“Just to be clear, the Conservative Party is paying Ms. Harper’s travel and expenses related to the fundraisers in Cumberland-Colchester,” Conservative Party spokesperson Cory Hann said in an email to The Hill Times.
The party was covering the cost of Ms. Harper’s travel to the riding for two fundraisers—a $150-a-ticket evening event on Tuesday in Cumberland County, N.S., followed by a $50-a-ticket luncheon on Wednesday. The fundraisers were hosted at the private homes of wealthy business families who are supporting Mr. Armstrong’s re-election.
Ms. Harper’s fundraising and tour appearance in the riding of Colchester-Cumberland, more than five months before the expected Oct. 19 election, appears to be the first time the spouse of a Canadian prime minister has taken part in pre-election fundraising, in a fashion Mr. Casey, now a Liberal Party candidate in the riding, said is similar to fundraising roles that have been played in the past by wives of U.S. presidents.
It appears that the Harpers have adopted some aspects of the American model for electioneering. In the United States it is not uncommon for the spouse of the president of the United States to campaign and fundraise during an election period.
Mr. Armstrong appeared with Ms. Harper at both events, and also accompanied her on a visit to the Springhill, N.S., Miners Museum and on another visit to Amherst, N.S. to tour an animal shelter. The leader of the Nova Scotia Conservative Party, Jamie Baillie, also accompanied Ms. Harper.
Last Thursday, Mr. Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.), along with Atlantic Regional Development Minister Rob Moore (Fundy Royal, N.B.) and Justice Minister Peter MacKay (Central Nova, N.S.) the political minister for the province in Mr. Harper’s Cabinet, appeared in Truro, N.S., to announce a national infrastructure program that will offer local funding for projects in 150 Canadian communities as part of Canada’s 150th anniversary celebrations. A background statement said “selected projects are expected to be completed by the end of the 2017 construction season to best support Canadian 150 celebrations.”
The announcement did not include a price tag for roughly 1,800 projects Mr. Harper’s statement said would receive funding.
Mr. Casey criticized the Conservatives, saying that it wasn’t a coincidence that the Harpers’ appearances in the riding coincided.
“It’s not in the interest of the public or anything, it’s a political event, or series of political events, including fundraisers,” Mr. Casey said. “I’m sure Ms. Harper knows when Mr. Harper is going to Nova Scotia, and vice versa. This is no accident that it happened this way.”
Mr. Casey represented the electoral district, formerly known as Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, as a Progressive Conservative from 1988 to 2007, when he left the Conservatives after a battle with Mr. Harper over the terms of a new offshore energy revenue-sharing accord between the federal Conservative government and the then Progressive Conservative government of Nova Scotia.
Mr. Casey won re-election as an Independent in 2008, and later resigned his Commons seat to become Nova Scotia’s government representative in Ottawa. Mr. Armstrong, who had been Mr. Casey’s election campaign manager as a Conservative, won the seat in a 2009 byelection and won re-election in the 2011 federal general election.
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com/
Author: Tim Naumetz
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