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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-06-16, Page 17Wednesday, June 16, 2004 Exeter Times–Advocate 17 Steckle pursues fourth term in Huron -Bruce continued from page 15 Canada has a great credit rating. "The numbers are really great," Steckle says, "and it's largely because of what Paul Martin did." One of the issues Steckle is concerned with during this election is the doctor shortage in rural Ontario. "We need to find ways of encourage- ment for doctors to come to our rural areas," he said, noting local communi- ties such as Exeter, Grand Bend and Kincardine have recently opened med- ical centres, with another planned for Goderich. Steckle isn't worried about recent polls showing the Conservatives pulling ahead of the Liberals. "There's so much that can change," Steckle says. "I don't think those polls reflect accurately at all what's going on out there. I'm not seeing those kind of numbers at the door. I'm not seeing those kind of numbers from some of my colleagues ... The national media is hellbent right now to make sure that the Conservatives somehow have a fighting chance of becoming the government .. . I don't find an appetite out there for people to vote Conservative." Steckle credits his campaign team and said he's proud to serve in Huron -Bruce. "It's a wonderful riding, one of the most beautiful ridings in Canada." Steckle, a life-long resident of the for- mer Stanley Township, was first elected to parliament in 1993. Prior to that, Steckle, a farmer, had experience on municipal and county councils. In 2003-04, he chaired the standing committee on Agriculture and Agri - Food. Steckle has also been on standing committees for Fisheries and Oceans, the Environment, the Parliamentary Library, and the sub committee on Agriculture and Agri -Food. He has sat on the Democratic Deficit Committee and the Liberal Caucus Committee on Gasoline Pricing. DAVE VAS EY The 25 -year-old Vasey is running in his first election. The Kincardine resi- Dave Vasey dent, who works in the lab at Bruce Power, said his campaign so far for the Green Party is going well and he's receiving lots of sup- port. "Lots of people are in agreement with the message," Vasey said. Vasey's message is "we need to work today for tomorrow .. . sustainability." The Green Party is seeking a tax shift away from people and towards non- renewable resources. When speaking to voters, Vasey said people are most concerned with health care, the environment and the pension plan. He contends all three are inter- twined and maintains if we work harder now to clean up the environment and water, health care costs will be lowered in the long run. "We're looking at prevention now to have a better tomorrow," Vasey said of the Green Party's stance. "Pesticides are in our water," Vasey says. "Every person has 13 pesticides in them, 99 per cent of people have DDT. It causes cancer, we know this. We need to focus on industrial emissions. Companies are still exceeding their tar- gets and are rarely fined for it." Vasey also speaks in favour of getting rid of fossil fuels to clean up the air. Vasey, originally from Walkerton, said he's "seen the effects of environmental disaster," has voted for the Green Party in the past and wanted to get involved. He says if we don't start cleaning up the environment, "we're headed on a crash course for environmental disas- ter." Vasey is trying to encourage young voters to participate in the June 28 elec- tion. He says he's had more support than he expected so far and is pleased with the phone calls he's received from voters asking for Green Party signs. "People are really encouraging." Middlesex-Kent-Lambton election candidates By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF STRATHROY — Five candidates are contesting the June 28 federal election in the riding of Middlesex - Kent Lambton. Three -term incumbent Liberal MP Rose -Marie Ur is facing NDP candi- date Kevin Blake, Allen James from the Christian Heritage Party,Allan McKeown from the Green party and Conservative Bev Shipley. Here in alphabetical order are four of the five candidates. Allen James will be profiled next week. Kevin Blake "I've never seen so many people volunteering to help and donating. At least twice a day while I'm knock- ing on doors I'll get the comment you're lucky you're not liberal." NDP candidate Kevin Blake says the major themes of the campaign he is hearing about from voters are lying, truthfulness and integrity. Blake has a background of exten- sive municipal service including serving on Wallaceburg Council from 1991-1994 and being Deputy Reeve representing Wallaceburg on the Kent County Council from 1994 until 1997. He also served on the Wallaceburg Police Commission, the housing commission and the economic development com- mission. In his first federal election cam- paign, Blake says the primary issues for the riding are health care and "farmers dying on the vine." "There needs to be improvements in health care so there are not long waiting lists. For instance, there is a 30 month provincial average waiting list for people to get knee or hip replacements." "I'm feeling very hopeful and posi- tive. I've been having some very good debates and some great responses after the debates. So we're feeling pumped here." Allan McKeown "It's been very encouraging with the support I've been getting, espe- cially among the young people of the riding. The young people really seem to be attracted to the Green party because they're looking for an alternative to the traditional par- ties." Allan McKeown is in his second Kevin Blake Allan McKeown federal election campaign as a Green party candi- date, after running in the 2000 election in the Sarnia- Lambton riding. McKeown moved to Canada from