by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — The organizers of the all-candidates meeting in Cobden are thrilled with the turn-out and happy the crowd was as respectful as they were to those at the front of the room.
All candidates attended — incumbent Conservative Cheryl Gallant; Independent Hec Clouthier; New Democratic Party Dan McCarthy; Liberal Jeff Lehoux and Green Party Stefan Kleitsch.
There were a few instances where the crowd were told to settle down by moderator Donna Campbell.
Three occurrences stood out during the meeting.
The first was when David Burnie from Renfrew put his shoe in his mouth, noting he was copy-catting Ms. Gallant for putting her foot in her mouth.
The second was when the crowd booed and heckled Ms. Gallant to the point where moderator Campbell had to speak very loudly telling them to settle down and let the candidate speak.
The third was when an unknown man stood up near the end of the meeting, and while pointing at her, shouted he wrote her three letters and not once did she respond.
“You insult my intelligence,” he shouted before leaving the hall.
Throughout the debate, four of the five candidates were able to go to party policy or past practices and reiterate what was printed. Mr. Clouthier, as an Independent, has no party platform so could only do one of two things — he could either keep saying a vote for him is a vote for the people because he has no one to answer to except the people or verbally attack Ms. Gallant.
Ms. Campbell started the evening off by advising that each candidate would have an opening speech of five minutes, which would give extra time to address the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) agreement, which was signed almost two weeks ago.
“I asked the candidates to be respectful of each other,” she told the large crowd gathered for the event. “We’re here to hear what their party has to offer to the constituents of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke and history is history. We don’t want any of the past brought up, we want to deal with what’s current and prefer to look to the future by our candidates.”
Opening and Closing Speeches
The opening and closing speeches were five and two minutes respectively.
Independent Hec Clouthier
Mr. Clouthier noted he brought donuts for the crowd because he has no paraphernalia with his name on it, such as pamphlets, to hand out, because he’s running as an Independent. He is one of 10 children, evenly split between boys and girls, who were raised all on the family farm in Laurentian Valley. They all worked on the family farm and did chores and jobs to the best of their ability.
“I find about farmers, they know the value of hard work and they know how to separate the hay from chaff,” he said. “Farmers know when someone is B-essing them, so tonight ladies and gentlemen, I’d like you to give, not only myself, but everyone else here at the podium, the opportunity to share their thoughts with you and then you determine who is piling hay or who is running the manure spreader.”
As an Independent candidate, Mr. Clouthier feels he is the only candidate who can represent the people because he has no one to answer to except the people who sent him to Ottawa, unlike the other candidates who may say they can do and say what they want, but that’s just not true.
“Funny thing happens on the way to Ottawa,” he said. “When they get to Ottawa, they’re dictated to by the party leadership on what to say and how to vote. It is not a democracy. It is a dictatorship of one.”
Mr. Clouthier is familiar with that because he was a Liberal MP for many years.
“I worked as your MP from 1997 to 2000 and I lost because I followed the party dictates,” he said. “I’ll take blame for it. At the end of the day I was ordered to support an issue which was not resonating with the people of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke.”
While the other candidates will have to follow the dictates of their particular party if elected, Mr. Clouthier said if he is elected, the party leaders will be asking for his support.
Explaining, he said, if there is a minority government, or a slim majority government, that party is going to need his vote to pass legislation. In order to get his support, Mr. Clouthier will tell them what he needs for the people of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke in order for that to happen.
“The only way that anything is done in Ottawa is if they need you more than you need them,” he said. “If this thing turns out the way I think it’s going to, they’re going to need this little short, bald-headed guy more than I need them and I will demand and I will get positive results on behalf of you, the people.”
In closing, Mr. Clouthier noted the fragile economy was used nine times in two wrap-up speeches.
“Yes, I agree, we are in a bit of a fragile economy, but somehow our federal MP said elect me again to make sure we haven’t got a fragile economy,” he said.
