We asked the candidates in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex to discuss how they would balance representing the party vs. representing the constituents, if elected as MP.
Rex Isaac, NDP
“The one thing that Tom has said as opposed to other leaders of different parties is that Tom doesn’t want to have a top-down government. Tom doesn’t want to tell his MPs the messages that we are suppose to deliver to our constituents and to our ridings.
We want to have a bottom-up government, so myself as a MP, if I am talking to you or if I am talking to anybody in our riding, I am suppose to take your message to Ottawa so that it can be addressed there. I think that is the way government was intended to be. Somehow we fell off a track and I’m very proud that the NDP is committed to getting back to that level of responsibility and moving ahead with good governance.”
Bev Shipley, Conservative
“I think I will continue to do what I have done for the last nine and a half years. Our party platform is actually having a low tax regime for, whether it’s individuals or small businesses that gives them the opportunity to be successful in business and it leaves disposable income in the pockets of people.
We always believe it’s the people that generate the global economy in Lambton-Kent Middlesex in particular when you think of the Wallaceburg and Dresden area, it’s the people that generate the economy, not the government. We just have an obligation to provide that environment so that people have jobs, that our companies are able to be successful and to be competitive.
So I am going to continue to do that. I have spent a lot of time, I am going to be completely honest, I don’t spend a lot of time in my office unless I am just meeting someone. I spend all my time out on this great riding, which is larger than Prince Edward Island. I am out meeting with people, meeting with businesses and that’s where you find out what the issues are.
What I have found is that people are very open with me because I tend to listen a lot. I take those issues and if I can do something with those, I take them back to the committee or to my caucus and that’s what I do and I will continue to do that after October the 19th.”
Ken Filson, Liberal
“I have committed to a Liberal Party, to represent the Liberal Party’s platform and until it is implemented. I support all of the Liberal Party’s platform and I will be committed to ensuring that it gets implemented. I have also committed to upholding the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which quite frankly, every member of Parliament should be doing.
Once we have implemented our platform, which is what we ran on and what people have voted on, then there is going to be a number of issues that are wide open.
I will represent Lambton-Kent Middlesex in the views of rural southwestern Ontario because our views and our voice in rural southwestern Ontario, and rural Canada quite frankly, isn’t getting heard and isn’t getting the time and importance that it should. That is simply numbers. That is simply because so many MP’s from Toronto and the greater Toronto area, Vancouver and Montreal. We need somebody inside of that government that recognizes rural Ontario and will actually advocate and educate our MP’s for what is going on and the importance of rural Ontario. That’s Lambton-Kent Middlesex. Not just farms, that’s small urban areas like Dresden and Wallaceburg.”
Jim Johnston, Green Party
“I think there is two elements. When I get elected it will be because people believe in what I stand for and what I believe. So I think that we should have at least some amount of simpatico on how things should proceed.
Green Party MP’s are required to represent the constituents wishes. Even if that means voting against the party. So, my job will be that we know what the constituency wants so we will be very active in terms of online surveys, communication and trying to keep people engaged and involved in the process so that they have a true voice in Ottawa.”
Election day is Oct. 19.
