Former Saskatchewan Conservative MP Brad Trost is the second person to seek the nomination for the Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan constituency, a riding he partially represented for 11 years before the boundaries changed.
Trost represented Saskatoon-Humboldt from 2004 to 2015 and Saskatoon-University from 2015 to 2019. However, he lost the riding nomination to Corey Tochor, the former Saskatchewan legislature speaker, before the 2019 federal election.
Trost was also a candidate in the 2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, where he finished fourth, while he is known for his support for socially conservative topics.
The Langenburg-born man began receiving phone calls from party members in the northern regions of the Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan constituency asking him to run again once they learned MP Tom Lukiwski planned to retire, Trost explained. He researched whether there was enough support for him, and within three days, acquired 25 signatures from party members.
“And with that sort of response, it was like, ‘Wow, people would like to see me back in there,’” he said.
The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) could use strong, principled candidates willing to take on the governing Liberal Party of Canada, Trost continued. He has heard from members that they are frustrated the party is not doing enough to hold the Liberals to account and want a candidate “who is strong, loud and very clear” about how he or she will stand up for conservative principles.
It is Trost’s record that makes him a principled candidate who is distinctive from others, he pointed out. When he took positions on socially conservative topics, he never backed away from those stances. People also knew that he never backed away from other hot topics such as the carbon tax or the long-gun registry.
“Even my NDP and Liberal opponents over the years have said, ‘You know Trost, everyone knows where you stand. You’re not ambiguous, you’re clear and you’re polite. You definitely stick to your guns,’” he said.
Trost lives in Saskatoon, about five minutes from the edge of the constituency. He noted that the riding is big and partly rural, while he is a farm kid, which he believes could help his chances.
The two priorities upon which Trost would focus if nominated would be agriculture — upon which many communities in the riding are based — and Western alienation. He pointed out that alienation wasn’t an issue when the Conservatives were in power under Stephen Harper since the party “got things done.”
Other issues important to Trost include pipelines, ensuring the West has a strong voice and standing up for issues that matter to regional voters.
“No one has ever referred to me as Liberal-lite in my life,” Trost laughed. “I’m a conservative’s conservative, and I think my mere presence in the party and my advocating for positions I’ve advocated for in the past will definitely push other people to be more outspoken.”
The CPC will have some competition for votes in Western Canada when the next federal election is called since the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) and the Maverick Party have sprung up in the past few years.
Trost says the Maverick Party wants to fully separate from Canada, while the PPC’s goals are vague since the party is mostly against everything. Conversely, the CPC has a “comprehensive plan” to bring Western Canada back to the federal table and lower taxes, while it can point to past achievements such as eliminating the Canadian Wheat Board and providing sound economic management.
Trost believes he can bring the conservative family together and create energy to take on the Liberals and NDP.
More information about Brad Trost can be found at www.bradtrost.ca.
Kathryn Pollack is also seeking the CPC nomination for the Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan constituency.
