The Canadian Alliance leader glances at a lush vineyard in the rolling Okanagan hills and chats easily about soil nutrients, grape varieties and harvest techniques. Not bad for a teetotaller. Day is 50, but his boyish face and seemingly boundless energy make him seem much younger. Those principles that work in a province, will work in a city and the nation as well.
Family blood is thick with conservative politics.
His father, Stockwell Day Sr., ran for the Social Credit party, losing to social democrat icon Tommy Douglas. Day honed his political skills as administrator for a private religious school in Bentley, Alta., and assistant pastor of the Pentecostal church that ran it. His Christian fundamentalist beliefs, with strong views against abortion and homosexuality, may become a political Achilles heel, say some analysts. However, others note he seems to have eased off his moral pronouncements lately. Striding through Penticton's Memorial Arena, Day was greeted by many as a newcomer who deserves a chance.