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Thursday, 28 June 2007 06:13

Sutherland

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Feature Article - June 28, 2007

Sutherland t o carry NDPbanner in provincial election

by JeffGreen

Ross Sutherland, the mainstay of both the federal and provincial NDP riding associations in Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, has been unanimously selected as the NDP candidate for the October 10 Ontario election.

Sutherland, a registered nurse at Hotel Dieu Hospital, is a veteran candidate, having run as the NDP candidate both provincially and federally in previous elections. He lives on Snug Harbour Road in South Frontenac,

Aside from his party politics, Ross Sutherland is also a well-known advocate of the public health care system, serving as a co-chair of the Kingston Health Coalition. In the past couple of years, he has also taken on a local environmental issue. He is one of the founders of the Friends of Mitchell Creek, a group that advocated for a smaller bridge over Mitchell Creek which is located near his home.

“I decided to seek the nomination because I think this is a very important election in which Ontarians will make some big decisions.” One of these relates to nuclear power, in Sutherland’s view. “Both the Liberals and the Conservatives are committed to nuclear power, which will add $40 billion to our debt, increase our electricity bills, using up money that could be could be used for actual solutions to our energy shortage, such as a serious conservation effort,” he said, in an interview with the News earlier this week.

Jobs and income in Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington are another concern of Sutherland’s.

“The survival of rural communities depends on challenging the Liberal and Conservative big business free trade deals and one-size-fits-all regulations,” he said. “You can look at the Hershey closing as an example of the effects of these deals.”

Another important issue is electoral reform, in Sutherland’s view. “The NDP is the only party that has taken a position in favour of the proportional representation system that will be the subject of a referendum at the same time as the election. The Conservatives oppose the reform, and the Liberals haven’t taken a position.”

As has been his position for years, Ross Sutherland will also be voicing strong opposition to privatization of the health care system. He notes that, “An extensive study on privatised MRI services, medical laboratories, and homecare has shown that for-profit companies just do not go to small rural communities.”

The public-private healthcare debate is one of the points that is likely to be contended between Ross Sutherland and the Conservative Party candidate, Randy Hillier. In a recent op-ed submission, Hillier concluded, “A healthy diet of accountable public funding for both public and privately delivered medical care, the public’s freedom to choose service providers, and an open marketplace for doctors, are the only practical means to eliminate Ontario’s obese wait times and addiction to medical mediocrity.”

The Liberal candidate, Ian Wilson, is a former chair of the Kingston General Hospital, who will likely have an interesting perspective of his own on the future of healthcare in the province and the riding.

Ross Sutherland said he does not know either of his two opponents, although he knows something of Randy Hillier’s previous political efforts,

“Whatever I think of his views,” Sutherland said of Hillier, “he is speaking out for rural Ontario. His problem is that he is a Conservative, a party that stands for the interests of big business, and will only make the problems in rural Ontario worse if they form the government.”

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Published in 2007 Archives
Thursday, 11 October 2007 13:18

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Feature Article - October11, 2007

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featured article - October 11, 2007

Hillier prevails over Wilson in LFL&A

by Jeff Green

As the Liberal machine rolled across Ontario it ran into a roadblock in the Conservative stronghold of Eastern Ontario. Conservative politicians prevailed in Leeds Grenville (Bob Runciman), Carleton - Mississippi Mills (Norm Sterling), Nepean - Carleton (Lyn MacLeod), and Renfrew Nippissing Pembroke (John Yakabuski - the singing MPP).

Towards Kingston the situation was rosier for the Liberals, with cabinet member John Gerretsen winning handily, and Leona Dombrowsky, who at dissolution was the MPP for Hastings Frontenac Lennox and Addington, winning the new riding of Prince Edward-Hastings.

That leaves Lanark Frontenac Lennox and Addington, which turned out to be the closest race in the region, and one of the last in the province to be resolved. Conservative Randy Hiller established a comfortable lead early on, but as votes kept coming in, Ian Wilson of the Liberals began closing the gap. Wilson briefly took the lead after over 200 of 274 polls were reporting, but after 256 polls had reported, Randy Hiller had pulled ahead with a slim 124-vote lead. The final 20 or so polls must have been in Hillier strongholds, however, and the outspoken advocate for rural rights pulled away, finally winning the riding by 976 votes.

The final tally in LFL&A was Randy Hillier (Conservative), 18,213 (40.7%), Ian Wilson (Liberal) 17,289 (38.6%), Ross Sutherland (NDP) 5,673 (12.6%), Rolly Montpellier (Green) 3,187 (7.1%), and Stella Postma (Family Coalition) 462 (1.0%).

Hillier's victory was aided by voting splitting, since the third and fourth place finishers received 20% of the vote in a an election where the second place finisher was only 2% behind the winner.

Randy Hillier did not win LFL&A as handily as his federal Conservative counterpart, Scott Reid, did in the most recent federal election. Reid polled 51% of the vote, more than doubling his nearest opponent, Liberal candidate Geoff Turner.

Ross Sutherland, who ran a strong campaign, told the Whig Standard on election night that he felt he had been squeezed out the race when it became focused on the two front-runners. He received almost 4% less of the popular vote than Helen Forsey received for the NDP in the most recent federal election.

The results for Rolly Montpellier of the Green Party, mirrored the gains the party has made throughout the province. The Green vote in the riding was up from 5% in the most recent federal election, to Montpellier's 7%. The Greens received 8% of the vote provincially.

