Powell River's Liberal supporters received a ray of hope for the federal election campaign last week.Bob Rae, incumbent MP for Toronto Centre and former NDP premier of Ontario, was in Powell River with West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country Liberal candidate Ian Sutherland on Friday (Sept. 19). He asked the riding's voters to support the Liberal candidate and spoil Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chances for a majority government. "It's going to be a critical question to talk to people who voted Green or who might have voted NDP and say, 'Look, we've got a really strong candidate here in this riding; we have a tremendously strong potential member of the Liberal team, and we'd like to bring on board somebody with experience in government.' It would be great," said Rae.Rae said the Liberal Party of Canada is clearly here to fight this election and win it. "The way this prime minister is running the country and the way he is trying to grab a majority. I don't think we should give it to him."Rae said there are issues that have to be dealt with that are very critical for the country."I think Mr. Harper's way of conducting is a critical question. I just don't think one-man government works."He denounced Harper's decision to call an election."The prime minister promised us he'd have a fixed-date election and he has clearly broken that promise. He's running around saying he only wants a minority anyway, which is clearly nonsense because he has a minority. He claims there was some kind of crisis in Parliament. Parliament was not even in session."
