The federal Liberals' number two man ventured deep into Conservative territory Friday when Bob Rae made a low-key visit to Prince George to meet with local party members setting the groundwork for a pending election.
Even if no general election is called over the budget, expected to be tabled March 31, there will be a byelection in Prince George-Peace River after long-time Conservative MP Jay Hill retired in October.
Prince George is not among the 20 ridings held by competing parties Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is visiting but Rae said the party will field candidates in this region.
"My philosophy has always been there are 308 ridings and every one of them is important and the one thing we know is if you aren't present, you're not likely to be voted for," he said.
The Liberals plan to make much of the Conservatives plan to cut the corporate income tax rather than get the debt under control and invest in long-term infrastructure.
"In a community like this, I think people understand this is pretty much a pocketbook issue," he said. "Governments make choices and I think this is a very strange choice to make right now."
During a talk with political science students at UNBC and an interview afterwards, Rae stressed the importance of the northern Gateway, expressed support for expanding the container port at Prince Rupert and noted the corridor was a Liberal initiative started under the Chretien government.
He characterized the Gateway as an important launching point for making the most of trade with Asia and added it also means investing more in teaching international business and foreign studies and encouraging high school students to learn Chinese and other Asian languages.
"In Prince Rupert, the port there is a terrific natural harbour and has also got some important rail link and access to the Asian market is going to be increasing important because those markets are growing rapidly," Rae said.
"It [the Gateway] will continue to be a very important initiative of government and if it's a Liberal government, it will continue to be a very important initiative of a Liberal government because these are critical initiative for Canada."
Doing a better job of providing job training and education to aboriginal people was also an item for Rae. "When we look at the growth of the forest industry and the mining industry in the future, it's going to have to include the aboriginal people," he said.
