Scheer marks one-year countdown to federal election with campaign-style speech

OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is marking the one-year countdown to the 2019 election by targeting the Liberal government's record on everything from carbon taxes, to ethics, to budgetary deficits.

Speaking to party supporters at a rally in Ottawa today, Scheer is predicting a nasty campaign and insists Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be the first leader to make it personal.

Scheer is also telling his supporters Trudeau will have, on his side, the news media, pundits and academics — everyone who wants to lecture Canadians on how to spend their money and live their life.

In particular, the Tories are expected to focus on the Trudeau government's centrepiece carbon tax plan and its handling of the federal books, which have produced deficits nearly double what the Liberals had promised during the 2015 election.

Scheer's campaign-style speech today is also pointing to other areas he considers Liberal vulnerabilities — including the failed Energy East pipeline project that was to transport crude east from Alberta and an updated North American trade agreement he argues brought no new gains for Canada.

Recent polls have suggested the Liberals are in a relatively good position ahead of the Tories and the NDP — but a lot can change in 12 months.