The Greens are still destined to wait their turn before entering the legislature, however, because the referendum on proportional representation was soundly defeated. Under the new system the Greens would have been looking at 9 seats in a 129-seat legislature with the results they received this time around, instead of their current status: 0 of 107 seats.

Randy Hillier wasted no time in expressing his opinion about the victorious Liberal party.

"I feel sorry for the people of Ontario, who will face four more years of Liberal bureaucracy and impediments," he said as it became clear the governing party had been brought back to power with a solid majority. The Liberals won 71 seats, the Conservatives 26, and the NDP 10.

Published in 2007 Archives
Thursday, 31 January 2008 12:49

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Feature Article - January 31, 2008 Federal NDP find new candidate By Jeff Green

The Lanark Frontenac Lennox and Addington (LFL&A) NDP Federal Riding Association has chosen Bath resident Sandra Willard as their candidate for an election that could come as soon as this spring.

Willard repalces Arif Jinha, from Carleton Place, who informed the party last fall that he would not be able to run after all. Jinha had been selected almost a year ago, on the expectation that a federal election was imminent.

Sandra Willard's name will be familiar to some, since she was the co-ordinator for the Kingston and area committee in support of the unsuccessful electoral reform referendum that took place as part of last October's provincial election.

“I decided to put my name forward as a federal candidate when I realised that global warming is real and the two major parties are not going to address it,” she said, when interviewed by the News earlier this week.

Sandra Willard has always taken an interest in politics, but it was her involvement in a union drive when she worked for the All-Care home heath care company in 2000 that deepened her interest in politics. She eventually became a shop steward in the union, and attended a six-week labour college course in Ottawa in 2003.

She was a staff member for the New Democratic Party during the 2004 election, and is currently employed by Providence Care, an agency which provides services for disabled adults in Kingston and the surrounding region.

In the run up to the next federal election she will be familiarising herself with a range of issues and party policies.

The LFL&A NDP are not the only ones who have lost their candidate. The local Green partry has recently learned that Chris Walker, also selected last year, will not be available to run, and he will have to be replaced in the near future. The Liberal party candidate, Dave Remington, remains commited to the race, as is sitting Conservative MP Scott Reid.

Published in 2008 Archives
Thursday, 31 July 2008 11:21

Bma

Feature Article - July 31, 2008

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Feature Article - July 31, 2008 The Bedford Mining Alert and the Ontario Mining ActBy Jefff Green

The Bedford Mining Alert (BMA) started out, literally, as a voice from the wilderness 9 years ago, founded by a group of landowners who were faced with prospecting on their properties.

In some cases, these people had no idea that there was such as thing as mining rights to properties in Ontario, and that they were among the small percentage of landowners in the province (2%) who did not own theirs.

They also did not know that those 2% of properties are subject to staking and as the result of the co-called “free entry system”, staked properties can be accessed and altered by mining exploration companies.

Nine years later, the Bedford Mining Alert is extremely well versed in the 140 year old Ontario Mining Act and its current applications, and as Sandy Cameron informed the public at the Association's Annual General Meeting last Saturday at the Glendower Hall, the current Minister of Mines and Northern Development wrote a letter to the BMA earlier this year stating that the “BMA will be an important part of the review of the Mining Act that is being undertaken by the Province.”

That review process was addressed in one of the presentations made to the AGM.

Peter Tabuns (left), the critic for Energy Mines and Resources for the New Democratic Party, took issue with the review that has been ordered, not because he is a particular fan of the mining act, but because the announcement of the review effectively squashed a process which had been on the point of bringing in what he called “modest changes” to the act.

“The Provincial government knows this,” he said. “13 months ago a series of changes to the Mining Act were introduced. There was a 60 day posting on the Environmental Bill of Rights website. The changes do not solve all of the problems but there are some useful elements there. They are modest changes, but they are changes that landowners and mining companies were comfortable with.

“Premier McGuinty has clutched delay from the jaws of progress,” Tabuns concluded.

One member of the audience took exception to Tabuns statements. Charles Fishner, who owns property in Lanark Highlands, has been involved in a 20 year fight with the Province over the way the mining act has been applied to his property. He interrupted Tabuns, and said “I disagree that the proposals for change have broad support from landowners. The proposals would do nothing to give comfort to landowners. The proposals were an appalling response. The mining companies were given extraordinary privileges.”

Also in the audience was Peter Griesbach, a Sydenham resident whose land was subject to staking several years ago, and who until recently was the chair of the sub-committee that wrote the proposed regulation changes which have been shelved.

“I want to say how much I appreciate the work that the NDP has done on these issues,” Griesbach said.

For Randy Hillier, MPP for Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, the entire matter is essentially a property rights issue.

Hillier railed against the free entry system when he was the President of the Ontario Landowners Association, before entering provincial politics last year.

“With the Mining Act we have created injustice through legislation,” he said. “We have created privileges for some and disadvantages for others. No level of injustice is acceptable.

“The changes from last year were a little step. I have spoken to ministers, and others and I see there is an interest in changing the mining act. If the whole thing is to be opened for a complete review, it will take years. I would bet it will be longer than the McGuinty mandate. I believe there is some intention to that. Meanwhile it allows the injustice to remain.”

Ramsay Hart, a staff member from Mining Watch Canada, and advocacy group for mining reform, was also in attendance.

He said that the “free entry system is at the core of mining across Canada. At mining Watch we really do believe we have reached a point where we may see some things happen.”

Hart also referred to an announcement that was made by Premier McGuinty two weeks ago. It concerned the withdrawal of lands in northern Ontario from staking and the recognition of aboriginal rights in respect to mining, which he said “Mining Watch will be pursuing. We will also be pushing that municipal and other interests be taken seriously along with aboriginal interests.”

