Vic Fedeli was back with his most loyal supporters at the Davedi Club in North Bay this afternoon. Photos by Jeff Turl.
And he used the event to urge them to help make him the next leader of Ontario's PC party.
"Dig in your pockets for 10 dollars to buy a membership", he said before a crowd of 150. "We can't talk about big ideas unless I become leader."
Fedeli announced Wednesday in Toronto that he was jumping in the race.
"We need to restore pride in the party by listening to its members. Then we're going to make Ontario first."
Fedeli will travel the province for the next nine months gathering support and spreading his message.
He'll be followed by someone from the Liberal party---jokingly tagged by Fedeli as his "stalker", that was in attendance at the Davedi function.
"The fact that they (the Liberals) sent my stalker here shows they know who they should be worried about." said Fedeli to laughs and applause from the crowd.
Talking with reporters after his speech he said support from fellow MPPS' has been "excellent" since his announcement.
But he deflected a question about how he differs from other candidates in the race.
"All I know is know is my own message. Let's restore pride in the party and let's make Ontario first.
"We've gone from 100 thousand members in our party down to 10 thousand so we've got a lot of rebuilding to do."
Fedeli was clearly comfortable as he worked the crowd.
"This is my hometown. This is a chance to say thank you to everybody that first of all got all got me elected as an MP.
"They know here in this room, amongst my family and friends, that I'm the right person to lead the PC party of Ontario and to make Ontario first."