Mr. Clouthier said Ms. Gallant was elected five times in 15 years, so who is to blame for a fragile economy. As for lowering taxes, Ms. Gallant voted in favour of the biggest tax increase in the history of Ontario called the HST.
Meanwhile, provincial Conservative MPP John Yakabuskie voted against it in Toronto. There’s a disconnect there, he added.
“Why am I here,” he questioned. “I’m here because this riding does not belong to Trudeau, to Harper, to Mulcair or to Elizabeth May. It belongs to us, it belongs to the people who live here, who work here who call this home.
“We can make our decisions. We can make up our own minds.
“I want to represent you to Ottawa. I don’t want to represent Ottawa to you.”
Mr. Clouthier believes is the system is broke and Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke needs to send a wake-up call to those in parliament.
“If you give me the privilege and the honour to be your federal MP, as an Independent, no one, and absolutely no one, will be able to tell me to sit down and be quiet,” he said. “My vote will count because they’re going to need my vote.”
New Democratic Party Dan McCarthy
Mr. McCarthy grew up in a working class family in Winnipeg with five siblings.
“My parents taught me the importance of generosity, of being fair and hard work,” he said. “Those values have followed me my entire life, as a high school teacher and later, deciding at 33 years of age, to go off to law school.”
His first job as a lawyer was working on behalf of injured workers and making sure they got compensation. He then spent 17 years with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters as the right-hand man of the vice-president who looked after all of Canada. He worked with owners, contractors and members to make sure a work-site was safe and projects were delivered on time and on budget, he said.
“It’s those skills of bringing people together that I think makes me an excellent candidate to represent you,” he said.
As for the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, the supply management system works and it should not be eroded, he said. Dairy farmers in this country provide high quality milk and when Canadians were polled, they like the high standards of Canadian milk.
“They also overwhelmingly support supply management,” he said.
The local diary industry is also a very important economic contributor, he said. In Renfrew County, the diary industry accounts for over 1,100 direct and indirect jobs, $94 million in the GDP and $19 million in taxes, he added.
“We have to ask ourselves, what are we putting at risk locally,” he said.
This secretive trade deal is giving away 3.25 per cent of quota, however, the European agreement, which is not yet finalized, is 1.25 per cent, and the New Zealand newspapers are saying a series of tariffs will be going down on individual dairy items.
If it works out to five per cent, what does that mean to the valley,” he questioned.
“If you do the math, it’s 58 jobs, it’s $5 million in GDP and a million dollars in taxes,” he said. “We can ill afford that in this riding.”
There will also be a subsidy for dairy farmers, Mr. McCarthy said. However, it’s not really a subsidy, because there will be a transitional fund buying up quotas over a 15 year period which will be given to the United States and off-shore.
“I will certainly talk to other ministries, like the automotive, pharmaceuticals, internet freedoms and the secretive tribunals,” he said. “The NDP has taken the position that this is not a done deal.”
In closing, Mr. McCarthy said he had three reasons for running. The first is he was “incredibly impressed with Tom Mulcair,” with his experience, leadership and concrete ideas. He also respected Mr. Mulcair’s pragmatic approach.
Mr. McCarthy also got angry over the “anti-democratic, anti-parliamentary traditions, whether omnibus bills, mis-use of committee structures, or handing out a manual on how to manipulate a committee.
“Those things got me angry because I think all of us here really believe in our parliamentary tradition and we’re out here tonight to participate in part of it,” he said.
People came tonight to share ideas and concerns and Mr. McCarthy is listening to them.
“As your MP, I will be noted for listening and taking your ideas and making them articulate and showing that we can have a measured and principled voice from the Ottawa Valley,” he added.
Liberal Jeff Lehoux
Mr. Lehoux served 10 years in the Canadian armed forces and was badly injured in 2005 in Afghanistan while serving Canada on the war in terrorism.
Since2009, he has been doing international development work in sub-Sahara Africa.
As a medic, much of the work is in the medical field, so preventative medicine, clean water initiatives and education, he explained.
