Protesters and a rare slip-up from Stephen Harper didn’t dampen the crowd’s excitement at a Conservative campaign rally Tuesday evening in Saskatoon.
Harper, who was introduced by Conservative candidates Randy Donauer and Kevin Waugh, was speaking at Nu-Fab Building Products, in the city’s airport area, in front of more than 1,000 supporters.
He touted the new Trans-Pacific Partnership and said it would benefit Saskatchewan’s wheat, canola, uranium, potash and farm industries. He stressed his party’s economic plan. He promised to lower taxes, and he briefly touched on a few of his recurring campaign points, such as the fight against ISIS, cracking down on crime and the Universal Child Care Benefit.
Each promise was met with loud cheers from the pumped up crowd — except one. Harper slipped up when he accidentally called for “more taxes.” He quickly corrected himself and was just as quickly forgiven by the crowd.
“I won’t make that mistake too often,” he said, as the crowd laughed.
The atmosphere in the room never dwindled, and at several points, the crowd chanted, “Canada! Canada!”
The mood was in complete contrast to the atmosphere outside the rally. A crowd of protesters turned up with ‘Stop Harper’ signs in an attempt to drown out the Conservative leader’s message.
“Stephen Harper’s got to go,” many yelled from outside the building.
The Conservative leader’s speech lasted less than an hour and concluded with Harper shaking hands with several supporters.
He will continue his tour through Saskatoon on Wednesday.
