Mackling takes on Toews - Winnipeg Free Press
Mackling, 83, is seeking the federal NDP nomination in Provencher, the riding long held by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, Manitoba's senior federal Tory and former provincial justice minister.
Mackling said his frustration with the polarizing, "American-style" tactics and policies of the Conservatives are what drove him out of retirement.
"I'm running because I am very concerned about what's happening in Canada," Mackling said. "They are undermining all of the social fabric we have built over decades."
Mackling said he is most frustrated with tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations as well as the Conservatives' tough-on-crime agenda, which critics say is forcing the construction of more prison beds instead of focusing on preventing crime, rehabilitating criminals and curbing poverty.
"If I were a true-blue Conservative, I would resent a government that is ludicrously spending this kind of money on a dead end," Mackling said. "Sure, (criminals) have to answer for what they have done, but they have to come out of prison with some skills, not just an improvement in how they can commit crimes and get away with them."
Toews said he welcomed Mackling into the race and expected a good, clean campaign. He said he worked for Mackling as a provincial lawyer when Mackling was in cabinet.
"Al Mackling is a gentleman, and not to be underestimated," Toews said.
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