Ramsay Hart then asked if the Conservative and NDP parties had positions on the free entry system.

Tabuns said the NDP did, and Hillier said there was no policy in the platform for last years’ election “but the rural task force that I will be chairing this fall will be providing input to the policy making for the next election.”

“What about environmental assessments for mining,” Hart asked.

“I’m not the critic for that,” Hillier replied. “I’m not well enough informed on the mining side.”

Published in 2008 Archives
Thursday, 16 October 2008 07:13

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Oct 16/08 - Scott Reid Wins in LFL&A

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Feature Article - October 16, 2008 Scott Reid In Landslide Victory by more than 18,000 votesBy Jeff Greenr

Scott Reid won the Lanark Frontenac Lennox and Addington riding in numbers that looked more like the kind of numbers Conservatives received in Alberta than Ontario.

With all polls reporting, Scott Reid had received 30,280 votes (55.9%). Liberal David Remington was in second place with 11,827 votes (21.8%), NDP candidate Sandra Willis was third with 7,140 votes (13.2%), Chris Walker finished fourth with 4,643 (8.6%), and Ernest Rathwell for the Marijauna party had received 363 votes (0.7%).

It was the third victory for Scott Reid in the third election since the riding was created in 2004. Each time his margin of victory and his share of the popular vote has increased. He received 48% of the vote in 2004, and just over 50% in 2006.

The Liberals have seen a corresponding decrease in support over that time. In 2004 Larry McCormick received 31% of the vote, and in 2006 Geoff Tuner received just under 25%.

Ross Sutherland received 13% of the vote for the NDP in 2004, and Helen Forsey got 16% in 2006.

The Green Party is the only party, save the Conservatives, who saw their support increase this time around. In 2004 John Baranyi received 4.8% and in 2006 Mike Nickerson received 5.2%, so the 8.5% (a 60% increase in voter share that Chris Walker received this time around represents a bit of a breakthrough, especially considering that nationally the Green vote was under 7%.

The total number of votes cast in the riding was significantly down from 2006. There were 54,253 votes cast in LFL&A this time around, compared to 59,524 in 2006, a decease of almost 10%.

Nationwide, the voter turnout was 58%, the lowest in Canadian history.

Published in 2008 Archives
Thursday, 18 December 2008 04:15

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Dec 18/08 - Letters

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Letters - December 18,2008 Letters: December 18

Fed Up, Elinore Duncan

Harper and Mugabe, Doug Steele

Thank You Sydenham Safe Water Association, Pat and John Haney

Re: Letter Democracy is a Messy Business, Wolfe Erlichman

Fed Up

During the last election campaign the Conservative Party's diatribe directed primarily at the Liberals and NDP and also the disrespect for the Green Party and the French was difficult to condone. Now the malicious attack on the Liberals, NDP and the French is unacceptable.

With regard to the current economic situation, how can the Conservative Government be trusted to plan our economic future when they have disregarded the opportunities to make so many corrections in our economic system while in power.

They include:

Available Skills Training for unemployed workers and young people;Access for universal childcare to better allow for people to go to work;More affordable housing;Providing a single tier medical system and easier access to medical school education so there are sufficient numbers of doctors to include preventative and acute care for all citizens;To correct the shameful treatment of Aboriginal peoples;Opening the NAFTA agreement for re-evaluation and change;Make adjustments to the (EXCUSE Me) Employment Insurance Act for the unemployed.

It might be time for the Transnational Corporations to discontinue the right to decide the Economic and Social life for Canadians.

Elinore Duncan

Harper and Mugabe

I am blown away by the unreasonable and irrational comments made by all political parties as if their main purpose is to destroy Canada.

I am disappointed in the Conservative Party since they called the election in September. They have engineered a media campaign of browbeating and smear similar to Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe’s government in Africa, without the guns and murder. Mugabe’s Zimbabwe’s economy has gone from bad to worse to disastrous in recent years. Is this what we can expect?

I support the coalition as I will not be bullied by Conservative arrogance. I believe that if one can get the majority of political parties to agree on any issues, they should form the government. The coalition group has agreed to govern and they will do as good a job as a group of bullies whose aim is to destroy all future opposition to their control of government. Harpers’ Conservatives and Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF Party have so much in common.

Doug Steele

Thank You Sydenham Safe Water Association (SSWA)

As newer residents of Sydenham my husband and I have listened and read about the ongoing water debate that has taken place in the village. We also learned about the Sydenham Safe Water Association (SSWA) and found it amazing that a small group of people, a committee elected by the local homeowners, have spent countless hours on behalf of the people of Sydenham, investigating and presenting their findings to the Township Council.

In spite of the MANY reasons for not building the system, including the fact that the population is not large enough to support such a scheme, (recently substantiated by the Ontario Government) and without popular support, the township went ahead with the expensive project. So now it's done and it's not working too well. It's full of a chemical that causes cancer and recently the SSWA were at least able to convince the council that the plant was overbuilt and that the current residents should not be paying for water that future developments will be using. Because of their work the costs to Sydenham householders was reduced quite a bit. Now the Council is having a study done on the possibility of an old landfill at the Point leaking into our drinking water. From what I heard the SSWA warned them about that from the start.

The purpose of this letter is to thank the SSWA for their determine efforts on our behalf and time spent without expecting any recompense. They've saved us money, held a concert to help low-income families whom without help may lose their homes, they keep on top of the health situation and also, as a footnote, I noticed in a local paper that our council is to conduct a water review on an updated settlement area that may connect up to the water system, resulting in future revenue. Can we perhaps give credit to the SSWA for this also?

