the north grenville
www.ngtimes.ca
TIMES
Vol. 3, No. 38
The Voice of North Grenville
September 23, 2015
Democracy at its finest
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by David Shanahan There are times, particularly in the middle of a long and often nasty election campaign, when it can become easy to get cynical and doubt whether to believe anything you hear. But the people who gathered at the Urbandale Arts Centre last week for an All-Candidates meeting brought a different attitude with them. They filled the theatre and listened to the four candidates talk about their policies and party platforms. They asked questions, and got answers. Whether the night changed their minds about where to cast their vote is known only to them, but at the very least the candidates had the opportunity of leaving a personal impression on the voters, for better or for worse. The night was packed
with questions and answers: the candidates engaged each other in honest, often blunt terms. But what impressed about the event, especially in the light of the party leaders’ debate taking place on television at the same time, was the consistent respect and patience shown by all four. Everyone took their chance to speak, and, for three of them at least, made good use of the opportunity to criticise the Stephen Harper Government. Gord Brown, incumbent Conservative MP, must have felt quite alone against the three other candidates who seemed most in agreement when it came to dismissing current government actions. Lorraine Rekmans, for the Green Party, and Margaret Andrade of the NDP, have no permanent campaign office in North Grenville, and so needed to introduce them-
selves to the voters in this sole all-candidates meeting in North Grenville. Mary Jean McFall, like Gord Brown, does have a campaign office in Kemptville, and has been attending a number of events in NG, so was more of a known quantity before the night. But all three left a very clear impression, I think, on the minds of those who heard them. Gord provided a list of his contributions to the economy of North Grenville over the past eleven years, and maintained a cool exterior in the face of concerted criticism. But the overall impression left by the four candidates was one of thoughtful, patient and respectful interaction, yet with no punches pulled. Perhaps the clearest indication of how they were received by the audience came at the end of the evening when they
were given a spontaneous standing ovation, not a usual sight at an election campaign event. To put the final and extremely moving touch to the occasion, the entire audience then joined in with Pat Maloney as he began to sing O Canada. It was a wonderful gesture. It was a pity that more business leaders were not present that night. And the continuing alienation of young people, and even those under thirty, is a worrying sign for our future. Politics can make you cynical. Political campaigns even more so. But for one night in North Grenville we saw politics as it could be: democracy at its finest. Remember Valdy’s great statement at Kemptville Live: “Bad governments are elected by good people - who don’t vote!”.
Celebrate Heritage Day this weekend! Something for the whole family