Tom Mulcair was greeted by throngs of supporters Thursday as he returned to his home riding to officially mark his nomination as a candidate with an event at the Rialto Theatre.
He said even in opposition, his party has worked for Quebecers.
“My friends, it was eight years ago on Mount Royal that I announced with Jack Layton my candidacy from Quebec. In 2011, Quebecers from all walks of life turned the page from the past and voted for change. It started right here,” he said.
Mulcair won the Outremont riding in 2011 with 56 per cent of the vote, more than double the number of votes garnered by the Liberal candidate.
The Conservative candidate Rodolphe Husny came in third with nine per cent of the vote. He acknowledges making inroads will be an uphill climb.
“Of course – what we want is to have of course a Conservative Member of Parliament [in Outremont] because we want Montreal to be represented at the table of decision,” he said.
Husny says the Conservatives would help immigrants in this diverse riding.
“The prime minister announced we're going to have $35 million more for loans to help more than 20,000 people because one of the problems is they don't have a credit history when they come to Canada, and they need a bit of time,” he said.
Liberal candidate Rachel Bendayan said she’s jumping into politics for a reason. She believes she knows the Outremont riding well and says people are worried about jobs and a future here.
“I'm dedicated to actually making a difference in politics, the cynicism we see every day is really disheartening and I'm contributing to changing that,” she said.
Mulcair reiterated how NDP policies would benefit voters across Canada and here in the Outremont riding.
“We're going to give a boost to creating new jobs by kick starting the economy and that starts by giving a tax break to our small and medium sized businesses, he said.
“We know that we have the team, the experience, the leadership to defeat and replace Stephen Harper.”
