Ontario PC leadership hopeful Christine Elliott finds support during Windsor-Essex visit

Christine Elliott stopped by Colosanti'sThursday night to drum up support and, in the process, managed to convince some in attendanceto forget Doug Ford and throw their support behind her bid for leadership of the Ontario PC Party.

The former MPP spoke to a crowd of PC supporters in Kingsvilleand took questions on topics ranging from the high cost of energy tothe widening of Highway3 during a town hall portion of the event.

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She also repeated her promise not to impose a carbon tax and stated thecost of hydro in Ontario has tripled since the Liberals took power in 2003.

"I really want to be the auditor who comes in and cleans up Kathleen Wynne's mess," Elliott added.

Elliott was the runner-up to former party leader Patrick Brown in the 2015 leadership race.

She's vying for the positionalong with former Toronto mayoral candidateDoug Ford, Caroline Mulroney, the daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney, and conservative activistTanya Granic Allen.

Lou Goulet attended Elliott's event and said her messagewas exactly what he needed to hear.

He startedthe evening as a supporter of Doug Ford, but that changed after he heard Elliott speak.

"After listening to her, she makes more sense on a wider variety of stuff," he said. "She won me, you could say."

Sandy Anderson had a similar reaction.

She was initially considering Ford because of his willingness to "buck the system" but Elliott left her impressed.

"I think Christine is a very positive candidate. I think she would do very well against Premier Wynne."

AadAhsmann was already considering supporting Elliott as his candidate of choice and said his views were solidified after watching how she handled questions from the crowd.

"Tonight it has been confirmed for me. I believe she is the one candidate who will have a running start," he explained."She knows her stuff, you can hear it, you can see it."

Former Kingsville councillorChris Lewis, who is seeking to be the Ontario PC candidate for Essex, was also in attendance.

He said he's still awaiting the completion of the vetting process which will determine whether or not he can actually run for the party.

Lewis said he's been told he won't know if he will nominated as the party's candidate until after the leadership race is over.

"All I know for sure is we have a major uphill climb. I can't focus on the vetting process. What I can focus on is all the issues of Essex."

He added his attendance at Elliott's event didn't necessarily mean he was throwing his support behind her.

Voting begins this week

"As I'm not a vetted candidate yet it would be irresponsible for me at this time to publicly back any of the candidates. Whatever leader that we have, we'll work together, we'll support them."

Ontario PC Party members will begin voting for their new leader this week. The winner will be announced onMarch 10in Toronto.