Main photo: Kelly Haywood, executive director of the Huntsville Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce (right) introduces the federal candidates at an all-candidates forum held at the Algonquin Theatre on September 26 (from left) Scott Aitchison (Conservative), Trisha Cowie (Liberal), Gord Miller (Green) and Tom Young (NDP). People’s Party candidate Michelle Smith was not present.
PARRY SOUND-MUSKOKA FEDERAL ELECTION 2019
Four of the five candidates running for the Parry Sound-Muskoka seat in the upcoming federal election took to the stage at the Algonquin Theatre last night to answer questions from the constituents they hope to represent.
The all-candidates forum was hosted by the Huntsville Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce.
Questions were posed first by moderator Kelly Haywood, who read submissions from media and community members, after which she turned to the floor to take questions from audience members. Candidates each had one minute to respond, with an additional minute for rebuttal if they wished.
The topics were wide-ranging, touching on housing, the climate crisis, small business, employment, handgun bans, cabinet confidentiality, provincial cooperation, and more.
In their closing comments, candidates had the opportunity to sum up why they each believe they are the best candidate for the job. Here’s what they had to say, in the order in which they spoke:
Gord Miller, Green Party
Well, as you can see tonight there are a number of issues, federal issues, to be dealt with in this election, but I’d like to bring the focus back to our central issue, which is the global climate emergency. I do this because it’s so important, and so central, and because we’re not on track to meet our targets, our international commitments, we’re not going there. And we have to, and we’re not on track to meet the turmoil that is going to result as the climate changes. So we have to get a new parliament in place this election, a parliament that is committed to dealing with that task.
It’s especially important in this parliament because it’s likely to be a minority parliament…and the Green Party is going to elect more members than it ever has. And just like in the British Columbia parliament, where we have three members and the two big parties are tied, we have leverage, we control the balance of power and can change the way parliament acts. And just like in the New Brunswick legislature, where the two big parties are tied again, and the Green Party has three seats, and has made a huge influence on what happens in that parliament. We’re going to use that leverage in this parliament. So it’s really important that we use that to [rein in] the dictatorship of the majority governments that we have seen for the last 14 years.
We must do this. Everything depends on this. And we go to the words of Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old who is a remarkable young woman, and I’d like to read a quote because it’s very important to this. Greta said when talking about this very thing, she said ‘If we fail, all of our achievements and progress will be forgotten. And all that will remain of our political leaders’ legacy will be the greatest failure in human history. And they will be remembered as the greatest villains of all time, because they have chosen not to listen, and not to act.’
I don’t want to be remembered as one of those villains, I want to go to Ottawa as your MP. And that’s what this election is about.
Tom Young, NDP
I want to speak to you from my heart. So for many, many years, we’ve seen our governments, that’s either been liberals, basically, or conservatives. And yet we’re still here at another election hearing all kinds of promises…We shouldn’t be where we are right now when it comes to housing, when it comes to the climate, if the governments were doing their job in the first place for all these years.
Four years ago, Mr. Trudeau told us that he would introduce pharmacare. And four years later, he’s promising that again. He still hasn’t done it. I have a huge issue with Mr. Scheer. I believe he’s going to do whatever Doug Ford tells them to do, I really believe that. Doug Ford has shown here exactly what he’s going to do. They’re going to keep putting more taxes on us and they’re going to keep doing cuts and that’s wrong.
So I truly, truly, truly believe that the NDP is the party, you’ve got somebody in here, if you want changes, if you want something new, you’d better put somebody in that’s new and has great ideas. We have pharmacare, we’ve been talking about it and we will implement it. The first thing we’ll do is stop the big money and the big subsidies going to all these big oil companies and the medication companies and the telecom companies. They’ve got enough money as it is, we shouldn’t be subsidizing for them, we should be taking that money and putting it right here where it belongs. So that’s what we’re going to do. We will create housing. Enough of the talk, we’re going to start to act. If you put us or put me in Ottawa, I will definitely do the acting, I promise you it’s going to happen, because we have to do it now, we can’t wait any longer. For not just climate but for housing, for minimum wage, for everything that you need, we need to act and we need to go after the big, big people that have the money to be able to pay for this. And if we put one per cent tax on anybody that has more than $20 million in net worth, one per cent to them is diddly squat, but it means a lot to you and I.
