Around 100 Liberal supporters packed the Westmount Community League Hall last night to hear Saskatchewan MP Ralph Goodale speak. Goodale is in Edmonton this week helping shore up support for Edmonton-Centre Liberal candidate Mary MacDonald. He is a talented stump speaker, which makes it easy to understand how he has been able to win elections in Saskatchewan for seven terms, but even after his sales pitch I’m still unconvinced that Canadians need to rush to the polls anytime soon.
I had a chance to speak with Goodale after his speech (see the picture of Goodale and the scruffy looking blogger above) and was generally impressed by what he had to say. I was dismayed by his support of the Carbon Capture Scheme, but he redeemed himself when we discussed the need for a national R& D and Innovation strategy for Canada (which he supports).
I also had a chance have a conversation about social media with Senator Grant Mitchell, who can now be found on twitter at @SenMitchell. Mitchell and former Edmonton-Ellerslie MLA Debby Carlson are heading up Liberals’ central campaign in Edmonton in preparation for an upcoming federal election.
(Thanks to Annet Swart for emailing me the picture that she snapped of Goodale and I last night)