The first-ever Maverick Party candidate for the Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan constituency believes the Western-focused party can help repair the polarization that the federal Liberals have caused in Canada since 2015.
Bladworth-area resident D. Craig Townsend was apolitical about a year ago, but his frustration with the federal government’s actions over the past six years pushed him to look for solutions. An engineer by trade — with experience in the oil and gas sector and now the agriculture industry — he wanted to put his scientific and analytical mind to work to address the problems he was seeing.
Townsend wrote a letter to the prime minister’s office in May 2020 about the federal government’s decision to ban all types of firearms. He thought that the Liberals had made law-abiding citizens into criminals with this decision.
After receiving no response by December, the former Canadian Forces member began looking for alternative ways to make his voice heard. He came across the Maverick Party and saw that the organization had a mission statement that resonated with him.
After learning there was no party electoral district association (EDA) for the Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan constituency, Townsend gathered some friends and started one of the first party EDAs in the country. He also acted as the association president for a while.
“I’m a big believer that if you want something done right, you need to do it yourself,” he continued. “I mentioned that we should have nominations. We were concerned that there would be an election … . I had all the necessary paperwork done.”
Townsend was recently named the Maverick Party candidate for this constituency. He admitted that he was “a little overwhelmed” since there were many tasks to complete. While this has been a challenging role, he is excited for the support he has received from the party and potential voters.
“It was never my intention to run for politics or a party that advocated for independence,” he continued. However, since 2015, it has bothered him that the federal Liberal government has shut down oil projects and banned new pipelines even while defending a major pipeline — Line 5 — that runs near Michigan and supplies southern Ontario.
“The policies of Ottawa have basically polarized Canada, and if we wish to be one nation, the ability of irresponsible administrations to abuse this polarity must be forever removed,” Townsend said. “And that’s what I really like about the Maverick Party platform: one way or another, we have to remove this polarity if we want to be one nation.”
Townsend believes he would best represent the Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan constituency since he has served Canada, is an entrepreneur, is resourceful, possesses integrity, is dedicated, is tenacious, and committed to his community.
There is one main difference between all other federal parties and the Maverick Party, he remarked. Federal parties want to gain power and keep it, which means catering to every region in Canada. Conversely, the Maverick Party wants to represent and defend the interests of Western Canada only.
Townsend pointed out that Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole said he would not introduce a carbon tax but later said he would to appease Eastern Canadian voters.
“He has thrown the West under the bus to garner votes in central and east,” Townsend added. “And any party that is trying to govern the country has to do that. And the 2019 (federal) election shows us that 70 per cent of the West could vote for one party — the Conservatives — and we can still end up with a Liberal minority.”
For more information, visit www.maverickparty.ca.