So one thing I really, really want to do, if you elect me as a member of parliament, is I want to put the faith, the honour, and the integrity back into being an MP for Parry Sound-Muskoka.
Scott Aitchison, Conservative Party
Well, I want to thank everyone again for coming out. You know, it’s important to be engaged in our elections and I think it’s great that there are as many people here as there are. I want to thank all the candidates who are here, I think it’s a tough thing to put yourself up here in this kind of position and I respect everyone who’s done this.
I’ve been in public life for a long time and I’ve always believed that it’s not just a job, it’s a sacred trust. It’s your role that is in service to your community. I’ve certainly operated that way as a municipal councillor and I’d like to show all of Parry Sound-Muskoka how I can do that as their Member of Parliament, to fight for them, to work with a government that will live within its means, balance the budget, and set priorities to help us reduce our carbon footprint, but also help Canadians get ahead not just get by.
I know of all kinds of people who live in our community right here who are just struggling to get by. To me that’s not acceptable in one of the richest countries in the history of the world. We want to work for Canadians. To help Canadians get ahead. And I want to work to help make sure that the people of Parry Sound-Muskoka are not forgotten by policy makers in places like Ottawa and Toronto that forget that we don’t all live in big cities.
I’m a dedicated, dedicated leader in our community. And I will prove to you that as a Member of Parliament I will work hard for every single member of our community. I will always be accessible and responsive and engaged always with every community and all the citizens of Parry Sound-Muskoka.
Trisha Cowie, Liberal Party
Yes, thank you, everybody, for coming out tonight. I really appreciate your time, the organizers and my friends here on stage. And I do want to say I really believe that this riding is a progressive riding. This a riding that wants to keep pushing forward on the environment, on climate action, on affordable housing. We know at the end of this election, we’re going to have a Liberal or Conservative government. Do you trust that action on the environment is going to continue as aggressively as it has? Do you trust that that affordable housing money is going to be there? I can’t say that I have confidence that it will be, and that will be detrimental to the people in this riding. My job is to pull together that progressive voice, I want you to trust me to continue to push forward on those issues.
The platform has it and I want to be the one to make it work for you.
When it comes to the environment, we have to be serious about pushing forward a plan of action, and quite frankly a vote to the Green Party isn’t the way to do it. Because they’re not going to form government, we need a seat at the table. We cannot lose that price on pollution, it is absolutely essential to lowering our emissions. And this talk of minority government, you’re taking a big gamble.
Because if the Conservatives get in there, you know the first thing they’re going to do is take 10 steps back and get rid of the price on pollution. That’s a major problem. I also want to end on another progressive note and I want to talk about reconciliation. Because in 2015, the TRC released a report. We know about the history of Canada here with our indigenous people. We have to continue to push forward on implementing those recommendations.
And I know that this riding cares about that. It is the one issue in the past four years that I continue to hear, Trisha how can I help, what can we do, what is reconciliation. Send me, a First Nations woman, to continue to push forward on that. At the end of the day, what I’m looking for? I’m not looking to get by. I want to continue with that transformative change that I was talking about earlier. We have a major opportunity here in Canada and we have an opportunity in this riding to make a big statement…And that’s why I’m asking for your support. I want to be the person to do that for us.
The federal election will be held on October 21, 2019.
Watch for more coverage from the forum on Huntsville Doppler.
Related: Federal election candidates talk fiscal responsibility, climate change and immigration
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During the debate there was no People’s Party candidate Michelle Smith.I counted on his presence.The People’s Party is, in my opinion, the only party with a very good and acceptable program.The representatives of the parties participating in the debate did not show any eloquence in the debate.They talked a lot with no line-up and no order.Empty words thrown into the wind.The old song about the climate problem and debt dominated in their presentations.Fear of thinking what that’ll do to us if they take power.