Joe Oliver says Conservative defeat 'significant' but 'not devastating'

Monday's election outcome was not a referendum ontheConservative party's promise of tax breaksand a balanced budget, but rather a vote in favour ofchange, says outgoing Finance Minister Joe Oliver.

Oliver lost his Torontoarea seat in a hard-fought campaignto Liberal MarcoMendicino, thelawyer who won the nomination over Eve Adams, a controversial former Conservative who crossed the floor to join the Liberals earlierthis year.

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"Wewere going to keep taxes lowand balance the budget,and the other guys were going to raise taxes and create massive deficits," saidoutgoingFinanceMinisterJoe Oliver during an interview on CBC News Network's Power & Politics on Thursday.

"You'd think that would be a winning strategy but it wasn't enough to overcome this momentum,"said Oliver of the Liberal surge that swept the country in Monday's election.

Oliver, who was elected to the House of Commons in 2011, concededthere were "some issues" with the Conservativecampaign.

"We had a rock-solid base but we couldn't expand it," he told host Rosemary Barton.

"When people in the party analyze this, as I know people in the party are in the process of doing, wehave to think about what in terms of policy and communication we can do to get that extra seven or 10 per cent."

'Focus on a broader appeal'

Except for a brief trip to Turkeyfor the G20 finance ministersand central bank governorsmeeting halfway through the campaign,Oliver was rarely heard from during the 78-day campaign.

Oliver rejected any suggestion that he was avoiding the media, sayinghespent the majority of his time going door-to-doorinEglintonLawrence talking to voters about "pocketbook issues" in an effort to secure his reelection bid.

We have to focus on a broader appeal, I think,without betraying our core principles- Joe Oliver, outgoing Conservative finance minister

Though Oliver was responsible for tabling the final budgeton which Conservatives ran, it was Conservative Leader Stephen Harper who made the pitch to voters nationally.

By the end of the longest election campaign in modern Canadianhistory, Harper was using props and the "ka-ching" sound of a cash register to illustrate the impact of "Liberal tax hikes."

Asked if he was muzzled, Oliver let out a brief laugh. "Let's just say, I felt that I could do more to help the party by being out there."

"We had a very strong team and it's a team that was supportive of the prime minister and perhaps showcasing a bit more would have helped...it would have shown here's a strong team that can articulate the Conservative message."

Oliver saidhe was certain the party, though now relegated to Opposition status,would eventually recover from Monday's loss.

"While it was a significant defeat, it wasn't devastating," he said.

"We have to focus on a broader appeal, I think,without betraying our core principles. There's no reason in the world why we can't do that."

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Oliver had big shoes to fill when he took over the finance portfolio in 2014 fromthe late Jim Flaherty Harper's only other finance minister since the party came into power in 2006.

Until then, Oliver had served as minister of natural resources, a controversial portfolio for a government unapologetic for its support of the oil sands.

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Olivermade headline news in 2012 when he blamedenvironmental activists and other"radical groups" for threatening to block energy projects by using funding from special interest groups to undermine Canada's national interest.

That same year, he insisted that sweeping changes to the environmental review process would not compromise environmental protection.

In 2014, the government approved the Northern Gateway pipeline with some 200 conditions, but aboriginal leaders said no pipeline projects would be builtwithout their approval.

After nearly a decade in power, the Conservatives were not able to get any oil pipelines built.

Asked about his political legacy, Oliver said he was proud of the balancebudget he tabled earlier this year which included funding for a new centre for aging and brain health innovation in his riding.

"This is going to be world class organization... it's going to beEglintonLawrence's gift to Canada and Canada's gift to the world."

Oliver, 75, wasoptimistic about the future.

"I have a fair amount of private and public experience. I have a lot of energy still and we'll see where it goes," he said.

"Idon't intend to be feeding the pigeons."