Thank-you for fighting our fight, thank-you for saving us money, thank-you for keeping an eye on a situation that needs watching.

Pat and John Haney

Re: Letter to the editor, December 11,"Democracy is a Messy Business"

Mr. Cameron refers to the, "failed economic theories of the NDP". Since there has never been a federal NDP government, it would be difficult to have failed theories at the federal level. Provincially, there have been successful NDP governments and some which were not so successful. Of course, the same applies to Conservative and Liberal governments.

If Mr. Cameron was a little more charitable about the motives of politicians, he would not be imputing bad motives and using pejorative phrases such as, "cadre of insiders". After all, Mr. Harper is famous for being a cadre of one inside the very tightly controlled Conservative Party.

Wolfe Erlichman

Published in 2008 Archives
Thursday, 07 May 2009 09:45

Prison_farms_09-18

Back to HomeFeature Article - May 7, 2009 Closure of prison farms incites a national day of actionby Julie Druker

Supporters and representatives of various local farm groups opposed to prison farm closures demonstrate at Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 30 National Day of Action. l to r: Dave Perry, Karon Hodgson, Andrea Cumpson and Peter Dowling.

A group of local farmers organized a Day of Action on April 30 to demonstrate their opposition to the recent decision by CORCAN, the job training arm of Correction Services Canada (CSC), to close six prison farms across the country.

Two of the farms are located in the Kingston area: the Pittsburgh Institution on Hwy. 15 and its abattoir Wallace Beef, and the Frontenac Institution on Bath Road.

Peter Dowling, a Howe Island farmer who is an Ontario Councillor with the National Farmer’s Union and director of the NFU’s local 316 said that the day of action came about because the government has refused to respond to opponents of the closures.

“We’ve tried for over a month now to get a response from the Minister of Public Safety, Peter Van Loan, and we’re not getting any response,” he said.

Three separate events took place on April 30th.. Guerilla Gardeners visited the Frontenac Institution on Bath Road in Kingston and planted seeds there. A road side local beef barbeque was set up at the Pittsburgh Institution on HWY 15, and a convoy of concerned farmers from various farm groups and organizations (with two live cows in tow) travelled to Parliament Hill in Ottawa for a press conference, a meeting with concerned MPs and a public demonstration.

Andrea Cumpson, president of the NFU’s local 316, made the trip to Ottawa.

She said “I’m hoping that MPs will have an open mind and think about this whole issue in a bigger way and that this closure is a huge mistake. I fail to understand why the government is not listening to the people. People are starting to understand food security issues and the importance of local food and infrastructure. I haven‘t talked to one person yet who has not said about the closures ‘Isn‘t that a shame!’”

Jeff Peters, of the Frontenac Cattleman’s Assoc and NFU’s local 316 parked his cow trailer and its two live inhabitants in front of the Hill. He was forbidden by the OPP to bring his two cows onto the hill since he lacked the proper permit, but the trailer still attracted the attention of MPs, the press, the OPP and passersby.

Liberal MP Wayne Easter and NDP MP Malcom Allen showed their support by entering the trailer with the cows..

In a subsequent press conference, Dowling and Dave Perry of the Frontenac Cattleman’s Association highlighted their opposition to the farm closures, citing the benefits to inmates working on the farms, to the prisons themselves, local farmers and businesses. Many of their arguments directly opposed earlier statements, made on April 28 in the House of Commons by Peter Van Loan, the Minister of Public Safety regarding the reasons for the closures.

Minister Van Loan argued in the House of Commons that the prisons are not profitable, do not offer employable skills to inmates, who, due to lack of employment prisoners are more likely to re-offend once released into the community. Minister Van Loan also wondered how prisoners, so lacking in personal funds upon their release back into society, would be in a position to start up their own farms.

Dave Perry, who works in the prison farm program in addition to raising cattle on his own farm, pointed out the benefits of the farm programs to the prison inmates: “They (the inmates) gain a lot of experience and you can see quite a change in them by working with animals and on the land. They learn how to operate heavy equipment and weld and learn how to grow vegetables and flowers. The farm land at Frontenac Institution is second to none and it is very productive. We really want to see it stay in agriculture production.”

“It’s evident to us that the decision makers such as Public Safety Canada do not have an idea of what they are throwing away with this decision,” said Peter Dowling. “We think it’s a wrong-headed decision and we’re looking for a reversal of that decision in our visit here today. I know that the minister has changed his mind on a number of other issues recently and this one seems just as important.”

Lynn Brunette, of the media relations office with Correctional Services of Canada, fielded questions on the steps of the Parliament Building after the press conference.

Asked about the future plans for the land occupied by the prisons when the closure takes place, Brunette responded, “We’re looking at all sorts of options, nothing specific at this time, no decision has been made. I can’t give you a time line either as to when exactly a decision would be made.”

When asked what types of more viable prison programs CORCAN is currently considering, Brunette answered, “Nothing specific at this time because we are at the stage where we are really assessing all of the options.”

NDP MP for Welland, Malcolm Allen, Liberal MP for Malpeque and party critic for agriculture Wayne Easter met the group of demonstrators outside parliament after the 12:30 press conference.

Easter, a past president of the NFU and former Solicitor General of Canada, supported the demonstrators' arguments against the closures.

