Meet the Federal Candiates:
Vote October 14
Conservative - Scott Reid
Green - Chris Walker
Liberal - Dave Remington
Marijauna Party - Ernest Rathwell
New Democrat - Sandra Willard
Conservative - Scott Reid
Conservative MP from Ontario
When
the Conservative party took power after the general election in 2006,
Scott Reid’s name was mentioned as potential cabinet material. He
was one of only two Canadian Alliance MPs ever elected in Ontario; he
had been a constitutional advisor to Preston Manning, and the Ontario
chair of Stephen Harper’s campaign to become leader of the newly
minted Conservative Party in 2004. He had also served in several
party critic positions as an opposition MP.
However,
instead of a cabinet posting, he took on the role of Deputy
Government House Leader and he
also serves as chairman of the parliamentary subcommittee on
International Human Rights.
He
has taken on several initiatives, since he was first elected in 2000,
to engage the membership of his riding in the political process,
including sponsoring riding referenda on five contentious federal
issues.
With
the election of Randy Hillier, a fellow Conservative, in last year’s
Ontario election, Scott Reid took the opportunity to combine forces
and amalgamate federal and provincial services in single constituency
offices, and instead of a single office in the sprawling LFL&A
riding, there are now three combined offices, in Napanee, in
Hillier’s home base in Perth, and in Reid’s home base of Carleton
Place.
“It
is important that the constituents of our riding receive the best
service we can possibly give them.” Reid said on the occasion of
the opening of the Carleton Place office this past June. “Having
three full-time offices located in major centers throughout the
riding is the best way we can provide that service.”
Scott
Reid has taken two tacks as an MP. He has been a champion of
constituent causes, providing support on the federal level for mostly
provincial battles that have been fought by groups such as the
Ontario Landowners Association and others.
He
consistently raises the issue of property owners’ rights, and has
sponsored a private member’s bill aimed at enshrining property
rights in the Canadian Bill of Rights.
Individual
rights are very important to Scott Reid, who is described on
Wikipedia, which is linked to from Reid’s own site, as “more of a
Libertarian than a Conservative”. This has led to complications at
times, as Scott Reid’s own political views don’t always jive with
those of his party.
During
the 2004 election campaign, he re-iterated some of the points from a
book he wrote in the 1990s called “Lament for a Notion” in which
he argued that official bilingualism on a national level has been an
expensive failure and should be abandoned in favor of a regional
approach that recognizes languages that are more popular in many
locations.
Even
though the book was a known entity, the publicity, coming as it did
during an election campaign, led to Reid’s resignation as Alliance
critic for official languages.
During
the current campaign, the Liberal party made an attempt to bring to
national attention the fact that Scott Reid questioned the legitimacy
of government arts funding in an off-hand remark at an
all-candidates’ meeting in Kaladar, but the regional and national
media did not bite.
Scott
Reid is a supporter of electoral reform, which also puts him at odds
with the mainstream of the Conservative Party.
He
is an enthusiastic supporter of Stephen Harper, whom Reid has
described as “a really brilliant, inspirational person to work for.
It’s been a privilege.”
(Note - The News made two requests to the Scott
Reid campaign for an interview, late last week and on Monday of this
week, to help in the preparation of this profile, but he was not
available)
GREEN - Chris Walker
Urgency and
the long haul
As a politician Chris
Walker is a very patient man. He has been a Green candidate five
different times in provincial and federal elections since the 1990s,
when the party was one of a number of fringe parties.
He received only a
handful of votes in some of the early elections, but has seen numbers
for himself and for other Green candidates rise to 5% or more in
recent years, and with the party polling between 8 and 12 %
nationally, he is looking forward to the outcome next week
“As I told people at a
local party fundraiser last week in Maberly, the way things are
going, this riding will be one the Greens can win the next time
around.”
Although Chris Walker has
put his name forward five times, he only considers that he has run
three times.
“A couple of times I
was just trying to get something going in a riding that did not have
much, if any Green presence, and I only ran a nominal campaign.”
