March 31, 2011
Local candidates hit
campaign trail
by Vance Gutzman
The writ has been dropped and the candidates have hit the ground
running.
With voters heading to the polls for a federal election on May 2,
political candidates in Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke have hit the
hustings in earnest.
Independent candidate Hector Clouthier, actually, has been campaigning
for the better part of a year now, going door to door throughout
the riding on an almost daily basis.
Clouthier, who once held this riding for Liberals, says he's excited
about once again going toe to toe with Cheryl Gallant in the political
ring.
"It's game on and I'm excited about the opportunity," Clouthier says,
noting that he hopes the campaign will cause voters to cause voters to
scrutinize the incumbent MP's track record.
"Eleven years is an awfully long time to go without having having too
much to show for it," he said of Gallant's time in office since
unseating him back in 2000.
"The people of Renfrew County have been led to believe a lot of things
for a lot of years, and not a lot of those things have come anywhere
near to being realized. And honestly, that's just not good enough,
anymore."
Clouthier isn't pulling any punches in the early days of the election
campaign, claiming that Gallant has fallen from grace within her own
Conservative party.
"She's held on a pretty tight leash by her own boss, Stephen Harper,
for fear that she'll do or say something that will embarrass the
government," says Clouthier.
"As far as I'm concerned, an MP that's not allowed to talk, or is told
to stay away from the House of Commons, is not an effective
representative for the people of this area."
Still, despite the fact he's already been campaigning for several
months, Clouthier says he's disappointed the political parties in the
House of Commons couldn't find some way to compromise last week and
avoid sending voters to the polls so soon after the last election.
"If all political parties would have put some water in their wine, we
could have avoided a $300 million election," he says, adding that the
likely result once the polls close will be another minority government
anyway, which would suit him just fine as an Independent.
"The vote of an Independent will be something incredibly important to
any government wishing to get their legislation passed," Clouthier says.
NDP nomination
The federal New Democratic Party riding association, meanwhile is
gearing up for its nomination meeting in Cobden this coming Saturday.
The riding association permits nominations to come from the floor at
that meeting, but it's expected that Arnprior resident Eric Burton will
be carrying the party's banner in the campaign, as he's the only one
who has put his name forward so far.
The 30-year-old father of three is a lifelong resident of Arnprior, and
recently served a four-year term as town councillor in that
municipality.
Burton said his decision to make the leap into the federal arena came
after watching the leader of the federal NDP conduct himself on
Parliament Hill.
"I was really inspired by Jack Layton and his leadership," says Burton.
"The things he's been saying the country needs are exactly what I've
been hearing in the community."
And those needs, Burton believes, were not contained the federal budget
that was handed down last week.
"Unfortunately, this budget was business as usual," Burton says.
"It fails to strengthen CPP, it provides no relief for heating bills
and it does not address the current crisis in health care. And the
token support for our elderly leaves tens of thousands of seniors still
living in poverty."
Burton adds that he's optimistic in these early days of the campaign,
and plans on remaining on track with his message right up until May 2.
"I'm going to stay focussed on bringing forward some real solutions for
the future," he says.
"It's not about who's saying what, but what is being said."
Liberal blog
Liberal candidate Christine Tabbert has started a daily campaign blog
on her website, www.christinetabbert.liberal.ca.
Tabbert noted that she spent day one of the campaign at the Renfrew
Home Show.
“We had lots of discussions about increasing the opportunities for our
youth to find quality jobs in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke so that they
can stay in the Ottawa Valley.
“We also had many discussions about ensuring that seniors are able to
live with dignity and security during retirement,” she said.
Tabbert said she also had a chance to see lots of great small business
owners from all over the Valley.
“Small businesses are a big driver of our local economy, and I am
always so impressed by the creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship
of our small business owners... around the riding.”
Tabbert said she wanted to thank “everyone who took a moment or two
today to chat with me about their concerns, what is important to them
in this election, and the kind of government that they want.”
“I will be continuing to work hard in the upcoming weeks to earn the
privilege of representing you in Ottawa.”
Clean campaign
As far as the riding's sitting MP goes, Cheryl Gallant released a
statement late Monday saying she is proud to be representing the
Conservative Party of Canada in what will be her fifth election
campaign.
“While I am disappointed the opposition coalition forced this
unnecessary election, I am ready to share our plans to keep taxes low,
create new jobs, and support our seniors and caregivers,” she said.
“I wish to thank the good people of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke for the
overwhelming vote of confidence they have given me in the last four
elections. I never take that support for granted.
“I will be working just as hard in this election as I did back in 2000
when voters first gave me the privilege of serving as their Member of
Parliament in Ottawa,” she added.
“I look forward to an exciting, clean, local campaign!”
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