Federal Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae is touring the region.
A crowd of a couple dozen gathered Wednesday night to hear Rae speak at the Collingwood legion.
Rae spoke about the past, present, and future of the party — which suffered a massive defeat in May’s federal election as it was relegated to third party status.
The former NDP Premier of Ontario also took the time to speak about the passing of Jack Layton, emphasizing that the news was bigger than politics.
His short speech was well received by the raucous crowd, who cheered as Rae spoke on how to best steer the Liberal party forward.
The issue of party organization took center stage for the interim leader, who emphasized that returning the Liberals to glory would need to be predicated by a more focused movement.
Rae also defended former leader Michael Ignatieff and the struggles he faced as leader at the hands of the rival party’s, and the 24/7 campaigning strategy of the Conservative party.
Ignatieff stepped down on May 3rd, 2011, paving the way for Bob Rae to be named Interim Leader on May 25th, 2011.
Rae’s cross Canada tour will take him to Owen Sound Thursday where he will host a free meet and greet at Harrison Park at 9 AM.
Rae will be at the Walkerton Legion at 1 PM for a similar event before meeting with the Mayor of Goderich at 4 PM to tour the damage from Sundays’ tornado.
Rae tells Bayshore Broadcasting News the stop in Goderich wasn’t planned, but since he was close by, he felt it was a good opportunity to meet the Mayor and offer any support he can.
The Liberal leader says what he can do is find out how the Federal government should be helping with the rebuilding effort, and to put pressure on the Harper government to do more for the residents of Goderich.
Rae tells Bayshore Broadcasting News he knows the town well as he made a number of stops in Goderich during his term as Ontario Premier in the 1990’s.
