MP Randy Hoback. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

new leader

Hoback says MacKay a serious contender for Tory leadership

Jan 16, 2020 | 6:15 PM

Prince Albert MP Conservative Randy Hoback, said he is happy to see Peter MacKay in the party’s leadership race to succeed Andrew Scheer.

The four-time MP for P.A. said MacKay’s experience as a former Minister of Defence and Minister of Foreign Affairs and his connections in the east of the country would go a long way to him being strongly considered by the party membership.

(The Canadian Press)

MacKay was part of the Stephen Harper government and served as an MP from 1997 to 2015.

“Peter is a great candidate and I know he can bring people to the party,” Hoback told paNOW. “He has a breadth of knowledge and should be strongly considered.”

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Hoback calls MacKay a “good friend” and someone who can bring people to the party although he’s not yet ready to endorse him or anyone else in the race.

“I’m still waiting to see who will enter the race and there are issues I want to talk to the potential leaders about,” he explained. “How are they going to keep the party united, how western interests will be represented in Ottawa — pipelines, the oil, gas and forestry sector. I want to see a game plan that will move this country forward.”

Hoback figured it would help MacKay’s chances that he was closely involved with the Harper government and how that administration navigated the recession of the late 2000s.

Hoback was full of praise for other potential candidates including Rona Ambrose, whom he found “excellent to work with as interim leader.”

He also mentioned Erin O’Toole, another “good friend” with experience, and Pierre Poilievre, who has “lots of fight in him.”

“If any of these four became the leader of our party, I’d be proud to work with them,” Hoback said.

paNOW asked Hoback if MacKay’s stinging attack on Scheer in the wake of the federal election defeat in October could hurt the former Nova Scotia MP’s efforts to get some party members behind him. MacKay labelled Scheer’s social conservative values as a “stinking albatross” around his neck that cost the party the election.

Hoback figured if MacKay had a chance to do that over he wouldn’t have chosen those words.

“That’s already done and I think some people will take that into consideration, but you’ll have to look at a variety of things, and Peter’s experience, and not just one individual before we make a decision one way or the other,” he said.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow