MacKay refuses to back down from 'thug' comment at Barrie stop

Amid a throng of supporters and some who didn't want him here, Peter MacKay was in Barrie on Thursday as he continued his campaign for the Conservative Party leadership.

Approximately 300 people showed up throughout the night at PIE Wood Fired Pizza Joint on Lakeshore Drive to welcome the former national defence minister to the city.

Coming to Barrie was important because of the ups and downs the city may be facing, MacKay said.

"This is a community that is thriving. It's a community like many others in Ontario that are doing really well, but also facing some challenges," MacKay said. "I wanted to come here and hear directly from people, talk about the issues that matter to them, whether they're transportation issues, issues that have to do with the environment or the economy."

MacKay is joined by Erin O’Toole, Leslyn Lewis and Marilyn Gladu as the candidates for the top job in the Conservative Party.

The federal party began looking for a new leader when Andrew Scheer announced he was stepping down on Dec. 12, 2020, just over a month after losing to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Oct. 21 election. 

MacKay announced his leadership bid on Jan. 25, ending his more than four years away from politics.

The 54-year-old Nova Scotia native held many positions under Stephen Harper during his time as prime minister, and was also the leader of what was then called the Progressive Conservative Party when it merged with the Canadian Alliance in 2003. That merger led to what became the current Conservative Party of Canada.

However, MacKay stepped away from politics ahead of the 2015 federal election, the year Harper lost to Trudeau and also resigned as Conservative Party leader.

MacKay told reporters at Thursday’s event that the reason he was getting back into politics was due to his concern over the direction of the country.

"I have small children and I worry about their future," he said. "I worry about the opportunities that should be there for everyone and everyone's children. I see our country, I see our communities and our economy starting to falter because of misdirection and Liberal policies that seem out of step with people's priorities."

Along with his supporters outside of PIE, MacKay was greeted by a group of approximately 10 protesters upset with his recent comments regarding the people who are blocking railways in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs. The chiefs oppose a 670-kilometre natural gas pipeline which has been approved to through their traditional territory in British Columbia. 

Across the country, protesters have set up railway blockades and interrupted services. In a video statement on his Twitter account on Tuesday, MacKay said the economy was being “hijacked by a small gang of professional protesters and thugs.”

BarrieToday asked MacKay about his use of the term "thugs" to describe the protesters involved in the blockade. 

"What I regret is that we're seeing our critical infrastruture being paralyzed by a group of people who are not truly representing the Indigneous community that they claim to represent," MacKay said. "We know that 20 of those bands in British Columbia have signed on and are poised to benefit from the completion of that gas pipeline.

"We have one law in this country for all our citizens and we need to restore peace, order and good government," he added. "That falls directly under the responsibility of this prime minister and this government."

The Conservative Party leadership votes will be tallied up and announced on June 27 in Toronto.