The final all-candidate debate/meet and greet was held Wednesday at the Keystone Complex in Shedden with all four candidates participating, fielding pre-selected, ag-related questions. The event was hosted by the Elgin Federation of Agriculture and moderated by president Greg Fentie.
The four candidates are Stephen R. Campbell, People’s Party of Canada; David Goodwin, Liberal Party of Canada; Andrew Lawton, Conservative Party of Canada and Paul Pighin, New Democratic Party.
The only other occasion where all four were together was the meet and greet hosted by the St. Thomas and District Chamber of Commerce at the CASO station in St. Thomas.
David Goodwin
In his two-minute opening statement, the first-time candidate focused on his family’s roots in the St. Thomas area.
“And I’ll tell you why agriculture is important to me. I grew up here. This is where I live, where I was born. I grew up in Union. And at that time in Union, we all had gardens because we grew our own food. It was in the early 70s.
“Times were tough, so we grew our own vegetables. My mom did the canning. We bought fruit from local farmers. And our vegetables or fruit. We made jams. We made our own bread. And I’ve learned, having gone to smart school, just the value of the farming community.”
On the question of housing, Goodwin stressed the real issue is development charges.
“It’s easy to say we’re going to cut development charges and pass that along. But for mayors and councils, when you cut those development charges, that has to be made up by homeowners, by your taxes. And so it is a very difficult struggle for councils because it’s not as easy as saying we’re just going to cut development charges and we’re going to build homes.”
Goodwin added, Liberal Party Leader Mark Carney has a “fundamentally different plan” for Canadians.
Andrew Lawton
Lawton, who ran in the 2018 provincial election in London West, stressed in his opening remarks the need for change in Canada.
“One of the things that’s become so apparent as we’ve been talking to people, and we have knocked on thousands of doors over this campaign, is that we need a change in Canada. There are a lot of people who have been struggling with the way things have been going under the Liberal government, but I think farmers have been in particular hurt by everything that’s happened with the economy over the last several years.
“Not just the carbon tax, but the carbon tax has been one of the most incredibly destructive policies for our agricultural sector, which is incredibly significant, not just nationally, but to 1,408 farms we have right here in Elgin County as well.”
Lawton added, “We need to also put ourselves on the best possible footing to deal with whatever the United States is throwing our way, because the uncertainty that all Canadians have felt over the last few months as this threat has been imposed to us has been especially for farmers, not just with what they’re able to import and export for their farming operations, but in general, the economic climate that we have.”
On the question of protecting farmland, Lawton noted the Conservative Party will actually have a farmland protection act.
Paul Pighin
Pighin, a London native, represented the NDP provincially in the 2007 election. He has a long association with the party, serving as a constituency assistant to London Fanshawe MP Irene Mathyssen and subsequently continued in the same role for Lindsay Mathyssen.
He was a member of the Canadian National Gymnastics team, competing until his early twenties and retiring after the World Championships in 1991.
Pighin is inspired to promote inclusivity and fairness for all. For the last 20 years, he has been a tireless advocate for people living with HIV/AIDS, and 2SLGBTQI+and disability rights.
In his opening remarks he pointed out we are in “unprecedented times.”
He continued, “And that includes for farmers. And these issues are going to come hard and fast at you, I believe. Our southern neighbor is acting like a child and our politicians here are not acting like politicians, they’re acting like children themselves.
“The NDP aims to bolster farms. We want to talk about sustainable practices, fair pricing and supply management. For most people, the Liberals have been disconnected with the rural community, the concerns of selling off their farms to major big players. So we’re losing out on the goodness of our community.”
When asked about housing he argued the problem lies with corporate landlords.
Stephen R. Campbell
He ran in the provincial election earlier this year for the None Of The Above Party, finishing last amongst seven candidates in Elgin-Middlesex-London with 649 votes.
Campbell says he is dedicated to defending the fundamental values of freedom, personal responsibility, respect and fairness.
He was raised in the farming community of North Ekfrid, near Melbourne. He stresses his party is all about representing the people.
Campbell adds he is committed to bringing real change to Parliament and giving the people of Elgin-St. Thomas-London South a true voice in government.
Campbell stresses he is running with the PPC because he believes Canadians deserve a government that is transparent, accountable, and committed to protecting national interests rather than serving foreign agendas.
He supports policies that uphold civil rights, environmental responsibility, and respect for Canada’s cultural and agricultural heritage, including family farms.
Campbell stressed the importance of sitting down with farmers when crafting any policy dealing with supply management.
