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PM tours region today
Posted By GRANT LaFLECHE
Today, for the first time in more than 20 years, a sitting prime minister is visiting the Garden City without an election to fight.
Stephen Harper is spending the day in Niagara, with stops in Beamsville, Thorold and St. Catharines.
St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra said Tuesday the last prime minister to visit the city when an election wasn’t on the line was Progressive Conservative Brian Mulroney in 1985.
“It’s a real treat to have the prime minister here,” said Dykstra, who will join Harper at a Conservative party rally at the Quality Hotel Parkway Convention Centre on Ontario Street at 7 p.m. “He wanted to get out of Ottawa for the week we were not sitting and said he was coming to Niagara. So I told him that he was more than welcome in St. Catharines.”
The last prime minister to visit the city was Liberal Paul Martin, who stopped in St. Catharines during the 2005 federal election. He lost that election to Harper.
Harper’s first stop will be at Cherry Avenue Farm in Beamsville with Niagara West-Glandbrook MP Dean Allison and AgricuLture Minister Gerry Ritz, where he is expected to make an announcement around 1 p.m.
Dykstra said he didn’t know exactly what the announcement is about, but said it could pertain to food labelling.
The prime minister is scheduled to arrive at Cosmos Diner on Front Street in Thorold to meet with some local residents before arriving in St. Catharines for the rally. Dykstra said no major announcements are expected at the rally.
He said it was originally planned to be an event for local members of the Conservative Party, during which Harper would talk about what the government has achieved during its mandate so far.
“The trouble is, of course, that the prime minister has supporters who are not members of the party and don’t have any interest in being members of the party,” Dykstra said. “So the event was opened up.”
Anyone can attend, he said. However, for security purposes, anyone wishing to attend the rally must register beforehand by calling 905-935-8683.
Article ID# 1035392
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