candidates have put their names forward in Guelph, said Robert Coole, president of the Guelph riding association for the Ontario PC party.
Coole said he does not expect a local candidate to be chosen before the March 10 leadership vote.
“There are a few people that we have interviewed that want to see who the leader is going to be,” said Coole.
Party supporter Wayne Warren, who was at Friday’s event, told Mulroney he had met her father many times.
“We have got to get younger — I told her that. We have to bring some young blood in,” said Warren.
Mulroney said she believes the people of Ontario want to have a fresh start with somebody who is not a career politician.
She is the only one out of the four leadership candidates who committed to running for this year’s election before former leader Patrick Brown stepped down late last month.
“I couldn’t stand by anymore watching how the Liberals are governing our province, which is why I put my name forward to be a candidate — because I want to be a part of the team that finally kicks them out of office,” said Mulroney.
Mulroney made her pitch to about 75 locals at the pub during a short five-minute speech in which she thanked supporters for coming on short notice and layed out her plan for the future of Ontario.
“I hope we can all get together and get it done,” she told the crowd.
