Wild Rose candidates debate issues at Caroline forum
By Dan Singleton
Round Up staff
Caption: Smiling candidates - Liberal candidate John Reilly (left to right), NDP candidate Jeff Horvath and Conservative candidate Blake Richards share a laugh at the end of last week's forum.
- Dan Singleton/Round Up
Wild Rose Conservative candidate Blake Richards, Liberal candidate John Reilly and NDP candidate Jeff Horvath discussed and debated everything from gun control to warplanes to taxation during a candidates forum in Caroline Wednesday.
Sponsored by the Caroline Chamber of Commerce and moderated by Caroline resident Reg Dean, the forum at the Kurt Browning Arena attracted about 60 people.
The Wild Rose riding includes Olds, Didsbury, Carstairs and Cremona. Voters head to the polls May 2.
Horvath, Richards and Reilly made opening and closing remarks, and provided answers and comments to more than a dozen written questions submitted by audience members.
Richards, the first-term incumbent in the riding, said the election is a choice between a Conservative government and coalition including the Bloc Quebecois.
“The choice is between a stable national government with a proven natural leader, Stephen Harper, or one that is a coalition lead by Michael Ignatieff that would see Quebec separatists dictating the direction this country would take,” said Richards.
“As Conservatives we want to help farmers by opening up new markets for them. Conservatives think victims of crimes should be the top concern of the justice system, that criminals should be punished.”
Richards said the opposition parties, which he called “tax hikers”, would “engage in new and expensive permanent new spending programs that will threaten Canada's return to economic prosperity.”
“I will work towards your priorities by supporting low taxes and working to maintain Canada's brands as one of the best places for businesses and entrepreneurs to invest and to create new jobs and opportunities,” he said.
“I know that you believe that more of the money that you work so hard to earn should go into your wallet instead of to Ottawa.”
John Reilly said the Conservatives have failed to control government spending while massively increasing the national debt.
“Blake talks about the Liberals being the tax hikers and that they are not going to balance the budget,” said Reilly. “But the fact is, the history is that the Liberals left this country with a $10 billion surplus, the Conservatives have run up a $50 billion deficit and now they want to spend another undisclosed amount of money on these warplanes.
“One of the Liberal slogans is ‘Vets Not Jets'. We have a program to help our soldiers when they come back. I say vets not jets. I think this is the most important election in Canada's history because if Stephen Harper gets back in with a majority, we're going to have money spent on prisons, warplanes and corporate tax cuts. The Liberals are going to spend money on families.”
Reilly, who called justice his number one issue in the campaign, said the Conservative justice plans are “a very, very simplistic answer to a complicated situation.”
“The Conservatives are saying let's put all these guys in jail and what they are doing is killing the goose that lays the golden egg in some of these cases because now the perpetrator doesn't have the ability to continue to earn money to compensate his victims,” he said.
“I say the choice here is the choice between the Liberals supporting people and the Conservatives spending money on prisons, planes and corporate tax cuts.”
Horvath said neither a Conservative or Liberal government would adequately support Canadian workers or small businesses.
“The stakes are pretty high in this election,” said Horvath. “Steven Harper and the Conservative government came to Ottawa to fix Ottawa. We've given them five years and I don't believe it's happened. We want to fix Ottawa for good because it is broken. It was broken under the Liberals and it's broken under the Conservatives.
“I believe in this country. I believe in helping people out. I believe we are a just society. We need more everyday Canadians to stand up for what they believe in.
“The NDP wants to hire more doctors and nurses, we want to strengthen your pensions, we want to kick-start job creation by giving tax cuts to smaller business, we don't want to support those big oil companies any more. I don't think we should make rich people richer.”
During the Q&A portion of the forum, the candidates gave the following comments:
• Asked if he would support a coalition government, Richards said no, Horvath said he would consider it, and Reilly said he “would want to see the details” before deciding.
• Asked if he would support abolishing the Canadian Wheat Board, Richards said yes, Horvath and Reilly said no.
• Asked if he would abolish the long gun registry, Richards said yes, Horvath said no, and Reilly said he would consult with law enforcement before deciding.
• Asked about education and health funding, all three candidates said the federal government should make them a priority.
• All three candidates said they support the right of individuals to self defence against criminal assault.
• Asked if he would support the election of judges, Reilly and Horvath said no, and Richards said he would be willing to examine the issue.
Green Party candidate Mike MacDonald and Christian Heritage Party candidate Randy Van Den Broek did not attend the Caroline forum.
Another all-candidates forum is scheduled for April 21 in Airdrie.
