Former prime minister Jean Chretién was in North Vancouver Thursday evening. Chretién, Canada’s 20th prime minister, made a stop on the North Shore to rally Liberal supporters at the campaign office of North Vancouver Liberal candidate Jonathan Wilkinson who introduced him to volunteers as “one of the great Liberal prime ministers.”
Chretién told the crowd he never thought he’d still be out on the campaign trail at his age.
Chretién, now 85, was prime minister from 1993 to 2003.
The North Vancouver riding is considered one of the political battlegrounds in B.C.
A classic political rematch is underway between the Liberal incumbent Jonathan Wilkinson, who won the seat with 57 per cent of the vote in 2015, and Conservative Andrew Saxton - the former MP whom Wilkinson defeated last time around.
The seat has flip-flopped between the Liberals and Conservatives.
Political pollster Greg Lyle of Innovative Research has described the North Vancouver dogfight as " the sort of battle that's going to determine the outcome of the election."
Lyle added any party hoping to form a majority government has to win seats on the North Shore.
Prior to stopping in North Vancouver, Chretién gave a pep talk to candidates at a lunch in Surrey. In a scrum with reporters, Chretién defended Trudeau against controversies like his wearing of blackface to a dress-up party in 2001, buying the Trans Mountain pipeline and SNC Lavalin scandal, according to a report by the Globe&Mail.
Chretién was also scheduled to stop in Kelowna to rally volunteers on Friday.
