General

Throw the Liberals from the train

Local opposition politicians say they were barred from the PM’s speech in Saint John

Transport Minister John Baird told CTV’s Question Period on Sunday that the prime minister would travel to Saint John to update Canadians on the progress of his government’s stimulus program because he wants to talk to “real people right across the country.” On Monday, local Liberals found out that meant everyone but them. According to reports, opposition politicians, including Moncton MP Brian Murphy and New Brunswick Liberal MLAs Abel LeBlanc and Stuart Jamieson, the latter of whom was designated by the provincial Liberal government as its official representative at the event, weren’t allowed into the Irving-owned machine yard to hear the PM speak. “It certainly doesn’t bode well for good relations when you get treated like that,” Jamieson told the Telegraph Journal. But Conservative MP Rodney Weston, who won the Saint John riding against Liberal incumbent Paul Zed last October in one of the closest races in the country, insists that it was simply a question of security. “If people wanted to attend, they had to be on a list.”

Telegraph-Journal
Times Transcript

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