Three federal election candidates in the riding of Prescott-Russell-Cumberland participated in a debate held at the Robert Hartley Sports Complex in Hawkesbury on Sunday, April 13. The debate was presented by The Review, TVC-22 Clarence-Rockland, and GO-FM 92.1.
The candidates who participated were Giovanna Mingarelli of the Liberal Party of Canada, Thaila Riden of the Green Party of Canada, and Independent candidate Jason St-Louis. New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Ryder Finlay, People’s Party of Canada (PPC) candidate Deborah Perrier, and Conservative Party of Canada candidate Julie Séguin did not attend the debate.
The debate, moderated by José Cadorette and Dania Maisonneuve of TVC-22, consisted of a series of questions related to four categories. Those categories were the economy and international relations, democracy and citizen participation, francophone issues, and environment/agriculture. Each category also included a five-minute mini debate session. The friendly atmosphere made the debate more like a friendly conversation.
Economy and international relations
Riden said the current situation involving tariffs and the Trump administration is an opportunity to bring processing and manufacturing back to Canada, and to develop food hubs and community housing as markets for Canadian industries. He said the Green Party would create strategic reserves of resources vital to Canada’s economy and security, reduce taxes for small businesses, and raise the personal income tax exemption to $40,000.
St-Louis said government should be investing in the local economy through local businesses.
Mingarelli said a Liberal government will protect jobs, reduce taxes, and protect local workers affected by the tariff situation. She specifically mentioned employees of Ivaco Rolling Mills in L’Orignal. Mingarelli also emphasized the Liberal commitment to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers.
When asked about what the biggest challenge to the cost of living is, St-Louis blamed the cost of fuel due to the federal carbon tax. He said Canada should withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and instead promote hydrogen as a new source of fuel.
“We’ve eliminated the consumer carbon tax,” Mingarelli said. She added that a Liberal government would remove the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on homes costing up to $1 million and the federal Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) would provide homeowners with financing to create secondary suites in existing homes. Mingarelli also repeated the Liberal pledge to use targeted, dollar-for-dollar tariffs against US tariffs and use any revenue from those tariffs to assist affected workers.
Riden said a Green government would establish a proper east-west national electricity grid. It would end subsidies to oil and gas companies and nationalize parts of the industry.
Democracy and citizen participation
Mingarelli called online misinformation and hate spread through social media a “grave problem in society.” She emphasized Liberal commitments to keep the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Société Radio-Canada well-funded, along with funding for local media services. In reference to citizen participation, she mentioned she once worked for Equal Voice, a non-partisan organization dedicated to increasing the role of women in politics. Mingarelli noted half of the candidates in Prescott-Russell-Cumberland are women. She said that if elected, she would ensure community organizations are better integrated into political discourse.
Riden said the Green Party is committed to funding the CBC/Radio-Canada, but also wants to ensure the public broadcaster is fair. He said the Green Party also will support local media but wants to ensure the grants available are honest and transparent. Riden said his party is also committed to electoral reform and updating the Access to Information Act.
St-Louis said technology could be better used to connect Canadians with news sources using apps. He would also like to see better engagement through conversation with younger citizens to encourage political awareness.
Mingarelli said equal male-female representation in cabinet and other federal administrative bodies could be achieved either through party leaders making the choice as former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did, or by having quotas set by law like is done in other countries such as Norway. She also referred to the local efforts of Leadership Féminin Prescott Russell (LFPR), which aims to ensure gender equality in local politics. Both Mingarelli and Séguin are members of LFPR.
Mingarelli said that the verbal abuse, online misinformation, and disrespect politicians often face these days are discouraging to young people taking an interest in politics.
“We talk about young people getting involved in politics and this is what we offer them. It’s a joke,” she remarked.
Riden said it is up to older generations to make the situation less toxic.
“We are the role models,” he said.
Francophone issues
All three candidates participating in the debate highlighted a commitment to the majority francophone community of the riding. Each of them spoke of an appreciation for language and culture as something which contributes to the distinctiveness of the region.
Environment and agriculture
All three candidates emphasized their support to maintaining supply management in the dairy, poultry, and egg sectors of agriculture.
St-Louis suggested a local food distribution program be established to better support producers and consumers. He said consulting with farmers about their needs is necessary.
“The farmers need to have control because they know what’s going on,” he commented.
Mingarelli said she recently met with 12 farmers involved with a variety of commodity groups and said supply management was the biggest concern. She said a Liberal government under Mark Carney would ensure supply management is not even up for discussion in future trade negotiations with the US.
Riden emphasized the need to create local food hubs to better serve farmers and to introduce bio digesters as a source of energy. He again referred to the Green plan to stop subsidizing the oil and gas industry, and to nationalize parts of it.
St-Louis said more pipelines could help better distribute Canadian energy resources along with encouraging hemp farming as a way of diversifying agriculture and material production.
Mingarelli said that if the Liberals win the election, they will use legislation to eliminate the carbon tax.
She said the Liberals would also keep emissions caps in place but increase support for carbon capture projects in order to meet those targets.
To see the complete broadcast of the debate, go to the TVC-22 YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KmoKPOmLnI.