He is running because he believes Canada can do better.
As for the TPP, the Liberal party strongly supports free trade, he said. This is how we open up new markets and remove barriers for Canadian businesses, he said. The TPP does stand to remove some barriers and widely expand trade for Canada.
It will create opportunities for middle class and those working hard to join them, he said.
However, Mr. Lehoux said the Liberals will take a responsible approach by thoroughly examining the TPP because it believes the Harper government has failed to be transparent.
The government has obligation to be open and honest about the details of any agreement, he said, and that’s the problem right now.
“We don’t know the details, we simply don’t know what it is we’ve lost and we don’t know what we stand to gain at this point.
“If the Liberal government forms the government, and it’s looking possible, we will hold a full and open debate in parliament to ensure Canadians are consulted on this historic trade agreement,” Mr. Lehoux stated.
In his closing statement, Mr. Lehoux thanked the people for taking an interest in their community by attending this meeting.
“Are you tired yet of divisive politics,” he questioned. “Are you tired of cynicism, of seeing scientists muzzled, of seeing veterans without pensions and 21,000 children in Renfrew County living under the poverty line?
“A vote for Liberal this time around is a vote for hope and optimism,” he said.
He then reiterated some of the party policies.
“We’re Canadians, we can do better,” Mr. Lehoux said. “For nearly 10 years we’ve been subjected to fear mongering, divisive, un-unified tactics. Leaders do not separate their subordinates, or their team. They bring them together and they go forward with one unified objective.
“If you vote Liberal this time around, that’s what you’ll get.”
Conservative Cheryl Gallant, the Incumbent
Ms. Gallant said it’s a pleasure to be hosted by the agriculture community and looked forward to informative discussions on the issues of importance to the riding’s agricultural producers.
This election is about jobs and the economy, Ms. Gallant said. For the producer in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, that means open access to new markets, she said. Last year in Renfrew County the agricultural sector employment grew by almost seven per cent, while organizations like the OVFC (Ottawa Valley Food Co-Op) was encouraged to create new opportunities for the distribution of the local produce. She questioned if people knew that Canada produces a food surplus.
“That means we need access to new markets,” she said. “The TPP is a block buster deal our Conservative government just negotiated.
“It means your prosperity with access to 800 million people. Canada is one of the largest agricultural producers in the world, with almost half of its total production going to exports. The prospective growth of our country in that sector depends on our ability to access new segments,” she stated.
Canada is an agricultural export to the TPP countries of $10 billion over the last two years, and that included baked goods, food stuffs, and produces, fruits, and vegetables, she added.
Renfrew County producers have an opportunity to participate in this as well, she said.
Beef exports will have new key markets opened in countries like Vietnam and Japan and this agreement recognizes it has a rule of origin and recognizes the integrated nature of the North American economy, Ms. Gallant added.
Businesses will benefit as the tariffs decrease, she said. Canada exported over a billion dollars to the TPP countries last year and the previous two years and one-quarter of those sales came from Ontario, Ms. Gallant stressed.
Now the dairy, poultry and egg sectors have an opportunity to benefit from the TPP as well, she added. As tariffs reduce, they’ll have access to key markets, she explained, which is especially important for the cheese sectors. Ms. Gallant further noted some cheeses will be allowed into the U.S. tariff free.
Significant and broad demands from the TPP negotiating countries with Canada has limited access to the supply management sector, she said.
“We have negotiated, we have programs, and the three pillars of supply management remain firmly in place,” she said. “Programs developed to help farmers through the implementation of the TPP include the income guarantee program; the quota value guarantee program, the processing and modernization program and the market initiative development.”
The Conservatives will work with Agrifood and Agriculture Canada to ensure the expected, efficient deployment of these programs, she said.
The federal government will continue to work with the dairy, poultry and egg sectors to ensure the success of agricultural producers, she said..
