St. Catharines CPC Meet & Greet
September 27, 2024
Takeaways from last night’s St. Catharines CPC meet & greet event:
1. Despite the fact that the event was well promoted, I was a little surprised that it didn’t draw more attendees, if nothing else than for the free food, which consisted of pizza and onion rings. That always seems to draw a crowd. Perhaps it was a case of political burnout.
2. I was a little surprised at the anti-Trump sentiment in the room before and after the event. The WEF-backed Democrats, like the Liberals, are the embodiment of pure evil, yet I heard one woman say that Trump “is not fundamentally a good person.” And he’s probably not. But voting for the Democrats is like cutting off your arm at the shoulder to get rid of a wart on your finger.
3. Bas Sluijmers came privately recommended to me and I chatted with him for a bit. Well, more like listened to him for a bit. He’s got some energy and made a point to tell me how we need to tackle issues that are inconvenient. But going out of his way to mention that he had supported Leslyn Lewis in the leadership campaign didn’t win any brownie points with me. That was the same Leslyn Lewis who openly welcomed Doug Ford Party candidate Sal Sorrento when she was here in St. Catharines. The Israel pin on his suit jacket was also noteworthy. While I abhor naked aggression, I strongly oppose Canada’s participation, both militarily and financially, in foreign wars. We’ve got enough problems right here at home.
4. I noted with interest that one of the local New Blue organizers came in with Kim Schwenker. It’s just too bad Kim isn’t a better candidate. She seems like a very nice person, but she just doesn’t have what it takes.
5. Greg Gillespie looked an awful lot like Liberal politburo member Mark Holland. From his speech, however, he’s definitely not a Liberal, but whether he’d make a good CPC candidate leaves much to be desired. He read from a prepared speech instead of talking to the audience and spent much of his allotted time going over his resume. Frankly, I don’t give a shit about his background and what school he graduated from. This isn’t a job interview. As a would-be voter, I care about what he stands for.
6. Peter Secord came across as much too smooth and polished and rather than tackling the issues and expounding on what he stands for, he just expects support because he has name recognition and experience. I got the impression that he almost feels entitled to the nomination, and if it’s possible, my opinion of him went down.
7. Hayden Lawrence was perhaps the best speaker among the bunch, though he made sure to again mention that he had worked for those taxpayer games, an openly segregationist organization.
8. Video of the speeches:
9. After the event, I was asked how I would place the candidates in a ranked ballot if I were to renew my CPC membership. Bas Sluijmers would be at the top of the list, followed by Greg Gillespie and Kim Schwenker. Neither Hayden Lawrence nor Peter Secord would even make my ballot and if either were to win the nomination, I would vote PPC in the general election. That said, there was no one who jumped out and made a case for me to renew that membership. In a word, the entire slate was disappointing, though right about now, people are so pissed off at Justin Trudeau and his local emissary Chris Bittle that my neighbor’s dog could probably win the next election running on the CPC ticket.
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