I was there when Pierre Elliott Trudeau visited Renfrew in the late 1960s when he was running for the leadership of the federal Liberals. Trudeau came by helicopter and landed at the park by the swinging bridge. I recall there was a good crowd on hand to see him. He was a dashing figure, unlike the old irritable leaders of his time: John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson.
I was there when Progressive Conservative Leader Robert Stanfield came to Renfrew in 1974. The public was invited to have breakfast with him at Butson’s Valley Motel. I recall the dining hall was filled but no huge crowds. Everyone had a seat. In the federal election of 1974, Stanfield ran on a policy of wage and price control. That was the topic of his after-breakfast speech. Trudeau was against wage and price control but implemented it when the Liberals won. That taught me never to believe what politicians say. Stanfield was opposition leader from 1967-1976.
Stanfield is best known for fumbling a football thrown to him at a stopover in North Bay during the campaign of 1974. The photo ran on the front page of the daily newspapers and that pretty well ended Stanfield’s political career.
I was there when Ontario Liberal Leader David Peterson visited Renfrew at the park by the swinging bridge. I don’t recall the year but it was prior to him becoming premier of Ontario in 1985. I remember waiting a long time at the park before Peterson’s bus showed up. And there wasn’t a huge crowd to greet him that afternoon, mostly staunch Liberal supporters.
I was there when Preston Manning came to Renfrew. I believe it was the Renfrew Recreation Centre where Manning and fellow Reformers met the curious and like-minded folks. Maybe 50 people came out.
I was there when Stephen Harper came to town around 2004. About 300 folks turned out to meet him at the Best Western in Renfrew.
I was there when Justin Trudeau came to Renfrew in May of 2013. He had just been elected leader of the federal Liberals. He wore jeans and spoke to about 300 people at the Renfrew Legion. Many young fans his age were there to have their photo taken with Justin. His speaking style has improved immensely since those early days when he was an MP.
I was there in Renfrew last week Wednesday (May 9) when Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford came to the Renfrew Armouries in the big blue bus with his larger than life picture on the sides of the bus. I sat at the front of the hall below the podium and watched a very relaxed and joyful politician speak to a crowd of perhaps 800 people. He had no notes in hand and spoke for about 20 minutes. There were lots of cheers, applauses and standing ovations. No cat calls or boos. It was the biggest political rally I have witnessed in Renfrew.
What impressed me most of the man who will likely become premier of Ontario next month was something you don’t see these days. After his speech, organizers told the audience if they wanted to meet Doug Ford and have their photo taken with him to line up on the left side of the stage. The lineup was very long and it moved ever so slowly. But Ford stayed there shaking hands with every person in the lineup. No rushing to speed things up. I hung around and kept an eye on the lineup and Ford. The bus was parked at the door and at one point the bus driver came inside to see what was taking so long.
I congratulated Ford on having so many supporters come out to this rally. It was quite a show!
