An Elvis tribute artist, a rhyming gambler, and a politician walk into a community centre.
It sounds like the start of a joke, but it became reality in Bradford West Gwillimbury on Wednesday night at a debate of York-Simcoe federal byelection candidates.
Six of the seven candidates sat at the front of an auditorium at the Bradford and District Memorial Community Centre, taking questions on a variety of topics, punctured by the independent candidate John Turmel standing up and boisterously yelling many of his replies in rhyme.
In his introductory statement, the self-proclaimed “bank-fighter extraordinaire,” who has tried starting his own political party three times and has faced gambling charges, recited part of a poem about how the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau ended interest-free loans:
“All governments must borrow now, new funds from private banks
And raise new tax to pay the interest, with bankers’ thanks
But worse, in 1968, Pierre lifted the cap
On interest from six per cent to 60, that’s the rap …
So, Oh Canada, Pierre Trudeau is responsible for debts out of control
By lifting rate cap and ending interest-free loans, his role
Oh Canada, sure could have offered all the living swell
But Pierre, in 1974, turned Canada from heaven into hell.”
Some members of the audience laughed during Turmel’s answers, while the other candidates sat silently, some smirking.
“I’m trying to stop financial waste. I’m the smartest man on Earth, and these people aren’t on the same side of the bell curve,” Turmel said, referring to his opponents. “You’re being scammed. I can’t be scammed.”
Elvis was in the building
Six candidates took part in the debate, while Progressive Canadian Party candidate Dorian Baxter, known as Elvis Priestley because he is an Elvis tribute artist and an archbishop at Christ the King, Graceland Church in Newmarket, sat at the back of the room with promotional materials.
He told BradfordToday after the debate he informed the Town of BWG he would be participating instead of the Bradford Board of Trade, which hosted the event.
“I’m disappointed I could not debate. It was an unfortunate error of events,” he said. “I used to live here. I thought I could really make some inroads.”
Baxter, a single dad who raised his two daughters in BWG, said he wants residents to know the Progressive Canadian Party adheres to the “Westminster model of democracy that says you never vote for the party, you vote for the person.”
“I’ve got all the qualifications to really represent this area,” he said, adding his Top 3 priorities for York-Simcoe are the full extension of the Highway 400-404 Connecting Link into outer regions of Georgina, immediate implementation of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan, and more federal funding for seniors to improve retirement and nursing home facilities.
Is the byelection a waste of money?
All the other candidates took questions read by Bradford Board of Trade members on topics that ranged from climate change, to small business, to whether a byelection is a waste of money.
“Everyone gets very excited about a byelection. I don’t think it’s a waste of time,” said Progressive Conservative (PC) candidate Scot Davidson. “I think it’s a referendum about the Liberal government and how people feel about it.”
Several candidates pointed to former PC York-Simcoe MP Peter Van Loan, who retired from politics last fall, sparking the upcoming byelection, as a reminder of why residents are heading to the polls Feb. 25 only to do it all over again in a federal election this fall.
“(Van Loan) had a commitment, and he didn’t fulfil it,” said Green Party candidate Matt Lund.
“Peter Van Loan was elected in 2015 to hold his place for four years. If he had held on for another couple of months, we wouldn’t be in this position,” added Liberal candidate Shaun Tanaka. “We wouldn’t be wasting taxpayers’ dollars on something that was unnecessary, but here we are. I don’t think it’s a waste of time. It’s just unnecessary.”
She argued a Liberal MP is needed to work collaboratively alongside the current federal government, but other candidates suggested it was time to mix things up.
NDP candidate Jessa McLean said voters can “build momentum and fight for real change” by replacing their MP now.
“When Stephen Harper was in power for eight years, we had a Conservative representative that did very little to address serious issues. Send a message this byelection that we know the system is not working for us,” she said.
“There is no left, there is no right. There’s only the haves and have-nots,” said Robert Geurts, of the People’s Party of Canada, a party formed last September by former Quebec MP Maxime Bernier. “The solution is to send a lightning bolt to Ottawa (with a new government).”
Climate change
The candidates sparred about climate change, with Tanaka challenging Davidson’s comment the PC Party has a “climate change program” but it will not be released until months from now.
“I believe climate is changing … and we have to be take it very seriously,” he said, noting a carbon tax is “not the way forward.”
“It’s rich to hear someone say they care about climate change and say wait six months to see a plan,” quipped Tanaka.
Lund called climate change “the definitive issue for our generation” before piling onto Davidson’s comments.
“To Scot, who has said they’re saying our climate change plan is coming, I’ll believe that when I get to see Donald Trump’s taxes as well. If you need help drafting your legislation, I got a book for you: Global Warming for Dummies.”
McLean argued whether Canadians can afford a carbon tax is a “distraction” from neither the PCs or Liberals having a plan for climate change.
While climate change is real, “how are we going to (deal with it) if we’re all broke?” Geurts said, adding the government needs to give money back to Canadians so they can hold provinces accountable for the environment.
Highway 400-404 Connecting Link
The link is a “critical piece” for York-Simcoe, said Davidson. “It’s very important to me infrastructure dollars come into York-Simcoe. At the end of the day, those are your tax dollars.”
The NDP is committed to infrastructure funding, said McLean.
The candidate elected as York-Simcoe’s MP must work collaboratively with different levels of government to build the link, Tanaka said.
“We have made infrastructure and growth a top priority,” she said.
Geurts, however, took the stance that the link is not a federal issue, rather provincial.
“You can’t keep turning every issue into a tri-government issue,” he said, suggesting that makes it more difficult to hold individual levels of government accountable.
It could also mean the federal government could then be responsible for funding other provincial projects if it funds the link, he said.
Lund, a member of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, said the link is one of the organization’s top priorities and he is scheduled to speak about it in front of Premier Doug Ford in August.
“We’re trying to get this done for you now,” he said.
Turmel said the link could easily be funded if banks changed their interest policies.
“If we could program the Bank of Canada like it was before 1974, we could fund it interest free,” he said.
Small business
All of the byelection candidates said they had plans to help small business owners.
“We want to cut payroll taxes directly,” said Lund. “(That) is going to make it easier for employers to pay their employees. It’s going to make it a lot easier for employers to be able to help guide their companies and make their profits.”
McLean said the best way to help small businesses is the same way to help everyone else — increasing wages, making housing more affordable, and investing in Pharmacare will increase people’s buying power because they will have more money, she said.
“Our riding has one of the worst rates (of unaffordable housing) in the province,” she said. “Voters want to know what — what — is going to be done.”
Turmel said helping small businesses comes down to one thing: “I want businesses and citizens to have interest-free accounts” to increase the money in their pockets.
Tanaka, who operates a business with her husband, pointed to how the Liberals have lowered the tax rate for small businesses from 11 per cent, to nine per cent.
She said the Liberals want to “advance your interests” through every stage of life.
Geurts said his plan is to get rid of capital gains and increase capital allowance, as well as tackle “wage stagnation.”
Many millenials, he said, are finishing post-secondary education with tens of thousands of dollars in debt but are getting jobs that only pay $30,000 a year.
“We can help the millenials with a creative solution revolution.”
Davidson said he wants to be part of a “new Conservative government” to help small businesses thrive and increase opportunities for small businesses.
“Small business is a huge economic driver for the economy, (but) there’s small business people holding on by their fingernails,” he said.”
