By Brock Weir

Hundreds of Liberal supporters took time out of their Thanksgiving Sunday to welcome Liberal leader Justin Trudeau to Aurora's two Federal ridings in the home stretch of the 2019 Federal Election campaign.

In support of Newmarket-Aurora Liberal candidate Tony Van Bynen, Mr. Trudeau hit Main Street Newmarket, where he was greeted by hundreds of supporters in the street. From there, he travelled to Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill to hold a rally with candidate Leah Taylor Roy and hundreds of supporters at her campaign office near Yonge Street and King Road.

It was the end of a busy week for Aurora's candidates with several all-candidates debates and countless knocked-on doors.

Vying for the job to represent Newmarket-Aurora in Ottawa following the October 21 election are, in alphabetical order, Walter Bauer of the Green Party, Dorian Baxter of the Progressive Canadian Party, Lois Brown of the Conservative Party, Laurie Goble of the Rhinoceros Party, Yvonne Kelly of the NDP, Andrew McCaughtrie of the People's Party of Canada, and Tony Van Bynen of the Liberal Party.

On the south side of Wellington Street, in the riding of Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill, your candidates are Leona Alleslev of the Conservative Party, Aaron Brown of the NDP, Timothy Flemming of the Green Party, Serge Korovitsyn of the Libertarian Party, Priya Patil of the People's Party, and Leah Taylor Roy of the Liberal Party.

12 of the 13 candidates made their respective final pitches to local voters at an all-candidates meet and greet hosted by the Aurora Public Library on October 8 before advanced polls opened in time for the Thanksgiving weekend.

While candidates continued to pound the pavement full-tilt into the holiday weekend, perhaps no candidate took this phrase literally except for Ms. Taylor Roy, who participated in Sunday's rally sporting a large black eye.

The injury, she explained, took place just a few days previously while meeting with potential voters at the Gormley GO Station in the morning rush.

“It was not a Conservative punch,” she joked to supporters over the weekend. “I was out there at 6.15 a.m. …when, in my enthusiasm, I tripped on a grate and ended up falling on my face.”

“We got back up and after a 34-hour concussion watch, we were back on the road working hard,” she continued. “I have a team that just won't give up. That's why we are going to win this riding back for you.”

“Winning back” the riding was a theme Ms. Taylor Roy revisited in her speech, citing the fact Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill voted Liberal in 2015, sending Leona Alleslev to Ottawa as Member of Parliament before she crossed the floor to the Conservatives last year.

“This riding knows the Liberal Party is the only party that is home to people who want to take action on climate change and who want to build a prosperous future for our country,” said Ms. Taylor Roy, the daughter of former Newmarket mayor Tom Taylor and sister of incumbent Mayor John Taylor. “It is one of the reasons I love our leader, because he knows we can do both. Like Justin Trudeau, I am doing this because I want to make a difference, not because of my name. I know that we will make a difference. We will ensure that the Liberals, under Justin Trudeau, will take action on climate change. I know that we will continue to support the Middle Class, not slash programs, and I know that we will finally get gun control in place and stop the violence on the streets. Lastly, we will work hard to ensure that Canada and our world is inclusive and welcoming to everyone.”

These threads were picked up by Mr. Trudeau, who thanked supporters before underscoring the “important choice” that is to be made October 21.

“People are facing a very clear choice and that's why we are fighting so hard,” he said. “We are fighting so hard to stop Conservative cuts and elect a Liberal government. We are going to stop Conservative cuts by electing a progressive government, not a progressive opposition, because we know what cuts are waiting for us with a Conservative government.

“Over the past four years, we showed what a government that wasn't afraid to invest in people could deliver. We invested in young people, we invested in seniors, we invested in hard-working families. We stood up for Canada around the world, we invested to fight climate change and what happened? Not only did we create the strongest plan to fight climate change that Canada has ever had, but we watched Canadians create over a million new jobs as we lifted 900,000 people out of poverty. That is the choice facing Canadians in a week's time: Do we continue to move forward, or do we go back to the Harper cuts and austerity?”

At press time, Mr. Trudeau was the only one of the four major party leaders to have visited Aurora's ridings. For further updates through the home stretch of the Federal campaign, visit www.theauroran.com.