Minister of Transport Marc Garneau spoke at the Belleville Club on Wednesday evening as part of an event to begin bolstering support for Bay of Quinte MP Neil Ellis ahead of the 2019 federal election. (Photo: Amanda Smith/Quinte News)
The 2019 election might not be on everyone’s radar just yet, but minds are starting to shift to prepare for next fall’s election.
The Minister of Transport and Montreal MP Marc Garneau returned to some of his old stomping grounds on Wednesday evening to help start rallying support for Bay of Quinte MP Neil Ellis.
While the event was lighthearted, there was mention of the federal election by Garneau.
He says seeing the support of people who attended the event shows that people believe in Ellis and the Liberal Party.
He told those in attendance that the Liberals will continue to do what they were elected to do while turning their minds towards the election.
He said they are accomplishing the things they were elected to do but also what they can offer Canadians in 2019 and what people want or don’t want.
Bay of Quinte MP Neil Ellis (Photo: Amanda Smith/Quinte News)
While speaking to Quinte News, Garneau says there are three major issues he sees playing out in next fall’s election.
He believes the economy will be a hot topic again as making sure there are jobs available as well as support in the form of the Child Benefit program are important to Canadians.
Garneau mentioned seniors’ issues will be a focus as there is an aging population. He said they are making sure there is low income security through the Guaranteed Income Supplement as well as Canadian Pension Plan changes to help support seniors.
The third issue will once again be infrastructure and he said the Liberals have made it a priority to repair roads and sewage systems as it creates jobs and modernizes infrastructure.
Garneau talked briefly about the ongoing NAFTA negotiations and notes that agreement does play a large role in the Canadian economy which could make the discussions even more top-of-mind this fall, but he felt there will be a positive result.
When it came to illegal immigration, Garneau stated we are seeing about 50 people a day coming to Canada to claim refugee status and there are resources in place to deal with those who are crossing into Canada.
He said the federal government has amped up their processes to deal with those claiming refugee status and are waiting to have their case heard.
As he, Ellis and the Liberal party look ahead to the fall election in 2019, Garneau said they were elected in 2015 to do a certain number of items and he said they are well underway and will have a majority of them completed.
Garneau says in a year, people will look at what they’ve been able to accomplish or not and he feels they have been successful.
Bay of Quinte Liberal Riding Vice-President Sue O’Brien, Minister of Transport Marc Garneau and Bay of Quinte MP Neil Ellis. (Photo: Amanda Smith/Quinte News)
