Feature Article September 25, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeAll Candidates Meeting Fill Halls, Bring out Candidates' PositionThe Frontenac News sponsored two All-Candidates meetings for the Hastings, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington (HFL&A) election race within the past week, one in Verona on September 18, and a debate in Kaladar on Septermber 22.
Both were well attended, with the Verona meeting drawing a crowd in excess of 100 and the Kaladar one drawing an estimated 150 people. There was no shortage of questions at either event, with all the candidates receiving their share of cheers and jeers.
While all of the candidates demonstrated their commitment to their parties platforms, their individual opinions were drawn out.
In Verona, Green Party candidate Adam Scott said we need to have a viable alternative to the way politics has been done in this province. The Green Party is neither left nor right, but straight ahead.
On the contentious issue of Hydro, the other three candidates weighed in with their parties positions. Ross Sutherland from the NDP stated the Publicpower position that has been the partys trademark throughout the election. We will not privatize power in Ontario like the conservatives will. The Ontario Liberal Party is at best inconsistent on the issue, Sutherland said.
Leona Dombrowsky, the Liberal incumbent, took exception to this remark. I am very comfortable with our partys position. We will not sell Hydro One, the energy delivery system; that is a public trust.
But you will accept the privatization of power generation, Sutherland countered. Your party did not support NDP motions to protect power generation from sale.
Much of the Verona meeting was devoted to questions about education, with the issue of healthcare taking a back seat. PC candidate Barry Gordons argument that relations between teachers and the government will be improved by the Conservatives plan to ban teachers strikes was not particularly well received by the opposition-dominated crowd. Nonetheless he pointed out that Our testing has shown a steady improvement in the quality of education, and I honestly believe the best way to improve the relationship between the government and the teachers is to ban teachers strikes.
Leona Dombrowsky said, It is not our plan to ban teachers strikes. This government created a crisis in education and instead of dealing with it, they are blaming teachers.
Ross Sutherland made an even more direct attack on the Conservatives, saying the most useful thing we could do to restore harmony in our schools is to get rid of the Conservatives.
Undaunted, Barry Gordon responded to both Dombrowsky and Sutherland, saying We just believe its about the students.
By the time the candidates met in Kaladar four days later, after a meeting in Napanee the night before, the three challengers to the incumbent all seemed more relaxed and composed, particularly Barry Gordon, who no longer needed to refer to his notes, and addressed the audience in a more informal manner.
He spent most of his opening statement talking about his own history in farming, business and municipal government, presenting himself instead of relying solely on his partys platform.
The questions at the meeting in Kaladar were varied. The Mellon Lake quarry dispute south of Kaladar was the subject of a question, as was the Hog farm near Tweed, and questions about nutrient management, and disability benefits, among other topics, were asked as well. Also, there were questions about economic development in rural, economically depressed townships. Both Leona Dombrowsky and Barry Gordon said they thought the riding needed some special designation in order to receive provincial support for economic development. Gordon talked about a tax incentive zone, similar to what has been established in northern Ontario, and Dombrowsky said a Liberal government would be willing to consider some sort of special designation for this riding, pledging government support for identifying economic opportunities that will work.
There were a couple of responses from Leona Dombrowsky that may be worth remembering. When questioned about her position on the lack of increases in the benefits paid under the Ontario Disability Pension Program over the past nine years in the context of pay raises for polticians, she said, in reference to the pay increase that was passed in the dying days of the last government Let me first say that under a Liberal government MPPs will only be receiving a cost of living increase. As far as Ontarians with disabilities are concerned, a liberal government will be committed to an increase, followed by annual cost of living increases.
On the question of proportional representation, which would give increased representation in government to smaller parties, Dombrowsky said We are committed to holding a referendum on that issue.
All-Candidates meetings might have little impact on the outcome of an election, but they offer a rare opportunity to raise issues in the context of the election of a new set of representatives to the provincial government.
