OLDS - Two of the five candidates seeking election in the new Ponoka-Didsbury riding – People’s Party of Canada (PPC) candidate Larry Gratton and United Party of Canada (UPC) candidate Grant Abraham – took part in a forum at the Royal Canadian Legion in Olds April 18, discussing issues ranging from immigration to provincial sovereignty.
Conservative Party of Canada candidate Blaine Calkins, NDP candidate Logan Hooley and unaffiliated candidate Zarnab Zafar were invited to the forum but did not attend.
Not a debate, the forum was sponsored by Mountain View Freedom (MVF) Community Care Society (MVF) and emceed by Dan Harder. Each candidate made opening and closing remarks.
“I am fed up with the game of politics in Canada where governing parties use taxpayer money in blatantly partisan ways, not for the benefit of Canadians but for the benefit of their party and their connected elites,” said Gratton.
“Maybe think of the PPC as Reform 2.0. My promise is to represent honestly and to vote on measures in accordance with the wishes of my constituents.”
Abraham said, “Our country is under siege and it is being betrayed. What politicians are calling post-nationalism these days is the overlay of UN agenda to see your property taken.
“I think we need to contend for life. I think you need to keep your guns. I think we need to DOGE (U.S. government department of government efficiency) this nation. We have a broken country and we are about to lose our birthright.”
The forum saw the candidates comment on topics such as equalization payments, immigration, sovereignty, government spending and debt, and the size of government.
Regarding immigration, Gratton said, “The loss of trust in the immigration process is because of both establishment parties purposefully targeting and allowing all comers, a free-for-all at the border.
“Our party would put a moratorium on immigration for at least a couple years until at least such time as the economy allows an ordered process to be restarted of properly vetted immigrants.”
Abraham said in his opinion, “One of the reasons for the acceleration of the immigration is to actually de-stabilize the existing population’s culture, values and traditions. That is one of the things that we are seeing going on.
“We have to acknowledge that we actually have a problem that is de-stabilizing our country. With regard to immigration, I think we actually need a moratorium and we need to deport the illegal migrants.”
Regarding provincial sovereignty, Gratton said, “It would be absolutely meaningless if we let it be known that we are holding a (separation) referendum just to pressure the government and weren’t serious about it. Quebec wants to separate but won’t and Alberta doesn’t want to separate but will if we have to.”
Abraham said, “We are moving to a conversation about sovereignty for Alberta first that is actually a beach-head for freedom for this country. We need to establish a sovereignty in Alberta first so we can actually liberate this country because we have parasites that are actually sucking the blood out of it and I want to purge that out.”
Both Gratton and Abraham called for a reduction in the size of the federal government and the size of the federal public service.
Cindy Tippe, with MVF, estimated about 200 people attended the forum.
Three candidates didn't attend
At the start of the forum, emcee Harder voiced disappointment that other candidates did not attend the public event.
“We invited Mr. Calkins,” said Harder. “This is the third event that he has failed to attend. I’m sure that you should be a little concerned about that. We have no idea where he is at but he is not here.
“We wanted to know what he was going to do for our constituency. We wanted to known how he was going to represent us (and) how he was going to give Alberta a voice in Ottawa. Obviously we can’t ask him those questions and we can’t challenge him on how he has represented us in the past.
“I’m frustrated because he is failing to engage with the electorate. I have questions I want to ask him and you have questions you want to ask him. There is information that we need to know.”
Harder said he is also frustrated because in his opinion Calkins is “taking my vote for granted. He’s assuming that he will be the next MP in this constituency and he needs to be challenged as a result of that.”
As for the fact NDP candidate Hooley also did not attend the forum, Harder said, “We invited the NDP and they have not even had the gumption to respond to our invitation.”
Following the formal part of the forum, a number of people in attendance also voiced concerns that Calkins did not attend.
“That’s terrible,” said Mary Flemming, from Innisfail. “We needed his opinion. Blaine needed to stand up and speak his voice as well on the very important questions being asked. It was very disappointing.”
Kara Dzikowski, from Didsbury, said, “They just re-aligned our riding and this was his opportunity to meet the people down south. I’m extremely disappointed.”
Although NDP candidate Hooley did not attend, he did provide the Albertan with a statement.
“I’m running for Jagmeet Singh’s New Democrats because I believe in a government that works for the working people, not for the powerful. I keep hearing how tired and worried people are. They’re losing hope that things will never get better for working people.
“Conservatives think that they can take rural folks votes for granted, but the NDP is here to show that we will fight for them.”
Albertan calls to Calkins’s campaign office seeking an interview and/or comments were not immediately returned.
The new Ponoka-Didsbury riding includes Olds, Bowden, Innisfail and parts of Mountain View and Red Deer counties along with Lacombe, Bentley, Blackfalds, Eckville, Ponoka, Rimbey, Sylvan Lake, Alix, Clive, Birchcliff, Gull Lake, Half Moon Bay, Jarvis Bay, Norglenwold, Parkland Beach and Sunbreaker Cove, Lacombe County and parts of Ponoka County.
The federal election is being held April 28.