“I think the cuts that Mr. Van Loan is making to the prison farms are absolutely wrong,” he said. “There are several aspects to this. First of all, from a community point of view, the abattoir on that farm services 150 local farmers and 300 businesses with local beef. There’s no other business that can pick this up.

“From the inmates’ point of view, there is nothing more rehabilitative to an inmate than working with livestock and field crops. This is an operation that gives these inmates a life, teaches them new skills including administrative skills and should not be cut.”

NDP MP Allen claimed that the inmates who work on these farms are six times less likely to re-offend. He explained, “If we weigh that cost against the cost of maintaining that farm, just for the rehabilitative benefits, it’s cheap. And when you also see that the community as a whole is benefiting, that’s another positive aspect.”

For more details on the issue go to www.nfuontario.ca

Published in 2009 Archives
Thursday, 28 April 2011 13:21

Student vote at Land O'Lakes PS

Photo:Party leaders at LOLPS l-r Shay Melanson, Naomi Mitchel, Ophelia Cooper, Jacob Brash and Cody Matson

Students at Land O'Lakes Public School in Mountain Grove will be casting their ballots at a school-wide election on April 28. The election is part of the Canadian National Student Vote program, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that “aims to build the capacity and commitment of young Canadians to participate in their democracy”. The program introduces students to the electoral process and invites them to hold and run their own mock elections, which coincide with actual elections. This is the first time the program has run at Land O' Lakes, and judging by the enthusiasm of the students, it looks as though the program is accomplishing its goals.

Teachers Mr. Guntensperger and Ms. Fournier organized the mock election, which they felt fit in nicely with the social studies curriculum. “The program helps to build political awareness and also allows the students to become familiar with the national issues,” Norm Guntensperger said at the all-candidates’ meeting that took place in the school gym on April 20.

The program began a few weeks ago and older students in grades 4-8 first researched the platforms of the various parties as they were released in the media. Next, students were invited to form leadership teams representing the four major parties, and each team was assigned a teacher facilitator.

“There was great participation right from the start. The students are really excited about the whole process and the fact that we will be having real, official printed ballots, boxes and voting stations is really exciting,” Mr. Guntensperger said.

Each team appointed speakers for their party and those leaders took to the stage in the gym and presented their platforms to the students. The platforms closely mirrored those of their real counterparts, as did the questions students posed to the leaders, which covered a wide range of topics, including climate change, the national deficit, the long gun registry, defense spending and the current war in Libya.

Norm Guntensperger said it has been interesting to watch the entire process unfold. “Last week the Green Party seemed to be taking the lead but after the meeting in the gym it became very clear that the NDP Party had gained the upper hand.”

Students are encouraged to keep an open mind as the parties unfold their platforms. The campaigns have been respectful and the leaders are campaigning fairly. Only one off-putting incident, involving a marshmallow launcher, has been reported to date. “The students are doing a lot better than the actual parties in that regard,” Guntensperger said.

After the meeting, I asked the student party leaders what they learned from the process. Ophelia Cooper, who was representing the Conservative party said, “It was interesting to learn about all of the programs that the Conservatives are offering and how they are planning to lower taxes. I also learned that it’s a pretty good idea to keep your vote private unless you are willing to stand up for what you believe in.”

Naomi Mitchel, who was representing the Green party said, “I knew that the Green party was concerned with environment but that was about it. I definitely know a lot more about the party now.”

NDP leader, Cody Matson, said, “After looking at all of the parties, I felt the NDP would be the way to go.”

All of the student leaders said the experience has led them to believe that they might one day become involved in politics. Asked what qualities make a good politician, they replied: “Somebody who is nice”; “someone who cares about the economy and the environment”; “someone who is good with words”; and lastly “someone who will keep the promises that they make.”

The school’s election results will be announced on April 28.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC
Thursday, 28 April 2011 13:21

2011 Federal Candidates

Conservative - Scott Reid

Green - John Baranyi

Independent - Ralph Lee

Liberal -Dave Remington

NDP - Doug Smyth

Conservative - Scott Reid

The first question that came to mind when interviewing Scott Reid is what motivates him to seek term after term in a Parliament that seems to get closer and closer to a political stalemate with each passing year.

“I’ve got a series of policy objectives I’d like to see put in place. That’s what got me into politics in the first place, and it sometimes takes a long time to bring some of these things about. Issues related to democratic reform, property rights, and rural emergency care are all long-term objectives of mine,” he said when interviewed earlier this week.

Many of Reid's policy objectives stem from the political ideology that Reid developed when he was a student and a policy adviser to Preston Manning, and later, to Stockwell Day.

But one very practical idea that he has become identified with came, indirectly, from one of Reid’s political opponents, former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.

Reid was a first-term MP from the upstart Canadian Alliance party after narrowly defeating a Liberal incumbent in 2000, when he took exception to a $20,000 salary hike for MPs.

While almost all the other MPs took the raise, Joe Clark and Scott Reid decided not to. Reid consulted his constituents and the response he received urged him not to return the $20,000 but to donate it to a local charity instead.

Someone suggested buying defibrillators, which cost $8,000 at the time, and that was the start of a public defibrillator program that has since spread throughout the riding.

“They are a relatively inexpensive way to make a real difference,” Reid said.

Now, 10 years later, defibrillators are a common sight throughout the riding and the Conservative party platform in this election includes putting defibrillators in every hockey arena across the country.

While democratic reform has been a harder sell, particularly in parliamentary elections, Reid has been able to push his own party in that direction in the way they elect their leaders, through rule changes that curtail the influence the party bureaucracy has in the selection of a leader.

