North Okanagan-Shuswap residents got their first side-by-side look at their ridingsa国际传媒檚 federal candidates at the first All Candidates Forum of 2019.
The Armstrong Centennial Theatre was at near capacity Wednesday night as questions were thrown to the five candidates following their two-minute opening statements.
The event, hosted by the Armstrong Chamber of Commerce, saw a wide range of topics, with candidates spending time on some topics that were predictable (taxation, climate change) and lingering on some that were perhaps less so (gun control, immigration and the efficacy of the justice system).
B.Csa国际传媒檚 forestry industry was an early-mentioned concern, and candidates were eager to convey their support of the industry to a community that saw reductions announced at the Armstrong Tolko mill earlier that day.
NDP candidate Harwinder Sandhu is from Mackenzie, a town thatsa国际传媒檚 been , and she spoke to her connection to this community.
sa国际传媒淢y family relied on sawmills, and forestry was the backbone of many towns like Mackenzie and Terrace.sa国际传媒�
Sandhu pointed to a put out by the B.C. Council of Forest Industries on Tuesday. sa国际传媒淭hey align very well with the NDP platform,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淚 will be committed to working with (the council) because I know that for a lot of people forestry is bread and butter.sa国际传媒�
Green candidate Marc Reinarz likewise sympathized with mill workers, and blamed poor industry management as having created the current situation.
sa国际传媒淲e have mismanaged forestry in the sense that wesa国际传媒檝e been exporting raw logs to the extent that we were dumping them down to the States, and today mills are crying for product which they cansa国际传媒檛 afford anymore.sa国际传媒�
A residentsa国际传媒檚 question on the candidatessa国际传媒� plans to protect future generations by mitigating climate change drew an applause from the crowd. Sandhu and Reinarz were joined by Liberal candidate Cindy Derkaz in calling for significant attention to the climate change file, each propping up their respective partysa国际传媒檚 platforms.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 running as an advocate for the environment,sa国际传媒� said Derkarz, sa国际传媒渁nd I think in situations of farms in this area we are going to have tremendous changes in climate and weather thatsa国际传媒檚 going to affect your crops.sa国际传媒� Derkaz spoke to the need to, sa国际传媒渟tay with the program,sa国际传媒� in other words to stick with the Liberalssa国际传媒� environmental plan, and with commitments like the Kyoto and Paris accords.
For Conservative candidate Mel Arnold whosa国际传媒檚 held the seat for the last four years, the night was about proving that he and his party are serious about environmental policy. After fending off accusations from a few public questioners that hesa国际传媒檇 suggested climate change wasnsa国际传媒檛 human-caused back in 2015, Arnold took multiple opportunities to advocate for the climate plan his party unveiled in June.
sa国际传媒淎ndrew Scheer, our leader, has rolled out our real plan for climate change and the environment. It deals with incentives and innovation in Canada that we can market across the world.sa国际传媒�
The issue of gun control - too much of it - was put to the panel. Peoplesa国际传媒檚 Party of Canada candidate Kyle H. Delfing was the most strongly in favour of firearm sovereignty and repealing Bill C-67. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 no good for farmers,sa国际传媒� he said.
Derkaz was adamant that the bill is not an unreasonable restriction on guns. sa国际传媒淚 want to bust the myth that (wesa国际传媒檙e) going into peoplesa国际传媒檚 homes and taking away firearms,sa国际传媒� she said.
Delfing - a political first-timer - was quick to clarify his position: sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e legislating the guns out of your hands, theysa国际传媒檙e not taking them.sa国际传媒�
As with most electoral forums, taxes were a major divider, with the Greens and Liberals generally supporting more government spending than their Conservatives and PPC counterparts.
Candidates will meet again at the Environmental All-Candidates Forum on Thursday, Sept. 26 at the Schubert Centre in Vernon. The free event is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. but people are invited to come early to read answers to sa国际传媒済reensa国际传媒� questions provided to the candidates in August. The candidates answers are also planned to be made available just before the forum at .
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