Liberals will fight hard but not dirty, says Kamloops president

NEWS — Federal Liberals attending a national convention in Montreal are united and determined they won’t fight dirty but will fight hard, says the president of the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo branch of the party.

Tyler Carpentier told The Armchair Mayor News tonight (Friday) that a sense of unity is obvious in policy sessions. “There hasn’t been any arguing or bickering in the policy sessions specifically,” he stated.

“Some heated debate, sure, but there seems to be a collective focus to stay on point and get the job done as best as can be done. Everyone seems to be driven. Justin Trudeau has certainly caught people’s imagination and attention.”

Carpentier said the Liberals are determined to fight the next election on facts rather than simply attacking opponents.

“There is a clear commitment to not engage in the spiteful and malicious types of attack ads,” he said. “A question was asked if they would participate in any attack ads, where they re-iterated that commitment and clarified that any ads they run will be truthful and focused on the facts.

“It was fairly easy to read into those comments that there would be little hesitation to ‘call out’ the opposition via an attack ad if they were caught red-handed doing something inappropriate or harmful, provided the message could be based on truth and keep from trying to score petty points.”

He said the highlight of the day was a speech by retired Lt. Gen. Andrew Leslie, who has been criticized by Defence Minister Rob Nicholson for “grossly excessive” expenses for a $72,000 move from one house to another within Ottawa.

Leslie defended the cost as within government policy and slammed the Conservatives in his speech for dividing the world into “friends” and “enemies.”

Leslie is now an advisor to Trudeau and is expected to be a Liberal candidate. Carpentier called Leslie’s speech “heartfelt, genuine and emotional. He visibly choked up when talking about soldiers’ struggles with mental health.”

The convention ends Sunday.