Northern Ireland in 1972 and has lived in Sarnia ever since. A retired technical specialist in micro- biology with the Lambton Hospitals Group, McKeown co-founded the Sarnia-Lambton White Ribbon Campaign to end violence against women. He also promoted the implementa- tion of an Environmental Advisory Committee for the city of Sarnia. McKeown is also a professionally - trained lay chaplain and performed the first same-sex marriage in Sarnia. "There is still a lot of frustration with the sponsorship scandal and politicians in general. Health care as well, and the Green party is always interested in environmental issues and people are interested in what ideas we can bring in terms of the Kyoto accord and green collar jobs." McKeown said there several rea- sons why the Green party is being looked at as an increasingly viable alternative. "This will be the first time the Green party has run in every single riding across Canada so we have a much bigger profile this time. We're disgusted with the TV networks for excluding our leader from the TV debate. The Green Party is attract- ing voters who wouldn't normally vote, who are totally turned off and we offer them a fresh alternative. We're bringing people in to vote. So we're addressing the issue of voter apathy. "By excluding Jim Harris from the debate it's an insult to democracy." Locally, McKeown said there were three issues which were priorities including health care and attracting doctors to smaller communities, agriculture and the environment. "How we appeal to farmers more than anything is the Green Party around the world stands for commu- nity economics and supporting the family farm. We are very concerned with the direction agriculture is going in. "It's a shame Canada doesn't have proportional representation because we'd be electing Green MPs right across the country. In B.C. we're at about 13 per cent and in Alberta according to the Globe and Mail, we're at 10 percent ahead of the NDP." But McKeown said the party is hoping for six to eight per cent of the vote nationally and to get one or two members elected. Bev Shipley "You can't take taxpayers dollars for somebody else's benefit and with the waste in programs we're talking billions of dollars, we're not talking about change here. So that's what stimulated me to get into it to be part of a team to bring back a government that is accountable." A family farmer in the riding, Conservative candi- date Bev Shipley is in his first federal election campaign. "We've got a brand new party that is six months old and people aren't very familiar with it, so we're talking about it. Our new leader is doing an amazing job showing his credibility and his platforms." Shipley says while there are still undecided voters, he has been receiving very positive responses, "especially from people who say `I was Liberal but not anymore'." With the re -alignment of the rid- ing, Shipley says the size of the area to be covered is a factor. "It's huge. It goes from Granton in the east to Grand Bend in the North and down to Mitchells Bay. It's a long way and there is a lot of differ- ent issues between the different parts of the riding. It's bigger than Prince Edward Island and P.E.I. has four representatives. It's tough to justify ridings this large because it's not fair to the people and it's not fair to the candidates. "The difference between the Conservatives and the Liberals is we believe in democracy and and hav- ing free votes and the Liberal gov- ernment doesn't. "The big issue is the waste and accountability and what they've been doing to not be accountable for taxpayers dollars." Rose -Marie Ur In her fourth federal election cam- paign, three -term riding incumbent Rose -Marie Ur says the re -alignment of the riding has caused consider- able changes. _11:0160 Bev Shipley Rose -Marie Ur "I've got a section I've had before in 1993 that I lost in 1997. I've got Arva this time and Lucan and more of Middlesex than I had before. So you've got new contacts there and they have been just wonderful to work with." Ur was first elect- ed in 1993 to represent Lambton- Middlesex and was re-elected in 1997 and 2000 to represent Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. Ur has served as a member on the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agrifood and on the Standing Committee on Health. She is a member of several com- munity groups, including the Board of Directors of the Strathroy Area Association Community Living Member, Ontario Federation of Agriculture as well as a member of the Committee for Pilgrimage for Youth, which sends students to the United Nations each year. "Of course the sponsorship (scan- dal) has been there and Mr. McGuinty's budget and the gun reg- istry has been a factor. But they know that I have stood up for my constituents on the gun registry. On the sponsorship the auditor general had indicated there was no way Paul Martin would have known about it and she never once said the money was stolen or missing." Ur added that people were looking at the budget of McGuinty, "not so much with what he is doing, but broken promises. I've indicated to people that Paul Martin has stated publicly if he breaks a promise he'll resign. You can't ask for too much more of a person than that. I think he has a past history when he was finance minister that he not only met his goals, but he surpassed his goals. "This man does not have to say at the end of his commercial who he is. People know in Canada and around the world he is respected for his business capacities and I think Canada will certainly prosper under his leadership. "My priorities, should I have my fourth chance to be re-elected is to serve my constituents the way I have the last 10 and a half years. Their concerns have always been first and foremost."