HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-06-30, Page 22 Exeter Times–Advocate
Wednesday,June 30, 2004
Fisher uncertain of future after defeat
By Scott Nixon
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
GODERICH — By the
time Conservative Barb
Fisher arrived at a party
in her honour at midnight
Monday night, her sup-
porters already knew she
had gone down to defeat
at the hands of incumbent
Liberal Paul Steckle.
Steckle won his fourth
term Monday night,
receiving 25,311 votes,
with 227 of 229 Huron -
Bruce polls reporting.
That number is nearly
4,000 more than Steckle
received in the 2000 elec-
tion. His election total rep-
resents 49.9 per cent of
the popular vote, the same
as he received in 2000.
Fisher finished a distant
second with 15,669 votes
representing 30.9 per cent
of the voters. Other results
were: Grant Robertson of
the New Democratic
Party, 6,644; Dave Vasey
of the Green Party, 1,501;
Dave Joslin of the
Christian Heritage Party,
950; and Glen Smith of the
Marijuana Party, 635.
Joslin's results jumped
700 votes from the 2000
Conservative Party candidate Barb Fisher, left, speaks to her supporters in Goderich
after losing to incumbent Huron -Bruce Liberal MP Paul Steckle in Monday's federal
election.With Fisher is her husband Doug and children Blayne and Kendra. Fisher said
she's not sure if she'll run in the next election. (photo/Scott Nixon)
election.
Nationwide, the Liberals
won their fourth consecu-
tive term, this time slip-
ping to a minority with
135 seats. The
Conservatives won 99
seats, the Bloc Quebecois
54 and the NDP 19. One
seat was won by an inde-
pendent.
Fisher's supporters at
the Candlelight Restaurant
and Tavern in Goderich
were quiet as incoming
election results showed
Steckle in the lead from
the beginning.
By the time Fisher
arrived, she was greeted
by a loud ovation.
"It's not much fun to be
on the losing side of any-
thing," she told the crowd,
but added the
Conservative Party had "a
huge impact" on Huron -
Bruce in the election. She
speculated the Liberals
were able to win a minori-
ty victory because of the
fact the Conservative Party
is new and didn't have a
lot of time to prepare.
Fisher said it is always
hard to beat an incum-
Arson in Dashwood damages business
Doreen Remple of Dashwood,whose yard sale business building was bro-
ken into and set on fire Wednesday morning.The fire caused $3,000 damage
to material in the building but was unable to ignite further due to lack of
oxygen. (photo/PatBolen)
DASHWOOD — A Dashwood busi-
ness was the victim of an arson last
week that caused an estimated
$3,000 damage.
The warehouse Doreen Remple
held yard sales in each weekend
was broken into in the early hours
of Wednesday morning and set on
fire.
The break-in was noticed by
Allen's Country Cafe owner Liz
Allen around 6 a.m. who called the
fire department.
The fire had been started in the
middle of the building with a pile of
newspapers, plastic and a wagon.
According to Remple, the fire
burned itself out due to lack of oxy-
gen since the side door used to gain
entry was closed by the arsonists.
She said most of the items in the
building were scorched or smoke
damaged, but was trying to save
what she could.
Remple, who had no insurance,
said she wasn't sure whether she
would restart the business.
Asked by police if she knew of
anyone with anything against her,
Remple said no.
Huron OPP is looking for assis-
tance in solving this case. If you
have any information that can help
please call the Exeter OPP office or
contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-
222-8477(TIPS).
bent.
She also remained opti-
mistic.
"This riding will be
ours," she said, adding her
campaign team did an
excellent job. In 38 years
in politics, including a
term as Bruce MPP and
municipal work, Fisher
said this was the best
campaign she's been
involved with.
Fisher told the Times -
Advocate she knew it
would be a tight race and
said she respected Steckle.
She said the fact Steckle is
viewed as a right wing
Liberal who has spoken
out against some of his
party's policies could have
taken votes away from
her.
Fisher is unsure of her
future, saying she'll
always be a Conservative,
but doesn't know if she'll
run in the next election.
She's proud of the fact she
ran a "great and clean
campaign," and said her
party did well across
Canada, although she
wishes the Conservatives
had done better in
Quebec.
Noting the fact that
minority governments
don't often last long,
Fisher said the
Conservatives are "in an
excellent position" for the
next election.
Ur wins tight race
MIDDLESEX-KENT-LAMBTON — In a tight race,
incumbent Liberal Rose -Marie Ur managed to hold on
to her seat in Parliament.
It wasn't until the last polls reported that victory was
evident for Ur, who received 19,291 votes.
Close behind, with 19,093, was Conservative Bev
Shipley.
A distant third was NDP Kevin Blake with 7,323
votes.
Rounding up the race were the Green Party's Allen
McKeown with 1,817 votes and the Christian Heritage
Party's Allan James with 1,003 votes.
Intersection
work continues
EXETER — Detours
planned for last week
concerning the construc-
tion at the Highway 4/83
intersection ended up
being delayed until this
week.
Project engineer Bruce
Potter of B.M. Ross said
Lavis Contracting was
unable to go ahead with
planned work on the east
and west sides of the
intersection last week
because of poor weather.
Instead, the west side of
the intersection was re-
scheduled to be done this
past Monday and the east
side Tuesday.
Asphalt was laid and
Hwy. 83 east was
widened.
Today (Wednesday)
additional asphalt work
was to be done.
"It's just a couple of
days' delay from last
week," Potter said.
Next Tuesday, all
paving will be finished,
with line painting and
most of the project com-
plete by Wednesday.
Steckle re-elected
Continued from front page
members on the agricul-
ture committee.
"I don't see working with
them as a negative," he
said.
And he doesn't think the
agricultural sector will
suffer at all from such a
coalition. Steckle considers
the BSE crisis top priority.
"Looking after that is one
of the first things we have
to do," he said. Health,
too, is high on his priority
list.
Among the well-wishers
at his victory celebration
was Liberal MPP Carol
Mitchell, who said she was
pleased at the outcome.
"I'm delighted to contin-
ue working with Paul,"
she said. "We work well
together, and we certainly
have a lot of work to do."
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