His party favours an elected Senate, and if that comes about it may bring opportunities for a voting system to be established that is something other than the “first past the post system”, which has seen the preferred party of about 40% of the population run the government for most of the last century.

Property rights are another of Scott Reid's long-term objectives.

Reid believes that it is only fair that full and complete compensation be paid to landowners if, for any reason, their ability to make profit from the use of their land needs to be curtailed for the public good, whether it is for road construction, protection of habitat, or any other reason.

This goal was a founding principle of the Lanark Landowners Association, which was started up at Scott Reid's kitchen table and has been the springboard for the political career of Randy Hillier in Ontario.

Reid shares office space with Hillier, the current Ontario MPP for LFL&A, and it is in the Ontario legislature that the push for property rights is now focused.

Scott Reid has been associated with Prime Minister Stephen Harper for many years. He worked on the Harper campaign to become leader of the Canadian Alliance Party and was heavily involved in the amalgamation talks between that party and the Progressive Conservative Party, which led to the formation of the Conservative Party that has been in power since 2006.

Scott Reid said that contrary to how he is often portrayed by opponents and the national media, Stephen Harper is someone with a lot of “people skills and a great deal of patience. You can't lead a political party for that many years without being able to work with people. Stephen Harper has been working for 25 years towards bringing Canada a smaller government that allows individuals more opportunity to live their own lives and control their own future. That has been his focus from the start and remains his focus today.”

Scott Reid remains a student of the democratic process and at dissolution he was the Deputy Government House Leader and chair of the Human Rights Committee.

Green - John Baranyi

John Baranyi is soft spoken for a politician.

When speaking as a Green Party candidate he is careful to research his answers to questions and to ensure that he has a thorough understanding of the Green Party program.

He takes a deliberate approach to politics because of his commitment to the political process and to making sure that environmental issues are bought to political campaigns each time around. This election is his third federal election. He ran as an independent in Lanark Carleton in 2000, and for the Green Party in 2004, and he also ran for the Green Party in the 2003 Ontario election.

“Elections bring an opportunity to discuss ideas that don’t always get aired at other times,” he said, “and the Green Party's message is an important one.”

While the environment was a top issue in the 2008 campaign, “there has been less talk about environment and climate change in this campaign from the other parties as they focus on economic recovery. It's my job to keep reminding people that environment and economy cannot be separated from each other,” he said.

John Baranyi has been strong in pushing the tax shift policies of his party.

“We need to stop taxing the good and start taxing the bad,” he says, “you do that by taxing carbon and cutting payroll taxes, Canada Pension Plan payments, Employment Insurance, and others. We need to encourage more hiring and more Green industries and less energy intensive activity.”

This, Baranyi said, would mean a higher gas price equally balanced by lower income taxes, making it revenue neutral; net taxes do not go up.

“The party platform is extensive on this,” Baranyi said, “ and it includes provisions for rural and lower income people to help with the tax shift. We recognize, of course, that rural Canadians do not have access to public transit. We have incentives in place, however, to help with the purchase of hybrid and electric vehicles, which would make a difference.”

John Baranyi is originally from Elliott Lake, where he still has family. He has lived in Lanark County for many years with his wife Christine Kilgour and their family. Since 1993, with Christine, he has been running Pulse Foods, a company that prepares frozen, gluten-free, vegan entrees that are sold across the province.

As this campaign has developed, Baranyi says that he has been well supported by the national party in spite of the fact that the party leader, Elizabeth May, has been less visible nationally than she was in 2008.

Not only was May not included in the televised debates, which was not her idea and which she fought in court, to no avail, but she has also focused her efforts on winning the BC riding of Saanich/Gulf Islands.

“I think she has done the right thing,” said Baranyi. “The best thing for us and for the environment would be to have her voice in the House of Commons. I have been well supported by the national party. The party has a very good set of policies on all of the issues. We are not a one-issue party. We do take the future of the planet into account at all levels, but social and economic justice go along with that as well.”

While he is sympathetic to a lot of the positions that the New Democratic Party takes, Baranyi said that the Greens are able to attract voters from other quarters, including disaffected Conservatives, who would never support the NDP.

“I don't know if our vote percentage will go up in this election in our riding, but in general the support we have had here has been going up each time the Green Party has run. People come to us from all of the other parties,” he said.

Independent - Ralph Lee

Send a message to Ottawa

Ralph Lee is a relative newcomer to Eastern Ontario. He moved to Carleton Place about 2 years ago when his wife got a teaching job in a Perth area public school, and he set up a general law office in Carleton Place.

When interviewed this week he said that he has fallen in love with Carleton Place and the surrounding region, and at the same time he has grown increasingly disenchanted with the way the political process has been developing in Canada.

His political experience goes back to his university days at Concordia in his native Montreal, where he served as the vice president of the student union.

“What I liked about student politics was the way we could work hard and really accomplish something for our efforts,” he said.

One particular project at Concordia was the opening of a student advocacy centre, which he was at the centre of.

“That centre is still around. It has a $100,000 budget and employs a number of students,” Lee said. “So, I see that political effort can have a long term impact if the conditions are right.”

The political conditions in Canada right now are anything but right, according to Ralph Lee. In the run up to the current election, Ralph Lee was talking to another lawyer in Carleton Place, expressing his frustration that in a country with a number of major problems, federal politics had descended to partisan bickering and name calling.

“He told me I should run, and I began thinking about it,” Lee said.

He says that he wasn't sure until the election was called, but, “When all the parties said they didn't want the election and began blaming each other, it justified my original reason for wanting to run.”

