Poilievre, federal Conservatives rally support from voters ahead of Elmwood-Transcona byelection

The federal Conservatives were in Winnipeg on Sunday rallying supporters for an upcoming byelection.

Party Leader Pierre Poilievre threw his support behind electrician Colin Reynolds, while preaching the party's platform and promising to axe the carbon tax, which has become one of his main political messages.

"He understands that protecting our environment is about technology not taxes and that's why job number one for Colin Reynolds and the common sense Conservatives will be to axe the tax," Poilievre said at the Canad Inns on Regent Avenue. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a byelection for Sept. 16 to fill the seat in the city's Elmwood-Transcona riding that was vacated when longtime NDP MP Daniel Blaikie resigned earlier this year.

Blaikie has since taken on the role of advising Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew's government.

Poilievre called the upcoming race a "mini carbon tax referendum" and a "carbon tax byelection" in the working-class Winnipeg riding.

The carbon tax, also known as the price on carbon, came into effect at $20 per tonne in 2019. It's climbed in the years since and rose from $65 per tonne to $80 in April. 

The tax is meant to be a financial incentive for people and businesses to change their habits to burn less fossil fuel.

Elmwood-Transcona has long NDP history 

The Elmwood-Transcona riding has long belonged to the NDP and the Blaikie family. Daniel Blaikie held the seat for nearly a decade and his late father Bill was the MP for almost 30 years before that.

The party is running  Leila Dance, executive director of the Transcona BIZ, as its candidate. 

In a statement Sunday, Dance said people in the riding work hard and look for someone to represent them who will work just as hard to protect their wallets from big corporations.

Dance also said people in the riding want someone who can stand up to Justin Trudeau and fight back against Conservative cuts to their health care and child care.

While the riding has been mostly NDP orange, it was briefly Tory blue from 2011 to 2015.

The Conservatives recently claimed victory in another party's stronghold elsewhere in the country. Last month, the party won a byelection in Toronto-St. Paul's, which had belonged to the Liberals for more than 30 years. 

The party continues to ride high in the polls nationally, and hopes that momentum can carry them to victory in Elmwood-Transcona.

The Conservatives chose Reynolds earlier this month as candidate to do that. He said the qualities he's developed in his work will help him if elected. 

"Being an electrician requires hard work, diligence and accountability, because if they don't do the job right, the lights go out, or worse," he said.

"Most of all being an electrician requires common sense, just like the next job I hope to do for you as your member of Parliament." 

Meanwhile, the governing Liberals tapped former teacher and union leader Ian MacIntrye last week to be the party's candidate.

Nic Geddert will run for the Green Party of Canada, according to the party's website.

Over the course of a more than 40-minute speech, Poilievre railed against the carbon tax, the lack of affordable homes, inflation, crime and immigrant doctors and nurses being unable to work in their fields in Canada.

He also vowed to invest more in trade programs and be a "constant opponent" of any vaccine mandates for COVID. 

Much like his March rally in Winnipeg, he also mentioned the Port of Churchill as an untapped asset. He's previously suggested oil could be shipped through the port.