No matter who wins the election on October 19, there will be a new MP for Yorkton-Melville. The four candidates in the running had an opportunity to make their case for themselves and their party at the All Candidates Forum, hosted by the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce at the Gallagher Centre. Cathay Wagantall with the Conservative Party, Elaine Hughes with the Green Party, Brooke Malinoski with the Liberal Party and Doug Ottenbreit with the New Democratic Party all made their case for themselves and their party to a full house.
The event began with five minutes of opening statements per candidate, followed by four questions prepared the Chamber of Commerce, and then questions from the crowd. The Chamber lead with a question about dealing with the infrastructure deficit in the country. Wagantall pushed for a Public-Private Partnership, or P3 model for dealing with the problem. This was countered by Ottenbreit who said the NDP plan requires no P3 requirement, saying municipalities can decide where their money is spent. Malinoski joked that she thought the question was a plant from her party, because the Liberal party is planning “the largest infrastructure investment in Canadian history,” using infrastructure building and two short-term deficits as a plan to jump-start to the economy, including plans to support a new hospital and rebuilt roads.
This was followed by a question about how they will run their constituency office. Wagantall promised a “continuity of professionalism and experience,” maintaining most of the staff used by previous MP Garry Breitkreuz. Hughes said she would use “all available technology” to respond to the constituents, and keep an office in Kelvington or Wadena with the possibility of temporary rentals in other communities as needed. While Malinoski joked about a Yorkton-Melville hockey game deciding her office location, she said Yorkton was the logical place to set up, as it is a place where people visit, though she also promised to visit different communities, speak to people as much as possible and connect via social media to engage younger constituents. The candidate who seized on the question the most, however, was Ottenbreit, who promised to be in the riding as much as possible, saying that if he exceeded his travel budget as a result, he would use his own money for the trip. He also used it as a chance to attack Breitkreuz for a relative absence during his 23 years in the office.
“I have been somewhat disappointed that in the last ten years, with all due respect to my conservative friend, our former member never held a public meeting in Melville. That’s not the type of leadership you deserve.”
The Chamber’s questions also had a rare instance of all parties making the same promise, with all candidates saying that a cut in the small business tax rate was coming, in response to a question on where the parties stood in terms of business taxes, reducing the rate to nine per cent from 11 per cent. They diverged on the further details on tax rates, however. Ottenbreit admitted not everyone in the room would like the NDP solution, which would see an increase in the corporate tax rate by one per cent, which he says is the average of what it has been under the Conservative government. He believes that the corporate sector has been given a “tax holiday,” and it’s time for them to pay “their fair share.” Malinoski promised to keep the corporate tax rate the same, as did Wagantall, the latter going so far to say they would introduce legislation to freeze tax rates for four years. Malinoski also said there would be a $100 million green technology fund as part of the Liberal plan. Hughes also promised a green technology fund, as well as plans to prioritize small business when making regulations. The corporate tax would increase under the Green party plan, however, to 19 per cent, the level it was at in 2006, quoting Mark Carney in calling the corporate tax savings “dead money.”
The questions from the floor opened with a criticism of the NDP government of Bob Rae in Ontario. Ottenbreit opened by joking that Bob Rae turned out to be a Liberal anyway, and said some of the decline was due to a free trade agreement that hurt the manufacturing industry. He followed by pointing out NDP accomplishments on the provincial level in Saskatchewan, including balancing budgets. Wagantall used it as an opportunity to get a few shots in at the NDP herself, insisting constituents were uncomfortable with an NDP government and saying “yes you may have balanced a budget but how did you do it?” Hughes took it as a chance to criticize the Conservative party’s reliance on oil for economic revenue, saying “if you have a one horse circus and it goes down, then you’re finished,” suggesting an economic approach that uses environmental stewardship to create employment, such as retrofitting old homes to more efficient technology. Malinoski cautioned against trying to equate provincial politics with federal, noting that while she can support the Saskatchewan Party government in the province, she does not believe the Conservatives have been effective federally, taking aim at deficit budgets and suggesting the 2015 surplus was “convenient.” She also took aim at the job growth under the Conservative government, calling it the “lowest rate since the Great Depression.”
The debate shifted to the recently announced Trans Pacific Partnership. Malinosky said that she supports trade, but believes more transparency was needed for the negotiation. Ottenbreit and Hughes both came out against the TPP, Ottenbreit saying it is not a free trade agreement, that it will force up the price of drugs and damage the country’s labour laws. Hughes said the Green party “supports fair trade, not free trade,” and took greatest issue with corporate interests being able to go to a tribunal to protest Canadian legislation. “It is an insidious piece of legislation,” Hughes said. Wagantall, responding to the other candidates, says that labour and agriculture groups are satisfied with the deal, and said that it opens up opportunity for Canadian business.
The forum became most heated when a question was raised about the niqab issue. There was a single boo when Wagantall was defending her party’s position on the niqab, coming midway through claiming it was a question of “Canadian values.” Wagantall also claimed every party was exploiting it for political gain. The other candidates questioned the Conservative party for making this an election issue, with Hughes calling it a “dead cat scenario” - that is, something shocking designed to divert attention from real issues. Ottenbreit noted that it was an issue that affected two women total, saying a national child care program would matter more to women in the country. Malinoski used it as an opportunity to question the way the debate has been framed so far, as a security issue and a women’s rights issue.
“As far as Stephen Harper coming out and saying he’s a feminist in regards to that, I think that’s quite strange. Why would you oppress a woman further when you consider her oppressed, and if you care so much about women’s rights, why aren’t you making an inquiry about missing and murdered indigenous women?”
A local issue that was brought to the forefront was the closing of the tree nursery in Indian Head. Hughes called the closing a “tragedy,” and would support it reopening. Ottenbreit also said the NDP is committed to reopening the nursery, and running it on a cost recovery basis. Malinoski was forced to admit that she was unfamiliar with the issue itself, but invited the person who asked the question to speak to her after the event in order to get a clear picture of what is going on. Wagantall admitted that the decision was frustrating to a number of people and she was familiar with the animosity surrounding it, and claimed that the Conservative government is committed to the environment.
The closing statements did produce the most spirited applause of the evening, following Malinoski’s declaration that young people in the riding need to vote. Wagantall followed this statement by saying she was hopeful that we would see a higher youth turnout, noting that she had met with people who plan to vote for the first time. The vote itself takes place on Monday, October 19.
