This page was exported from Shelburne Free Press [ https://shelburnefreepress.ca ] Export date:Sat Jul 6 23:21:48 2024 / +0000 GMT ___________________________________________________ Title: Crewson brings ‘feist’ to the fight for Dufferin–Caledon --------------------------------------------------- The first of two Dufferin Federal election debates played out on the stage of Orangeville District Secondary School for a crowd of more than 200, September 30th. Similar to previous debate events hosted by the Greater Dufferin Area Chamber of Commerce, this one followed a very civilized, tightly controlled format that would have made for a rather sedated affair if not for the passion and feist that Liberal candidate Ed Crewson brought to the fight in his vie “to be a voice” for the people of Dufferin-Caledon and their “servant in our nation's parliament.” Running the show once again was Ron Munro of Dufferin.biz, one of the main supporting organizations of the debate. An experienced moderator, Munro brought insight and wit to the event. He told the audience the debate would give them “an opportunity to hear from candidates,” who would explain “why their party has the best policies to represent us on an international stage.” He reminded voters that it took “a great deal of courage to run at any level” and that the audience's job was “to listen carefully…and cast their ballots on October 19th.” The candidates each had five minutes to present their platforms and two minutes to respond to a selection of, what Munroe referred to as “an overwhelming number of questions” submitted on-line and prior to the debate. Green Party candidate Nancy Urekar's simple frankness and down to earth honesty proved to have great audience appeal. She displayed the same sharp intellect and grasp of party policy and problem solving that her D-C Green predecessors showed in the last federal and provincial debates. Urekar successfully built on a growing voter pull to her party - which finished second in D-C in the last federal election. She spoke with confidence regarding guaranteed level of income, tax cuts for low income families, affordable housing, homecare, and Pharmacare (a universal plan to pay for Canadian's prescription drugs) which Mr. Tilson argued was too expensive. She had high praise for her leader Elizabeth May, and invited audiences to look at the Green Party policies, including a three year budget on-line. NPD candidate Reyha Yazbek proved she had polish her debate skills since she ran in the Provincial election for the NDP's last summer and answered questions with a new confidence and grasp of policy. She told the audience that the NDP had a plan to address “Harper's failures” including the economy, veterans, and environmental protection; however her somewhat effected ‘union boss' persona may have been slightly off putting in contrast to Nancy Urekar's very real “what you see is what you get” delivery. She said her party was listening to the concerns of voters at the door, such as child care costs, debt, and caring for aging parents. Conservative candidate David Tilson was in the unenviable position of playing defence much of the time as the incumbent and representative in the House of Commons for Dufferin-Caledon since 2004. Mr. Tilson's modus operandi during debates relies heavily on notes that quote party doctrine and statistics, but at times on September 30th, those answers seemed to have little to do with the question. His response to a question regarding the need to un-muzzle Canadian scientists under Harper rule, for example, was to read off a long list of the number of scientific journals in which Canadian scientists had been published; the unfortunate result was laughs and jeers from the audience. He received a similar response with his frequent employment of ‘fear' phrases which included sound bites such as “dangerous economic choices,' “Jihad terrorists want to bring harm to Canada” and “ISIS says they are coming to get us.” Mr. Tilson's hyperbole prompted Green candidate Nancy Urekar to make a plea to the audience, “Vote not out of fear, but for what really matters.” Despite the backlash, it was clear there were strong Conservative Party supporters in the audience. Tilson reviewed his record in assisting with federal funding to Dufferin County for projects such as CDRC upgrades in Shelburne and water upgrades in Orangeville. He told voters “my experience will continue to best represent Dufferin” and included in this his position in the House as “Chair of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration” – a surprising point to emphasize considering current public pushback against Conservative immigration policies regarding Syrian refugees. Liberal candidate Ed Crewson, the ‘born and bred in Dufferin' favourite of the debate crowd September 30th, faced a muffled murmur of discontent from factions in the audience when he said his party supported GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in reference to food production. In a response to the Shelburne Free Press, Crewson said, “The Liberal party recognizes that GMOs have made significant strides in enabling farmers to adapt to the negative effects of climate change as well as enhance productivity and competitiveness : we live in an increasingly hungry world, and these technologies are part of the solution. … The federal government must rebuild its capacity to deliver on evidence-based decision making… All decisions we make, particularly those that affect the safety of Canadians, will be based on science and facts. We will take that approach to mandatory labelling: we will study all of the evidence, and we will implement the policies that evidence demands.” Widely known in North Dufferin, Ed Crewson has long been popular for his sheer tenacity and passion for public service. He reminded voters of his “comprehensive knowledge of local issues” and that as a small business man and former Mayor of Shelburne, he had “proven himself as fiscally responsible and socially progressive.” He said David Tilson and the Harper government had shown a “lack of vision,” that they had “said one thing and done another” in everything from Senate reform to treatment of veterans – drawing attention to the fact that under Prime Minister Harper's rule, and despite a surplus in veteran funding, “there have been more soldiers commit suicide than there were soldiers actually killed in combat in Afghanistan.” “One in five waits eight months for treatment,” Crewson said, his eyes on David Tilson, “While you sit on surpluses.” He said the Liberals would support veterans and seniors, tackle climate change, and invest in the economy – “Investments that are needed today, not eight years from now.” In his closing remarks, the Liberal candidate said, “You've had 10 years to do it David and you haven't go it done.” Ed Crewson told voters this was “the most important election in a generation” and that they had a clear choice: “Vote for fear and fatigue or hope and hard work.” By Marni Walsh --------------------------------------------------- Images: --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Post date: 2015-10-09 20:17:29 Post date GMT: 2015-10-10 00:17:29 Post modified date: 2015-10-15 21:26:38 Post modified date GMT: 2015-10-16 01:26:38 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Export of Post and Page as text file has been powered by [ Universal Post Manager ] plugin from www.gconverters.com