“We show that by getting access to the markets, and negotiating new trade agreements is a way of accessing new markets, and only by electing a Conservative MP here in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke will you have a seat at the table as these trade agreements are implemented,” Ms. Gallant stated.
In her closing statement, Ms. Gallant said the Conservatives low-tax, balanced budget helps steer Canada through a period of sustained economic instability and turmoil. She noted Canada led the G7 in economic growth and job creation.
“The Canadian economy created 1.3 million net new jobs since the depths of the recession, and the vast majority are in high-paying full-time positions in the private sector,” she added.
There is more to be done and she wants to be re-elected with a renewed confidence in the government, she said.
“The Canadian economy remains fragile,” she said. “The global economy is as unstable as ever. Protecting Canada’s fragile economy is our number one priority. That’s why we’re implementing our low-tax balanced budget.”
Canada’s fragile economy will be protected if the Conservatives are re-elected, she added. Make an important choice to protect Canada’s fragile economy and keep it moving forward for the next four years, Ms. Gallant said.
A Conservative government will lower taxes on families, seniors and small businesses by opening new markets for Canadian businesses and workers, which will create more and better jobs, which in turn will help Canadians own their own homes, she said.
“We need to be trusted to fulfill these commitments,” Ms. Gallant said.
Green Party Stefan Kleitsch
Mr. Kleitsch grew up in Renfrew County and opted to run for the Green Party because he believes in the power of substance and integrity to improve the life of those living in Renfrew County, Canada and the rest of the world, even when it seems like a long shot.
He believes democracy is failing because of the many interest groups that directly, or indirectly, gouge millions of dollars of worth of Canada’s well-being.
He believes politicians pick and choose interest groups to side with.
Mr. Kleitsch said the Green Party platform stands up to the various interest groups.
“Canada is not a dictatorship, but it is going down a slippery slope,” he said, adding, “It does look more like a third world backwater when our government has sold us down the Yangtze river and signed a secretive 31-year agreement, a so-called foreign investment protection agreement with the world’s most powerful dictatorship, which allows Chinese state companies to sue for our tax dollars and these tribunals with very minimal checks and balances whenever we pass legislation that affects their profit,” he said, bringing a round of applause from the crowd.
The TPP is a bad deal because it was negotiated in bad faith, Mr. Kleitsch said. It was negotiated in secret to the general public, but 600 corporate lobbyists were involved, he added.
The experience of the last four years shows the Conservatives “would be thrusting the screw” with minimal debate once the text is unveiled, he said.
“Leaks of the draft suggest there are provisions that would increase patents and increase the costs of pharmaceuticals and the opportunity for foreign companies to sue us,” Mr. Kleitsch said.
Internet freedoms would be affected, because service providers would be allowed to track information about online users, he said.
Speaking about agriculture, Mr. Kleitsch said it’s seems very interesting that the same Conservatives who decry the Canadian wheat board as a Soviet-style institution, seem to be in bed with lobbying from the dairy industry.
“The Green Party has a two faced policy on the so called supply management regime,” he said. “They claim to be fully in favour of it even as they push for reforms that would devalue the work of the quota system.
“Suffice to say, I’d be more forthcoming than the Green Party, in so far as I would rather spend $30 billion worth of tax dollars over the next 10 years compensating dairy farmers for the ending of this system than have this monopoly gouging billions of dollars from consumers every single year forever.”
The fundamental problems of this monopoly is that it protects existing farmers at the expense of consumers and potential farmers who can’t afford to get in through the quota system, Mr. Kleitsch stated
There are many long term and profound issues in this election and he is hopeful an MP will be elected who is looking far into the future for Canada and not just the next four years.
In his closing, Mr. Kleitsch said while he agrees with most of the Green Party policy, he also has his own ideas to bring to the table.
“Unlike other party candidates here, I promise to vote to enforce the Reform Act provisions for a stronger MP within the Green Party caucus.”
There are so many profound issues in this election and he’s hoping that on Oct. 19, a motion a series of events will happen that will bring democratic reform so profound, that each MP will be better than the last.
