Peter MacKay brings leadership campaign to Regina

With a couple of events on his agenda, Peter MacKay made Regina the latest stop on his campaign tour to become the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

MacKay spoke to Gormley on Friday morning as he made his way to the city.

“People are in dire need of direction (and) they’re in dire need of leadership. We have seen what happens when a government is adrift,” said MacKay.

MacKay said it’s a call to action. He said the government needs to focus on the economy and policy — things like jobs, being competitive and being productive — and not get drawn into debates on social issues.

“That’s simply a matter of personal decision, but it really has to be the fundamentals of getting our economy moving,” said MacKay.

When it comes to the current prime minister and the Liberal Party, MacKay said he believes they’re philosophically opposed to resource development.

He pointed to the Teck mine project, the government buying the Trans Mountain pipeline projects, and the Energy East project, saying the Liberals moved the goalposts at the 11th hour.

“This is not a coincidence,” he said. “These things are not happening because of market forces. It’s the direction that’s coming from the government itself. I would change that. I would have approved all of those projects.”

MacKay thinks there needs to be legislation which puts a one-year timeline on projects getting approved or not.

When asked about whether he would try to balance the country’s responsibilities under the Paris Accord and Canada’s economic growth if he were prime minister, MacKay answered that he doesn’t think they can be balanced.

While MacKay stated definitely that climate change is real, he also said that Canada can contribute better to the global fight against it by getting our cleaner and more ethical fuels, like natural gas, to countries which burn coal, like India and China.

“We could be real players and reap the reward, bring that revenue back to Canada (and) put it into new green technology, which is springing up everywhere in this country,” he said. “And the oil sector itself is most vested in ensuring that we get to zero emissions.”

MacKay spoke to the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce on Friday afternoon and was set to hold a meet-and-greet Friday evening.

The leadership vote is to be held June 27.