The Home Stretch - Who Has Staying Power?

This upcoming week the candidates in Simcoe Grey will have 2 chances to square off against one another. Here's the list of upcoming events:

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - All Candidates Debate - Collingwood Legion, 490 Ontario Street, 7pm-9pm

Thursday, April 21, 2011 - All Candidates Debate - Alliston - Banting Memorial High school, 7pm - 9pm

Both events usually draw between 300 - 500 people, and in my eyes these events can make or break a candidates chances. Most voters I've spoken with over the past few weeks will be attending one of these events, and for the ones who can't attend they will rely on what they hear from their friends regarding the performance of the candidates, and their party's platform.

I for one would like to see an actual debate take place between all the candidates, and not a lame "All Candidates Meeting" which we've all seen in the past. I would like to see the same type of format that we see at the Leaders debates whereby the Candidates are not sitting down, but standing up in front of podiums. I know it might be hard with 7 candidates, but we as voters need to see these people fight for our votes. Yes some voters have already made up their minds as to who they intend to vote for, but most have not.

The Rogers "All Candidates Meeting" was a big yawn in my mind, and it's time for these candidates to step up and really fight for what they believe in.

When I take a look at all of the 7 candidates, you will see Leitch and Guergis go after one another as to who's the true Conservative candidate. Guergis needs to really fight, and fight hard to convince Leitch Conservatives that she's the best Conservative candidate who can get things done in Simcoe Grey. Leitch on the other hand will say that she's the only true Conservative candidate who was selected by over 700 card carrying Conservatives to carry the Conservative banner in Simcoe Grey, and if elected, and the Harper Conservatives form the next government, she's the only person who can deliver what's needed for Simcoe Grey.

Over to Alex Smardenka, the Liberal candidate....This is the best chance that the Federal Liberals will have to re-take this riding since Bonwick lost to Guergis by 100 votes in 2004. To this day I still can't understand why Bonwick did not ask for a recount, but I guess he already had his MP's pension and did not want to fight. Anyway back to the issue at hand, I surprised that I've not seen or heard of any high power Liberals, or even Iggy stopping into the riding to support Smardenka. Alex, along with his wife Sandy have been working really hard by knocking on doors all across the riding, meeting with local business owners, and working 14 hours a day, every day to get their message out. Smardenka needs to step up at these debates and take control of the debates by showing the voters that he knows the issues, he can bring about change, and he needs to ensure that the corruption of the Harper government is brought to the forefront. Bottom line is that he needs to go on the attack and hit both Conservative candidates really hard if he wants to win this election.

Over to Katy Austin, the NDP candidate. I like Katy, and she will do fine in the debates, but I still don't think she has what it takes to be our MP. She will go after both Conservative candidates and also attack the Liberals claiming that most of their ideas come from the Layton platform. She will stress that her party is the only party that can help low income families and seniors. A vote for either the Conservatives or Liberals will be a vote for bigger government and tax breaks for our largest corporations. She'll come in either 4th or 5th in this election as this is far from being an NDP riding.

Jace Metheral, the 22 year old is carrying the banner for the Green Party. I don't know Jace, but he did give a good performance at the Rogers TV all candidates meeting at the start of the campaign. His signs are up across the riding, and I know he's been working hard to get the Green message out, but I predict that he will get less votes than Peter Ellis did in 2008. At the national level the Greens are polling between 3.5% to 7% which is much lower than they did in 2008. The problem with the Greens is that they need new blood at the national level. I like Elizabeth May, but her due date has past, and she needs to go if the Greens want to survive as a Federal political party. This will have a negative effect on Jace, and what Jace needs to do is establish himself as a serious candidate who knows the issues, and can go head to head with the other candidates. I predict that Jace will get about 8% of the vote and come in 5th, or maybe 4th depending on how well Austin does. I do hope that Jace will stay active after this election and he should run again, and if the Greens have another leader he will be in a better position for the next election.

As for the remaining 2 candidates they will only receive less than 2% of the vote as I find them to be fringe parties.

Until next time!