Opposition candidates attack ‘useless’ election
The candidates in Willowdale may be battling each other for votes, but the ones from the opposition parties agree on one thing: the upcoming federal election is unnecessary.
“The election is [Prime Minister] Stephen Harper’s way of trying to re-establish the status quo,” said Martha Hall Findlay, the riding’s Liberal incumbent.
Susan Wallace of the NDP agreed, saying “[It's a] useless election that no one needs.”
The Willowdale riding runs from Highway 401 in the south to Steeles Avenue in the north. In the east, it’s bounded by Victoria Park Avenue, Highway 404, Finch Avenue and Leslie Street. The west branch of the Don River, Bathurst Street and Yonge Street form its western border.
As of 2006, its population was 129,356 - which represents an increase of 19.3 per cent since 2001, although the riding’s boundaries were redrawn in the interim. Approximately six per cent of the riding is Jewish.
Besides Hall Findlay and Wallace, Jake Karns is running for the Conservatives, and Lou Carcasole is representing the Green Party.
Hall Findlay - her party’s associate finance critic and a former leadership candidate who won the riding with almost 60 per cent of the vote in a byelection last March - is pushing for an environmentally friendly Canada, something she said Harper has made no progress on.
“We want to help Canadians…become greener. This current federal government has done nothing for the environment,” Hall Findlay said.
“The Liberal [Green Shift] plan is the only one that will help to lower taxes,” she added.
Hall Findlay also said the Liberals are supporters of Israel and would like to see a peaceful two-state solution to the Mideast conflict.
“We are very supportive of the Jewish community and of Israel,” she said, adding it shouldn’t be necessary to say that the Liberals stand behind Israel, but Harper has made it that way.
The Conservative candidate Jake Karns, who could not be reached for comment, is running on a platform of further cuts to the GST and a tougher stand on crime, including minimum sentences for gun crime.
Wallace said her goal is to meet the needs of constituents by creating green jobs, putting a stop to further health care privatization and placing more emphasis on arts and culture.
“Artists should not be insulted or diminished,” she said, referring to comments by Harper earlier in the campaign that complaints by artists “claiming their subsidies aren’t high enough when they know those subsidies have actually gone up, I’m not sure that’s something that resonates with ordinary people.”
Carcasole’s campaign for the Green party is focused mainly on climate change and health care, and more specifically on reinstating the single-tier system and stopping further privatization of health care.
Aside from considering the election unnecessary, Wallace and Hall Findlay both said they’re unhappy with Harper’s decision to hold the election on the first day of Sukkot.
“I hope they [the Jewish community] can find the means to vote,” Wallace said, urging voters to check her website for information about advance polls.
“Thanks, Mr. Harper for checking a calendar,” she added sarcastically.