This time around, Walker
says he has benefited from a solid riding association. “I’ve
really enjoyed this election more than in the past, partly because
this time around I have a campaign manager, and other people are
available to do the background work so I can concentrate on
campaigning. And we are making a breakthrough as the fourth party,
which is exciting. The Greens are a party of ideas, and we are in
this for the long haul, not just one election.”
It is in terms of those
ideas that Chris Walker has a real sense of urgency.
He says the Liberal Green
Shift policy is okay as far as it goes, and would have been a
reasonable response 10 or 15 years ago, but Chris Walker does not
think it is sufficient to address the climate change crisis that is
coming.
“We have to be clear
about the targets we need to achieve. We need an 80% decrease in
greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 if we have any chance of staving off
devastating climate change impacts. This is according to some of the
more conservative scientists.”
Walker says that it is an
“absolute shift” that is required.
“We are telling people
that we are going to raise the price of gasoline. It’s is an
absolute shift that we are talking about, I can be completely honest
about this.”
Throughout the Lanark,
Frontenac, Lennox and Addington riding, people drive long distances
to and from work each day, “up to 90 minutes one way for people
driving to Ottawa” Chris Walker said.
They will need to be
driving completely different kinds of vehicles, or working closer to
home, according to Walker.
“Current vehicles are
not sustainable, not desirable, and not affordable. I’m sorry but
that’s just the reality. This form of transportation is on its way
out,” he said.
While Green support is
growing, Chris Walker does not expect to be quitting his job as a
renovator and college and university lecturer.
“I keep doing this
because the strongest symbol a voter can send is through their vote,
and voting Green will motivate the mainstream parties.”
Liberal - Dave
Remington
All politics are local
“We
decided early on that we were going to run a really local campaign.
My strength is as a community candidate and we have highlighted my
approach and style,” said Dave Remington in reflecting on the
current election campaign.
Remington
has a history in municipal and federal politics, having once served
as Mayor of Napanee and working for a year in Ottawa as the
parliamentary assistant to Larry McCormick. He has a background in
local business as well so a local focus comes naturally to him.
Borrowing
a page from another local Liberal politician, Ontario’s Minister of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Leona Dombrowsky, Remington has
been in campaign mode for the past 18 months, ever since securing the
federal Liberal nomination for the LFL&A riding in the spring of
last year. When Leona Dombrowksy was first running for MPP in 1999,
she earned the nickname “The Walking Woman” by campaigning
throughout the pre-election period, and eventually won an upset
victory even as the Mike Harris’ Conservatives won a second
consecutive majority mandate.
“In the pre-writ period I spent about 10 hours a
week on the campaign trail, which is something I enjoy doing. I like
talking to people about what their needs are, about what government
can do with and for them,” said Remington.
David
Remington is aware of how the riding went the last two times around,
but he nonetheless has felt that it is a winnable seat for the
Liberals.
“I
said from the beginning that I was in this race to win, and nothing
has changed since then,” he said.
The
experience of the campaign has only made him more optimistic about
his chances.
“I
feel that this riding is at play, and I’m really pleased with what
we’ve done during the campaign and with the response I’ve
received at the door, even in communities like Lanark Village and
Smiths Falls.”
Remington
remembers a time when the reception was not so favourable.
Campaigning for Larry McCormick in 2004, in the wake of the
sponsorship scandal, Remington recalls, “People told us straight
out that we were not getting their vote. They didn’t wait for us to
ask. That’s all gone now.”
He
said people have been raising an array of issues at the door and at
all-candidates meetings, “from broadband, climate change and other
national issues, to how to create jobs in the riding, people are very
concerned about the future,” Remington said.
He
is not completely surprised that some of the all-candidates meetings
this time around have brought some heated questions to MP Scott Reid.
“People aren’t happy with the government stance on some issues,
such as arts funding and jail sentences for 14-year-olds, and so on.”
Remington
says it would be his role to promote the riding not only to the
federal government but to provincial and municipal governments as
well, should he be elected.
“Municipal
politicians have a certain amount of influence. They are able to pull
meetings together and to put some weight behind things,” he said.
Win
or lose, he expects to run again in the future.
