All five have spent months travelling the province to sign up party members, a process that saw more than 11,600 people purchase memberships. “That’s tremendous to have that level of response, particularly in this era of disengagement with politics,” Nova Scotia PC party president Tara Miller said in an interview earlier this week. “I think another reason that people are so engaged is because there … is a feeling that this leader will be the next premier of Nova Scotia,” said Miller. Lohr has gained attention by staking ground on the party’s far right, professing his support for oil and gas exploration, including hydraulic fracturing, which is under a moratorium in Nova Scotia. Despite the media attention, neither Urbaniak nor Turnbull see Lohr’s pronouncements as a sign of populist growth within the party or the province as a whole.

Source: National Post October 25, 2018 16:41 UTC