Incumbent Tilson hit hard in Shelburne debate

October 15, 2015 · 0 Comments

Native son Ed Crewson was, as expected, the favoured candidate at the Federal Candidates Debate in Shelburne, while Conservative incumbent David Tilson, refusing to distance himself from Stephen Harper’s rhetoric of fear – despite audience disapproval at the September 30th debate in Orangeville – was hit hard by the debate audience at Grace Tipling Hall October 6th. In contrast, Crewson, who had already proven himself to most of the audience as the successful and unbeatable Mayor of Shelburne for 17 years, received repeated loud cheers and applause.
NDP candidate Rehya Yazbek and Green Party’s Nancy Urekar also received a warm reception from the crowd. Yazbek is a big step up from the “no-show” NDP candidate of the last federal election; her passion for working class families alongside Urekar’s unshakeable grasp of policy (and the fact that she plays the fiddle) impressed the Shelburne audience giving them a lot to think about as voters in the October 19th federal election.
The biggest gaff of the evening came when Mr. Tilson appeared to take credit for stopping the Mega Quarry that threatened the Headwaters and class 1 prime farmland in Melancthon Township in recent years. Conservative Federal representative for Dufferin at the time, Mr. Tilson came into the Mega Quarry fight very late in the game, seeming to spend more time avoiding involvement in the battle then joining it – even publicly announcing at the 2011 Federal debate at Grace Tipling Hall that it was an issue “for lawyers” not politicians – the quarry was defeated in 2012 after years of work by community protestors to bring national awareness to the issue.
In response, Mr. Crewson drew a roar of audience laughter quipping, “Well…I don’t think you stopped it David.” However, Crewson too received some flak for his pecuniary interest as the insurance provider for the Highland Companies – legally preventing his involvement with the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce (NDACT) in the battle to protect the Headwaters. It is known that the Highland Companies’ preliminary research to target Dufferin County aggregate included weaknesses in local government; many frontline protestors of the mine suspect Highlands strategically targeted Crewson early in their land acquisitions to ensure that the mostly likely politician in the area to put up a fight would have his hands tied.
Mr. Tilson tried to regain audience confidence throughout the evening stressing the need for balancing the budget, tax cuts and terrorist protection which he feels is only possible under Stephen Harper – begging the question: Did we need terrorist protection before Stephen Harper? Certainly, Mr. Tilson had supporters in the crowd, but generally the audience’s mood was less than receptive, even eliciting a loud “No!” in response to Mr. Tilson’s closing request for re-election.
The debate support belonged to Ed Crewson, but there was a lot of pull from the forward thinking policies of Green candidate Nancy Urekar and the NDP promises of guaranteed income and $15/day child care. Highlighting once again, that the reason Mr. Harper gets elected by 40 per cent of Canadians is that the bright lights of three parties turn the heads of the other 60 per cent and split the vote – prompting continued discussions on the necessity of strategic voting for those who desire change in Canada’s parliament. In that vein, more bad news hit Mr. Tilson this week as Nanos poles showed the Trudeau Liberals over-all now leading the Harper Conservatives by six points.

By Marni Walsh

Photo: “At home” Ed Crewson received the support of the crowd at the Dufferin Federal Debate held in Shelburne October 6th while Conservative incumbent David Tilson was hit hard with disapproval for continuing to hammer home the Harper ‘rhetoric of fear.’