Included in Ralph Lee's platform are measures for rural health care, a seniors' bill of rights, and tax-free enterprise zones in rural Canada for small business start ups.

But the reason he is running, as an independent, lies mainly in his belief that the constituents in LFL&A are not being served by any of the political parties.

“Four elections in seven years, at a cost of $1.2 billion. It's pathetic,” he said, “The voters should send a message telling the government that enough is enough. Although some things are getting done in Ottawa, it is not enough, because the parties are mired in partisan bickering. Let’s look at the track record of the NDP, the Liberals and the Conservatives. None of them are serious about changing the political culture in Ottawa and it needs to change.”

While the opposition parties have tended to lay the blame for the political stalemate in Ottawa at the feet of Prime Minister Harper, Ralph Lee doesn't agree. “I think they all bear an amount of responsibility for the dysfunctional situation in Ottawa. There is enough blame to go around to all of them,” Ralph Lee said.

He said that he does not treat his candidacy lightly and that in the reception he has received at voters' doors and at all-candidates’ meetings he has found that the electorate is sympathetic to his views.

“I'm running to get elected,” he said, “and people responded. They agree that rural doctors need to be encouraged; that rural business needs a hand; and that seniors are important and deserve respect. I have a serious platform and people are listening.”

Liberal - Dave Remington 

In the fall of 2008, David Remington ran an energetic campaign in LFL&A in his first attempt to unseat Scott Reid as MP, and he received less support than he needed - a lot less.

With just under 12,000 votes he finished in a distant second place, over 18,000 votes and 34% percentage points behind Reid.

Given the volatility of the political scene in Canada after that election, the LFL&A Liberal Association decided early in 2009 to select a candidate so that whenever the next election was called they would have someone in place.

David Remington stepped forward again, and for over two years, since March of 2009, he has been travelling the riding on evenings and weekends, preparing the ground for the campaign that finally arrived in earnest this month.

“People call me the Ever Ready bunny; I keep running and running,” David Remington said when interviewed on a rare day off from campaigning. “I feel that this is a winnable riding for our party. That's a big motivation for me.”

Visiting with people in the numerous communities that make up the sprawling three-county riding is the kind of thing that Remington enjoys, and it fits with his ideas not only about campaigning, but also about the job of a member of parliament.

“I always think that you have to earn the support, try to represent the style of an MP that I would like to be, which is one who remains in the community. I think it means a lot to people; they appreciate the fact that I keep going. That's what I feel is happening in this campaign. Green, NDP, and Conservative supporters are coming to us every day.” he said.

Even in the Conservative stronghold territory of Lanark County, which is home to about 45% of the voters in riding, Remington says he has been well received this time around.

“I was going door-to-door in the village of Lanark last week, meeting with store owners and homeowners, and I had a very good response. The last time around people just thought I was brave to be there. So I think things have changed. It feels like a totally different campaign.”

David Remington's own political career started in the municipal world. He served first as a Napanee councilor and then as mayor. Later, he served as parliamentary assistant to Larry McCormick in the Hastings, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington riding. He has a background in small business and has been working as a program supervisor for the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth.

He considers his political style as that of a consensus builder. “My style is to be able to work across party lines, putting the resident ahead of party politics. I'm not really partisan; I'm really not. Some people are very partisan, but that's against my style. And I think the reaction at the door - and I've knocked on about 2,000 doors - has been that people don't like the fear mongering that the Harper government has been doing in his push for a majority. They want to know that their politicians are willing to work between party lines.”

In terms of issues that are dominant in his riding in this election, Remington said that health care and the economy have been at the top of people's minds.

NDP - Doug SmythIn the LFL&A riding, which was created in 2004 and has seen one provincial and three federal elections, the NDP has run a distant third in all of them, closer in support to the fourth-place Green Party than to the second-place Liberals.

In this election, it was one week into the five-week campaign when the local NDP association chose Doug Smyth as their candidate.

Smyth is a newcomer to politics. When interviewed, he said he has been living in Carleton Place for over 15 years, after working in a management position for a number of major corporations, General Electric, Domtar, and Procter and Gamble, in Toronto and Edmonton. He now works with the Eastern Ontario division for Wagonmaster, a technology company for the automobile servicing industry.

“I was looking for a way of giving. I had a little bit more time available, even though it hasn't worked out too well on that score, and since I feel the NDP is taking a nice fresh approach to the difficulties the country is facing, I contacted the local office and put my name forward,” he said.

Smyth said that he appreciates the NDP approach to the major issues facing local voters.

“A lot of people in this riding are struggling, living from pay check to pay check and trying to avoid slipping into real poverty and worrying about keeping their jobs. The impact of the HST has really hit home this winter. Only the NDP understands these kinds of problems, and is willing to look at heating oils and gasoline pricing,” he said.

Smyth also thinks it is appropriate to halt the drive for tax relief for large corporations. “The corporations are now sitting on large pools of money. Their profits are going to be phenomenal this year, and tax relief from Canada will not make them invest in new production here when there are cheaper conditions all across the world. Studies that show that tax relief for corporations creates jobs are all dated, and the business world is now totally global. The NDP plan to help small business is more realistic because that is where the jobs are being created. We needed to have competitive corporate tax rates, but we reached that point about $60 billion ago,” he said.

Doug Smyth also believes that of the national leaders, Jack Layton has the advantage of “being the sort of guy that will work day and night for us. I feel I can trust him with the future of my family.”

He said that the issues that are coming up in terms of the ageing population and the future of health care will require “the best minds working together to bring lots of input into how to deal with these problems, and this is not how Stephen Harper works.”

