Tories try to woo Quebecers away from Bloc, Liberal party with open letter to voters

FILE: Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer (Photo: Andrew Scheer/Facebook)

OTTAWA — Conservative party leader Andrew Scheer is trying to take advantage of drama in the Bloc Quebecois as well as recent unfavourable headlines dogging the prime minister to woo Quebecers over to his party.

In a French-language letter published in La Presse on Tuesday, Scheer said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau regularly demonstrates his incompetence at governing, while the Bloc is facing an existential crisis after 70 per cent of its members recently quit the caucus.

The Conservatives are a natural choice for Quebecers, he writes, because the party believes in low taxes, managing public dollars efficiently and respecting the jurisdiction of the provinces.

Scheer calls on “nationalists” and “federalists” in Quebec to take a closer look at the Tories.

“To all federalists who are disappointed by Justin Trudeau’s incompetence and mismanagement, as well as to the nationalists who are fed up with the Bloc’s quibbles and existential crises and who believe in a strong Quebec within a united Canada, there is a place for you at the Conservative Party of Canada,” the letter reads.

Scheer’s Tories currently have 11 seats in Quebec, the NDP 16, while the Liberals are way ahead with 40.

The Liberals have recently dipped in the polls, however, following a widely criticized trip to India.

The Bloc Quebecois has just three seats after seven MPs quit the caucus, leaving the party in turmoil.

Quebec-based Conservative MP, Alupa Clarke, said in an interview it’s perfectly natural the Tories could pick up Bloc seats.

“People (in Quebec) have the tendency to vote either Bloc or Conservative,” he said. “I’m saying, we have the same objective: a federal sate that is decentralized and respects the jurisdiction of the provinces.”