Patty Hajdu says the Liberal party values dignity and believes every person in Canada has the right to be heard.
It’s something she’s been championing for most of her life.
She’s hoping to continue that fight from the House of Commons. On Tuesday night Hajdu took another step toward that goal, securing the federal Liberal nomination in Thunder Bay-Superior North, a riding the party plummeted to third place in the 2011 election.
It’s time to prove once again to Canadians that the Liberal brand is the one to lead the country back to prosperity, Hajdu said.
“I’m really excited at the potential for change at the federal level,” she said Tuesday, after being acclaimed as the candidate.
She’s equally champing at the bit to have a Liberal in power locally. It’s been far too long since the riding aligned with the party in power, Hajdu added.
“I think whenever your representative is in effect powerless, I think you don’t see the kinds of results that you might see if you had a representative that was on the winning team, so to speak. And I know there’s great hope amongst the Liberal party that this is their year and I know there is a lot of work going into changing government at the federal level.”
She knows she’ll have to work hard to win back voters who four years ago abandoned the party locally, banishing then candidate Yves Fricot to third place behind the NDP’s Bruce Hyer and Conservative Richard Harvey.
Hajdu said the main message will be to remind the public about Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s track record over eight years in office.
That alone should do the trick, she added.
“There has been no investment in affordable housing, no investment in infrastructure. There has been a decay of our municipalities and a lot of that has to do with federal interest in taking care of the small town and villages, as well as the large cities,” said Hajdu, the executive director of Shelter House and the city’s former drug-strategy co-ordinator.
“When we see that lack of investment, it trickles down. So I think we’re going to be reminding voters about how important it is to have a government that’s actually committed to the health and social wellness and environmental wellness of its people.”
Liberal supporter Chantelle Bryson, who nominated Hajdu, called it the first step in winning back the riding, adding she was overjoyed when the newly minted candidate announced she was putting her name forward.
“I had absolutely no doubt about her potential and her candidacy for this riding,” Bryson said. “Patty Hajdu lives our shared Liberal values every day.”|
Hyer, who left the NDP and now sits with the Green Party, is expected to run again in 2015. Harvey told tbnewswatch.com earlier this month he is “strongly considering” running for the Conservatives again. The NDP have yet to name a candidate.