While thus far the campaign has been a charmed one for NDP National Leader Jack Layton, in spite of health problems that were slowing him down at the start, his LFL&A candidate has had some problems.

Doug Smyth was out campaigning for the first week of April, but from the start he knew he would have to miss the third week, including the all-candidates’ meetings in Kaladar and Perth, because of a long-standing work commitment in Toronto. Then he got hit with a health issue of his own. He developed a muscle problem with one eye that has left him with double vision and dizziness, hopefully temporary. That kept him on the sidelines for the following week, so he has not been able to get out for door-to door campaigning and has missed three more all-candidates meetings - in Verona, Napanee, and at a student forum at Sharbot Lake High School.

As it stood coming into the final week of the campaign, Dough Smyth said he hopes to attend the meeting in Carleton Place on Wednesday, although he said, “I will look a bit like a pirate because I will be wearing a patch over my eye.” 

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY
Thursday, 05 May 2011 13:20

Thoughts On the election

Editorial by Jeff Green

At the outset of the federal election campaign that just ended, I made a call to a local NDP riding association member whom I hadn't talked to in quite a while. I was setting up all-candidates’ meetings at the time. We spent a few minutes talking about the way the campaign was shaping up.

I suggested that if it became clear during the campaign that the Liberals were not going anywhere, there might be a bump in support for Jack Layton and the New Democrats.

“I don't think that will happen,” he said, “I think Ignatieff will prove to be competent and people will stick with him. I think he will do well.”

Well, it didn't turn out that way. And before anyone thinks I had any idea what was going to happen, I should add that I was just musing at the time. At most I was only thinking the NDP might get their vote to the 20-25 per cent range and maybe win 50 – 60 seats, with perhaps three of them in Québec.

No one predicted the “Orange Crush” in Québec, including the most wild-eyed NDP dreamers, and a 31% share of the national vote for the NDP was equally unthinkable five weeks ago.

The Conservatives winning a majority was always a distinct possibility, and in fact that will have more impact on the country than the change in the opposition benches.

With 40% of the vote, the Conservative Party now has 100% of parliamentary power in this country. That power is checked only by the judiciary.

That's the way it was under the Chrétien Liberals, and that's the way it will be for four years under the Harper Conservatives. The other control there is on government policy is that now that they have power, the idea of a dynasty is already taking hold. Stephen Harper wants to establish his party as the 'natural governing party', to use an often repeated phrase.

But to do this he must go slowly, bringing the entire country with him, incrementally, to the low tax, small government, socially conservative agenda that his party stands for.

In terms of the political direction of the country for the next four years, that is what we will be seeing, as the parties representing 60% of the voters figure out how to put up a fight the next time around.

Looking at our own LFL&A riding, it is hard not to feel for David Remington of the Liberals. He ran much harder, and much longer, than any other candidate, including the incumbent Scott Reid.

Remington said that he was convinced this is a 'winnable riding' for the Liberal Party, which certainly was not the case this time around. Facing a historic collapse of the Liberal vote across the country, Remington finished third, receiving almost 2,000 fewer votes this time around than he did in 2008, when he finished a distant second.

Doug Smyth, for the NDP, received 5,000 more votes than the NDP candidate, Sandra Willis, did in 2008. This, in spite of that fact that Smyth was only chosen as a candidate a week into the campaign; that he missed the third week of the campaign because of a previously scheduled business trip; and then was kept out of the campaign for another week due to an eye illness. So, with a negligible campaign at best, he received over 20% of the vote, to Remington's 16.8%.

Life might indeed be fair, but politics isn't.

Scott Reid may not have received Alberta-style Conservative results, but at over 57%, more than he has ever received, and a margin of over 20,000 votes, the seat is safer than ever.

But another lesson of this election is that seats are only safe until they are not safe. Gilles Duceppe won by about 20,000 votes last time, his seventh consecutive election in the Papineau riding, but he lost handily this time around and is out of politics.

While Ontario has never been as cavalier as Québec in the way they shift their votes in federal elections, there was a time not too long ago when all 103 Ontario ridings were held by the Liberals. This time the Liberals won 11, including Kingston and the Islands, the only red dot in a sea of blue in eastern Ontario.

So is “don't bother” the message for the David Remingtons of this world? Not exactly, but it turns out that, more than hard work, timing is the key element in politics.

For Remington to win, two things would have to happen. The first is riding redistribution. As long as his home base of Napanee is lumped with Lanark, Remington will be an also-ran. But if L&A were cut loose to join Prince Edward and Hastings counties, the situation might change.

The second element is a wave from outside. A red surge, or an orange-red/reddish orange surge would certainly make a difference.

In any event we have until October 19, 2015 to wait for the next federal election.

We do have one more election coming this year, a provincial one in which LFL&A promises to be a key battleground, targeted by the Liberal and Conservative Parties. The campaign between incumbent Randy Hillier and Liberal contender Bill MacDonald is already under way, and promises to be a hard-fought battle between two aggressive, scrappy politicians.

I happened to see Randy Hillier at the garden centre at Canadian Tire in Perth last weekend. He was buying a shovel. We talked about the federal election and I suggested to him that Dalton McGuinty would be happy if Harper won a majority, alluding to the old adage that Ontario voters would prefer a Liberal government in Toronto if there was a Conservative government in Ottawa, and vice versa.

Randy Hillier did not agree. What he said about my suggestion can't be printed here.

I think the provincial race will be a lot of fun.

 

Published in Editorials
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With the participation of the Government of Canada