Liberals do full court press for St. John's seats
City depot, coffee shops and a Tory stronghold
Liberal leader Dwight Ball took a pack of candidates on a swing through St. John's and area Thursday, suggesting the party can make big inroads in seats where it finished third in the last election.
"That was four years ago. The party's changed quite a bit since then," said Ball as he opened a campaign office in Torbay in the PC stronghold of Cape St. Francis.
"All districts are important. This is a 40-district campaign for us and we'll take this through all parts of the province,"
Thursday's schedule saw the Liberal bus carry a number of metro candidates to the St. John's municipal depot where they shook hands with city workers as they started their shift.
Windsor Lake candidate Cathy Bennett worked the crowd, telling a man from Airport Heights that she'd already been to his door on Major's Path in August.
"I want to meet the next premier of Newfoundland," said another worker who drives in from Markland, near Whitbourne, every day.
"Don't forget us," he told Ball, making a pitch for road improvements in his district.
Tough battles
A customer at the busy Tim Hortons on Ropewalk Lane was a tougher sell.
"I hope my buddy wins again," he told Dwight Ball, saying he's supporting PC Dan Crummell.
Newly elected Liberal MP Seamus O'Regan was along for the ride through St. John's, with Ball telling voters he's glad to have "friends in Ottawa."
Ball, who will speak to the St. John's Board of Trade on Friday, predicted tough battles in many districts.
"Some will be in the St. John's area, some will be in other areas of the province."
Switching parties
The Liberal candidate in Cape St. Francis, Geoff Gallant, knows about uphill battles. He ran for the NDP in 2011, and lost by about 2,000 votes to PC Kevin Parsons.
"I think the liberal party just better represents my personal style of positive politics, inclusive leadership and sound decision making," he said.
Cape St. Francis has voted Tory for about 40 years, but Gallant said he sees a big change at the doorstep.
"I think that the people of Cape St. Francis are plugged in, they're astute voters and they're going to make smart choices on Nov. 30."
Another relatively new Liberal, Tom Osborne, who's running in Waterford Valley, took time out to donate blood before knocking on doors in Shea Heights.
Osborne, who won his seat for the Progressive Conservatives in 2011, joked that the last time he gave blood during a campaign he went on to become a cabinet minister.