Off-island candidates square off

A debate in Hudson last Friday night between the five federal elections candidates for the Vaudreuil-Soulanges focused largely on economic development and the environment.

"Why are we behind all the trends?" Questioned Green Party candidate Jean-Yves Massenet, bringing up the fact Bombardier builds some of the best electric trains in the world, but these are not used in Canada.

Candidates of the two largest parties, Michael Fortier, who stepped down as Senator to run for the first time in the riding, and Brigitte Legault of the Liberal Party, who has organized campaigns before but also runs for the first time herself, spent much of the time attacking their rival party's environmental records.

"I personally think (Stéphane Dion's) record as member of the government was far from stellar," Fortier said, referring to the Liberal leader's tenure as Environment Minister in Jean Chrétien's government.

Fortier added the Liberal government had signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 but had done nothing to implement its greenhouse gas reductions demands since then.

Legault, however, defended the Liberal government's accomplishments. "You don't even believe 1990 (the year the Protocol demands signatory countries to bring their greenhouse gas emissions lower than) is the year to respect," she charged at Fortier. "Do you even believe in the Kyoto Protocol?" She asked.

Bloc Québecois incumbent Meili Faille, who has represented Vaudreuil-Soulanges in Parliament since 2004, said the 1990 date is a significant one, and claimed the Quebec government, as well as the manufacturing sector in general, have asked Ottawa to stick to the date.

With Faille having held the riding for the last four years, one Hudson resident got up to ask why he should place his vote in the hands of a minority party that has no chance of forming government.

"The short answer is we are in a democracy," she answered, adding her work since becoming MP has been noticed not just by citizens of her riding, but immigration advocacy groups in Toronto and Vancouver as well. "You want someone to take care of the problems that are in the riding," she added.

"If the government does things that you dislike or disapprove of," said Maxime Héroux-Legault, running for the NDP, you should cast your vote elsewhere.

When it came to the economy, the tone of each candidate seemed to echo that of their leaders. Fortier denied the Canadian economy was in trouble and highlighted what the Conservative government had accomplished for Canadians since 2006. "We have created 800, 000 new jobs since we formed government," he said, in response to Legault's accusation that 95 000 had been lost. "We've cut income taxes by $200 billion," he added.

"People in the rest of Canada and in Quebec are (harshly) hit by the manufacturing sector job losses," Faille countered.

Héroux-Legault mentioned the NDP's platform would raise the minimum wage under federal jurisdiction to $25 an hour.

Fortier, who is Minister of International Trade and was previously Minister of Public Works, was also called to defend his record as helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) land contracts with large American clients, as well as get their money back when those clients default on payments.

One audience member, Serge Down, challenged him. "You're not a champion of SMEs, sir," he said, asking how small enterprises can truly get help from the government. "Do we have to become your friend, and if so, how?"

"The Canadian government and EDC (Export Development Canada) are there to help people," he said., adding reaction from industry to the Conservatives' efforts in this has been very positive, despite the audience member's claims.

Faille left the debate early due to another engagement.

According to a poll conducted for French daily La Presse recently, Faille is projected as the winner with about 49 per cent of the vote, with Fortier in second place at 21 and Legault third at 15.

The debate was held at the Stephen F. Shaar Community Centre in Hudson.