In town for meetings, Trudeau visits Saskatoon diner

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a stop in Saskatoon Friday morning as he wrapped up a quick visit to Saskatchewan.

Trudeau visited the Hometown Diner on 20th Street West for a meet-and-greet.

Laura Crawford, who works at the nearby Thrive Juice Co., made her way over to the diner when she noticed the commotion around the Prime Minister’s motorcade parked outside.

She said she was a little unnerved at first to see Trudeau’s security detail manning the doors.

“And then walking in here, you know, his people with their little earbuds just standing there, then I’m like, ‘okay, he’s a big deal.’ But he was just another person, right?”

Trudeau’s visit to Saskatoon came following a trip Thursday to North Battleford, where he was out to support Larry Ingram, the Liberal candidate in an upcoming byelection in the Battlefords-Lloydminster riding.

Also in the running is Conservative Rosemarie Ashley Falk, New Democrat Matt Fedler, independent Ken Finlayson and the Green Party’s Yvonne Potter-Pihach.

PM Trudeau in #yxe this morning speaks briefly about his visit to #Sask. for byelection campaign event Thurs. in North Battleford.#ckom pic.twitter.com/X9Z13fB3V6

— Bryn Levy (@BrynLevy) December 8, 2017

As he left the diner Friday, Trudeau acknowledged that rural Saskatchewan has traditionally been a tough area for the Liberals to pick up seats.

“(Thursday’s visit) was a great opportunity to hear some local concerns, meet with a lot of people interested in connecting with their democracy and for me, getting people to pay attention to politics is half the battle,” he said.

The byelection in Battlefords-Lloydminster is meant to fill the seat left vacant following the retirement earlier this year of former Conservative MP Gerry Ritz.

The vote will be held Dec. 11.