On Thursday night I attended the All Candidates Meeting in Alliston. It was nearly a full house with about 450 in attendance and the largest turnout so far for an All Candidates Meeting during this election.
The event was hosted by the Alliston Herald which is part of the Metroland group of newspapers who also own the Wasaga Sun, Collingwood Connection, and Stayner Sun. Also hosting the event was the publisher of the Beeton Times, Mr. John Archibald who also acted as moderator for the event. Speaking with my Conservative friends and other people in attendance it turns out that Mr. Archibald is not only a card carrying Conservative, but he’s also a strong Leitch supporter, and this was made quite clear during the get together in Alliston.
The evening started off with each of the candidates allowed to give a 5 minute opening statement, and then followed by a 2 hour open question and answer period from the members of the audience. Each of the candidates for the most part stuck to their party’s platform with the odd pot shot at Guergis by Leitch for example with Leitch stating she’s the only true Conservative candidate. While I’m not defending Guergis she was recognized by Parliament as an independent Conservative, and has since day one stated that if re-elected she will vote with the Conservative party if and only if it’s in the best interests of the riding.
Most of the people asking the questions were planted by one of the parties. Alex Smardenka was booed a few times as was Leitch. Smardenka kept trying to make a point about Harper’s record and his broken promises and wasteful spending like 1.2 billion on the summits which was more money spent on 2 days compared to what was spent on our seniors for an entire year, and taking Canada from a 13 billion surplus to over a 56 billion deficit in 1.5 years. For this he was booed by what appeared to be a cluster of Leitch supporters.
A lady wanted to ask a question which was directed towards Dr. Leitch and was cut off by Mr. Archibald before she could finish asking the question. This was met with loud boos directed towards Mr. Arcibald as his partisan bright blue Conservative colors were showing. Another question which was directed towards each of the Candidates had to deal with our tax on a tax relating to gas, and the lady asking the question wanted to know how each of the candidates feels a flat tax on gas, or a reduction on the tax we pay at the pumps. For the most part each of the candidates answered the question with some in favour of a flat tax and others against it. Dr. Leitch never answered the question, instead she talked about her clinics, and for this she was yelled at by the audience to just answer the question asked and not make a statement about her clinics which has nothing to do with a flat tax on gas.
Jace, the Green party candidate gave another great performance and if this 22 years old sticks with politics he has a great future ahead of him. Most people in the audience were impressed with his performance and the way he answered the questions. Unlike Smardenka, Leitch, Guergis and Austin who kept taking shots at one another Jace focused on answering the questions and did his best to keep out of the partisan war among the mainstream candidates.
At the end of the meeting each candidate was allowed to make a 2 minute closing statement and again the mainstream parties kept to attacking the other parties and candidates. Austin brought up Jesus and Robin Hood, Guergis addressed her over 6 years of service and even admitted that she’s made mistakes, but did not deserve the treatment she received by Harper. Smardenka kept to his party platform and reminded the audience that Harper has lied to the people of Canada for the past 5 years, and does not deserve to be re-elected. Leitch also kept to the party line, and took a final shot at Guergis, and Guergis should have been given the chance to respond and defend herself.
I was going to ask a question, and maybe some of my Conservative friends could answer this for me so here I go.
Question: What does the Conservative party stand for, why do you vote Conservative?
Until next time!
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