HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-10-23, Page 6Continued from page 1administration.Soon after graduating, Lobbreturned home to work withhis father at his auctionbusiness. He took a post atWescast Industries in
Wingham, where he would
hold several titles, working in
the finance department and
eventually as a business
analyst. In 2007, Lobb began
work with Desire2Learn, a
software company where he
set up shop as a purchasing
manager and cost analyst.
However, it was back in
2000, when Lobb first became
a member of the Conservative
Party as the treasurer and
official agent for Huron-
Bruce, that he first had a
vision of his future as a
politician.
“ Inn 2005, I went to our
policy convention in Montreal.
That’s where I really felt I had
witnessed grassroots politics
for the first time,” he said.
“Our riding association came
up with the policy on supply
management. It was revised at
the convention then with over
3,000 people on the
convention floor, voting on a
policy from Huron-Bruce, it
got adopted. That inspired
me.”
When Lobb won the
nomination in the 2006
election, he said he saw it as “a
heck of a challenge, but a heck
of an opportunity. I was 28-
years-old, a very young age to
win a nomination. It was won
with hard work and good
teamwork and that concept has
carried us through right to this
election,” he said.
Though defeated by Steckle
that time, Lobb saw a small
victory, saying that he had
reduced Steckle’s margin of
victory by 90 per cent.
With his big victory over
Steckle’s successor,
McClinchey, Lobb announced
to the gathering at the
Candlelight Restaurant Oct.
14, “I have a few fingernails
left, compared to the last
election.”
Lobb was ahead in the polls,
according to CBC from the
very first and he never looked
back, extending his lead on
McClinchey with every
reported poll.
Lobb garnered just over
22,000 votes from the people
of Huron-Bruce, while
McClinchey came up short,
counting just over 16,000
votes. The New Democratic
Party saw its candidate, Tony
McQuail receive 7,500 votes
while Glen Smith, newcomer
to the Green Party saw over
2,600 votes come his way.
“I believe passionately in
knocking on doors and
connecting with people. I feel
as though that was the
connection we made with
people this time around,” Lobb
said.
“Right since day one,
running a positive campaign
was our goal. At the end of the
day, I feel as a resident of
Huron-Bruce that win, lose or
draw, you want to deliver a
positive message and tell
people what you want to do,
and that’s what they want,” he
said. “They don’t want to hear
the negative stuff.”
Lobb says he has his finger
on the pulse of the driving
forces of the riding.
“The key thought from the
beginning was to reconnectHuron-Bruce to Ottawa and tolisten to the constituents, go toOttawa, work hard and be aneffective team player with theConservative caucus and beable to deliver tangible results
back to the riding,” he said.
Lobb and his family have
had a strong base in Huron
County for decades. However,
his reach into Bruce County
did not initially extend as far
as he would have liked, so one
of his first tasks was to
introduce himself to the
northern end of the riding.
He relied on the support of
friends, volunteers and former
MPs to assist him in the
north end of the
riding.
“We had a heck of a good
team in Huron County and I
didn’t know many people in
Bruce County,” he said. “So
we put that together and we
worked and we worked and we
worked and while others were
out cutting ribbons and going
to gala dinners, we were
working.”Lobb cited the results he gotfrom places like Port Elginand Kincardine, saying that hiswork in Bruce County paidoff, in addition to his strongnumbers throughout Huron
County.
“A man once said to me,
there are two kinds of horses,
the showhorse and the
workhorse. Well, the people of
Huron-Bruce just elected a
workhorse tonight.”
Lobb says that while he
worked hard and connected
with people, knocking on
nearly 9,000 doors in Huron-
Bruce, he felt strong results in
the election came at a federal
level. He feels very strongly
that Harper is the man to lead
Canada through tough
economic times and into the
future.
Agriculture, for instance is
one of Huron-Bruce’s main
driving forces, something that
Lobb thinks is a good fit for
the Conservative Party.
“The Conservative Party, at
its fundamentals, is agrassroots party. We havemembers of parliament invirtually all provincesthroughout the country and forrural issues, there are a lot ofrural members of parliament
in the Conservative Party,” he
said. “So you’re going to have
a strong voice in Ottawa for
rural Ontario and rural
Canada, which is great for the
people of Huron-Bruce.”
Lobb says it’s important for
the political representation to
stay in tune with the drivers of
the riding and vice versa.
“A successful person needs
to be proactive, so that’s why
I’m saying we’re going out
and meeting with the
stockholders of the riding,
proactively meet with them so
we can work together in a
positive manner so we can get
results,” he said.
“I think that’s the real key.
The people in manufacturing,
agriculture, healthcare,
tourism, energy, expect a
visit.”
PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2008.Lobb gets more than 22,000 votes
Celebration
Newly-elected Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb was
able to raise his arm in victory on Oct. 14 as
both he and the Conservative Party were able
to pull off a win in Canada’s 40th federal
election. Lobb celebrated at the Candlelight
Restaurant in Goderich with his wife Andrea
and dozens of volunteers and supporters.
(Shawn Loughlin photo)
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