Home stretch for June 12 vote

YorkRegion.com
June 5, 2014
By Simone Joseph

Few municipal candidates are talking about the elephant in the room: power plant projects, says Thornhill Green Party candidate David Bergart.

“It is the biggest issue confronting Ontario,” Bergart said. “It is something you and your children will be paying for for many moons”.

Yet, any municipal election debate tends to avoid talk about nuclear energy, he said.

“People have to start thinking there is a gigantic issue no one is talking about,” Bergart said.

A major topic of discussion among residents is the futility of having a byelection, followed by a general election three months later, he said.

“People are asking, ‘Why is there an election? Why are they spending $100 million on an election we don’t need’?”

On a positive note, Bergart pointed out that the Green Party has made major gains this election. The party has a candidate in every Ontario riding.

Libertarian party candidate Gene Balfour realizes voters need to be more aware of his party.

A case in point: He was putting up a sign when a man drove by and said: “Libertarians. I didn’t know you guys were in Canada.” When people first hear the party’s name, they think the party is made up of a bunch of anarchists, Balfour said. When the Thornhill candidate first heard the party name, he thought it was religious.

But the party does have a growing presence. In 2007, the party had 25 candidates running in the election. Today, 74 Libertarian candidates are running.

“We are never going to win,” Balfour said. His goal: “To change the dialogue”.

During door-to-door campaigning, Conservative candidate and incumbent Gila Martow heard people complain that the province is not approving needed drugs.

“The province is at a 10-month standstill. I am hearing from doctors and drug companies they are putting in drugs for approval and they are not getting funded for OHIP”. She spoke to one Thornhill woman whose adult daughter needs oral medicine for cancer and the province would not fund this, so the mother had to borrow money to cover the cost.

As Liberal candidate Sandra Yeung Racco campaigned in Thornhill, people have been telling her they are upset with Conservative leader Tim Hudak for suggesting he would cut 100,000 public service jobs, Racco said.

But Balfour has the opposite concern. Rather than being worried about cuts, he is concerned that the big political parties are making expensive promises despite the fact the government has major debt, Balfour said.

The party is concerned about a phenomenon called “government creep”, he said. He remembers 50 years ago, government was a small river that would “lap at your feet and tickle your toes”, he said. But, the government kept expanding its services. The result?

“We are drowning in government services,” Balfour said.

He also complains Racco may be the only candidate able to campaign during the day because she can take time out of her job as a Vaughan councillor to go door to door.

“The rest of us have other obligations. There is something unfair about it. It doesn’t seem right,” Balfour said. “If you are paid by one employer, you do the job you were paid to do. I wish I had the luxury of doing what she does, but I don’t,” Balfour said.

Ms Racco disagreed.

“I have taken a leave of pay for six weeks, but more importantly, as a three-time elected city representative for 10-plus years, I have always listened and been an advocate for my community,” Ms Racco said.

The NDP candidate did not respond before press time.