Marijuana - Ernest
Rathwell
Legalize marijuana
Ernest
Rathwell, as an advocate for the legalization of marijuana, does not
have a full-fledged political platform to fall back on, but he
presents a passionate argument in favour of the legalization of a
substance that he says has been a lifesaver for both him and his
wife.
Ernest
was born and raised in Carleton Place.
When
he grew up he went to Alberta to work in the oil patch, returning
home due to family illness. It was back in Ontario that his wife was
diagnosed with MS and he suffered from depression as he struggled
with alcohol problems and with coming to terms with issues from his
childhood.
His
wife tried a variety of therapies for her MS, including steroid
therapy, but it was only when Ernest gave her marijuana, which he was
using to combat depression, that her symptoms began to subside.
“I
was already
using marijuana myself medicinally, and I suggested it to my wife.
Well my wife tried it, and continued until all signs and symptoms
dissipated through usage. It enabled her to go to school and graduate
with honours in her class and obtain her nursing certificate. I
believe in marijuana and its capabilities. But, how many Canadians
know the good this herb can do to help heal people’s minds and
bodies?” Ernest
Rathwell says on his Marijuana Party web page.
He
decided to become politically active because, after being denied a
certificate to use marijuana for medicinal purposes by Health Canada,
he was eventually arrested for cultivation and jailed for nine
months.
Ernest
Rathwell argues that alcohol is a depressant and a dangerous drug,
whereas marijuana use leads to clear thinking.
“Medical
marijuana has been, and still is, immensely beneficial to me and
members of my family. I believe that it would help many other people
too, if the government stopped trying to stop it,” he wrote.
Ernest
Rathwell also argues that legalizing marijuana would lead to a
decrease in crime rates, and that if hemp were grown for fuel it
would ease the energy crisis that Canada is facing.
Editor’s
note: We were only able to contact Mr. Rathwell once during this
campaign, in mid-September. He was invited to the all-candidates’
meetings we sponsored in Verona and Kaladar, but did not attend. We
could not reach him to prepare a profile, The above is a reprint of
an article we ran before the previous election in January of 2006,
when Ernest Rathwell was also the Marijuana Party candidate.
New Democrat - Sandra
Willard
The campaign of an activist
For
Sandra Willard, the decision to run for political office as a New
Democrat came from a “personal feeling that I had to do more as a
political activist.”
She
had already been active in union politics, and during last year's
provincial election, Willard was the local organiser in the
non-partisan campaign for “Fair Vote Ontario” in favour of an
electoral reform proposal. She has also been involved in the campaign
to prevent the Lafarge Cement plant in the village of Bath from
burning tires and is a member of the executive of the Kingston and
Area Health Coalition.
Running
in a federal campaign is a full-time enterprise, and for Sandra
Willard it has meant taking a five-week vacation from her job at
Providence Care, where she works in the home visiting program.
“I
look at this as my charitable contribution. It’s something that I
can do, and it certainly has been a learning experience.”
Early
in the campaign, at all-candidates’ meetings and media events in
Kingston and Ottawa, Willard said she found herself scrambling a
little bit to get a grounding in the NDP platform, which only came
out early in the campaign. “A lot of information was coming at me
in a hurry, and I had to be prepared to speak about it on TV and
radio, and that was a challenge, but I haven't had any negative
experiences.”
Although
she has been a member of the party for seven years, this is her first
time running for election, and she thinks that in the future, having
“more of foundational basis in party policies would make a
difference”. She expects that she might seek office once again in
the future.
She
said the flashes of anger that she has seen from the public at
all-candidates’ meetings is a reflection of people's
dissatisfaction with the policy directions of the two previous
governments. “People are really fed up and angry. Rightfully so, in
my opinion.”
Her
commitment to her party has also been buoyed by the campaign. She
points to a moment in the all-candidates’ meeting in Smiths Falls
as an illustration of the importance of the party.
“People
were talking about the loss of the Hershey's plant and its impact on
the community, and there in the audience was Don Page, the NDP
candidate for Smiths Falls in 1984. At the time, he said if the free
trade agreement goes through, the Hershey's plant would eventually
close. Now we not only have an agreement with US, but NAFTA as well,
and the plant is closing.”
