Fiery forum
Candidates square off in heated debate
SHERBROOKE - The four candidates in the provincial election race for Guysborough-Sheet Harbour squared off in an at-times fiery public debate on Tuesday night that canvassed a range of the riding's critical issues.
Exactly a week before voters go to the polls, Conservative Ronnie Chisholm, Liberal David Horton, the NDP's Jim Boudreau and Green Party candidate Marike Finlay engaged in a lively exchange that lasted almost two hours. While most stuck to the script when questioned on the big issues - roads, forestry, health care and the fading fortunes of the riding's fishery - heated exchanges were the norm whenever the opportunity arose.
Sherbrooke Lions Club was filled to near capacity for the debate and some partisan support was evident in the crowd. Badges and T-shirts proclaiming allegiance to the various parties were worn proudly; several crowd comments made before the contest had even begun left little doubt that some spectators had already decided who'd get their vote next Tuesday.
The format for the debate was simple.
Candidates were given two-minute slots for opening and closing comments. The remainder of the time was spent answering questions from the moderator and engaging in often-explosive one-minute free-for-alls.
Chisholm went on the offensive at the first opportunity, reminding the crowd that he's the only candidate - among the three leading parties - who lives in the riding. It was a point he often returned to.
However his decision to introduce that fact quickly attracted the ire of both Boudreau and Horton. Boudreau listed his long history of growing up and teaching in the riding. Horton, meanwhile, reminded Chisholm that he owns property in Canso and plans to live in that community if elected.
Once the scripted questions began, topics including business development, education, the environment, health care, transportation, the fishery and tourism were introduced and each candidate was given one minute to outline their platform.
On business development, the well-spoken Finlay said there was no one "silver bullet" to solve the riding's problems. Horton, meanwhile, talked about his party's pledge to create a ministry dedicated to rural economic development. Chisholm promised his party would lower taxes for small businesses and Boudreau criticized the Liberals and Conservatives for "virtually non-existent" economic development records while in office.
Speaking about transportation, Chisholm said the Conservatives had invested hundreds of millions of dollars into road work and made significant improvements to the riding's roads during his time in office. That comment led to one member of the crowd muttering, "Where?"
Horton immediately pounced, asking Chisholm to take him on a tour of the riding to show him the improvements because he "couldn't see them."
"They're hard to see from Halifax," Chisholm fired back.
Boudreau, meanwhile, said the NDP would create a "provincial priority list" that would be publicly available and show Nova Scotians "exactly when their road is going to be paved." He also said the NDP would publish a yearly report card to show voters what they'd done and whether the promised road work was on schedule.
When the issue of forestry arose, it didn't take long for the lockout at Stora Enso's Port Hawkesbury operation to take centre stage.
"I think it's time the Conservative government pulled out a bunch of chairs and said, "Sit down, you're not leaving until this is sorted out'," Horton said. He then accused the Conservatives of "running away" from the lockout because it wouldn't help their election campaign.
Chisholm responded by saying that it was in fact his party that had brought the union and Stora management back to the bargaining table and that the company wouldn't get the $65 million recently pledged by the Conservatives "if they don't work."
Boudreau, meanwhile, said the Stora situation was of "major concern" and that the province had reached a forestry "crossroads" after years of Liberal and Conservative mismanagement.
"I understand the situation at Stora but unlike the other two (Liberal and Conservative) I don't think throwing money at it is the answer," he said.