Questions:
1. Climate talks in Paris will occur very soon after our federal election. If your leader becomes Prime Minister and attends the Paris talks, what stand will be taken there about the tar sands, since it’s considered a major source of pollution and climate damage by the rest of the world.
While answering this question, Ms. Gallant was heckled and Ms. Campbell had to tell the crowd to settle down.
2. Directed to NDP candidate Dan McCarthy: How many of the 1 million $15 a day daycare spots will be seen in this riding and what does a family have to do to be eligible for these spots? However, if the other candidates decide to answer, the question is then what does your party plan to do for young families who are seeking daycare?
3. Having seen the removal of the railways across Renfrew County, the delays of the double-laning of Hwy. 17, poor broadband internet in all areas, what is your plan to upgrade infrastructure across this riding to help people, businesses and the farming communities strive?
Again when answering, there was quiet heckling when Ms. Gallant was answering.
4. Will your party approve the energy east pipeline proposal and what will this do for Canada and Renfrew except put us at risk for oil spills.
5. The Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal is with some countries that may not have Canada’s high standards for food safety. How are Canadian standards on food safety protection going to fit into this new trade deal?
When she finished answering the question, David Burnie of Renfrew took off a shoe and put it in his mouth, demonstrating how Ms. Gallant put her foot in her mouth while answering this question.
6. Why is the government cancelling door to door delivery and what will be the strategy for Canada Post in the future?
7. Please comment on the current federal risk management programs available to farmers. Do you feel they are working and if not how would your government change or improve them?
8. Many people believe that the recent murders of three women in Renfrew County could have been prevented with stricter gun laws and better monitoring of parollees. What would your party do to prevent such a tragedy in the future?
9. What are you planning to do for seniors and others living on a fixed income?
10. Aside from international trade, what are your strategies for advancing agricultural innovation and market development that will advance our industry within our country?
11. A thoughtful discussion on health care has been lacking throughout this campaign. I am a retired RN and a senior and I am concerned about health care and how I am going to stay healthy in my own home as I age. What will you and your party do to help me?
12. Will your party increase military spending for the two per cent of GDP required by NATO?
13. Given the long timeline to ratify the TPP, what measures will be taken to ensure that if it’s reached, our local farms will benefit, and if the TPP does not advance, what measures are going to be put in place to advance agriculture?
Following the meeting, Ms. Campbell said the meeting went very well.
“I was a little upset a few times at Mr. Clouthier, but I kept saying, Hector, and he behaved himself,” she said.
The organizers were pleasantly surprised with the turnout of about 300 people, considering it was not advertised, she said. She believes it was the candidates who encouraged people to attend the meeting.
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture has hosted provincial and federal all candidate debates for 29 years, Ms. Campbell said. While it is an agriculture organization, other issues, like health care, day care, etc., do pertain to agriculture in some way shape or form, she added.
Mr. Burnie explained putting his shoe in his mouth was because of Rick Mercer.
A friend of the popular television host, Mr. Burnie said when she puts her foot in her mouth, metaphorically speaking, Mr. Mercer puts his on his show. He decided to attend the all-candidates meeting to see if she puts her foot in her mouth, and she did, he said.
“We have a fragile economy, but we’re the strongest in the world…But it’s fragile, it’s going to break. What does she mean by that?” he questioned.
Mr. Burnie believes all politicians are corrupt, so who do you vote for, he questioned.
“I’m going to note vote,” he said. “I‘m going to go there, get my ballot and hand it back, because that counts as a vote. I don’t like any of them. I’m not a plastic man and they’re all plastic, except for maybe Hector.”
He believes voting for any of the candidates is a waste.
“If you vote for Hector, it’s not a vote for me,” he said. “What’s he going to do for me? I don’t think my income has ever gone up in the last 15 years. I don’t think my children or grandchildren are going to have a great life, but it’s supposed to be Canada the great. They’re going to change the world.”
Voting is on Monday, Oct. 19.
