Saskatoon MP Brad Trost finishes 4th in Conservative race

After a hard fought campaign Saskatoon-University MP Brad Trost finished fourth out of 13 candidates in Saturday’s federal Conservative leadership race.

Regina-Qu’Appelle MP Andrew Scheer came out the winner with 50.95 per cent of the vote in the 13th ballot just beating Quebec MP Maxime Bernier who finished with 49.05 per cent.

Trost told 650 CKOM Sunday that one of the reasons he didn’t win was the perception that he couldn’t.

“One of the ways Andrew Scheer campaigned was by telling people at his meetings ‘I’m 99 per cent the same as Brad Trost'”, Trost said. “That always makes it hard to argue then ‘vote for me’ when the press is saying he’s the one guy that could win.”

Trost, who launched his campaign as a more hardline social conservative than Scheer, was knocked out after 11 rounds of voting in Toronto.

He believes the outcome shows it’s time to take social conservatives more seriously.

“The immigrants to Canada, as they get more engaged, will make Canada more socially conservative,” Trost said. “For somebody from rural Saskatchewan like me who shares their values, that’s a good thing.”

Despite the loss, Trost plans to support Scheer calling it a big win for Saskatchewan and posted his congratulations on his official Facebook page.

Trost said his only regret is he wishes he would have started his campaign sooner.

He launched his campaign in August 2016 and came under fire in March for his stance on gay people.