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Candidates say how they’d stray from party lines Squamish debate attracts crowd of 200; voters head to the polls on Oct. 19 ANDREW FLEMING Contributing writer
A group of approximately 200 people gathered at Quest University Tuesday at noon to witness a rare event in the current federal election campaign: an allcandidates debate featuring candidates from all four of the riding’s parties. The ruling Conservative party has been criticized for many of its candidates’ failures to attend debates. However, John Weston – the incumbent MP for West VancouverSunshine Coast-Sea to Sky – seemed eager to defend his and his party’s record from the
three people hoping to take his seat away from him. Weston, a lawyer specializing in human rights, won nearly twice as many votes as NDP runner-up Terry Platt in 2011 but is facing tough opposition in the form of two wily veterans of municipal politics as well as a rookie NDP candidate. He acknowledged as much by telling the crowd he felt “there are at least three worthy candidates in this riding.” Green Party candidate Ken Melamed, a former mayor of Whistler, got in an early dig about being the only candidate truly able to speak his own mind rather than simply “parrot party policy,” but Weston did his best to offset the perception Tory candidates are all tightly controlled by the PMO; he See Goldsmith-Jones page 5
Seymour candidates debate anti-terrorism bill JEREMY SHEPHERD newsroom@nsnews.com
SEAL SHOW About 200 onlookers surprised Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Centre staff at a seal pup release at Cates Park Friday when they got advance word of what was to be a media-only event. The rescue centre for sick, injured and orphaned marine mammals cared for 130 seal pups over the summer, and released a number of now-healthy pups back into the wild. Visit nsnews.com for a gallery of images from the event. PHOTO MIKE WAKEFIELD
A crowd of voters packed the pews at North Lonsdale United Church Thursday night to listen to three federal candidates debate inflation, legislation, proportional representation, and just what to do with Bill C-51. The Conservative government’s anti-terrorism bill took a drubbing from the
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three Burnaby North-Seymour candidates. “It is the most dangerous legislation we have had in recent Canadian history,” said NDP candidate Carol Baird Ellan, who promised an immediate repeal of Bill C-51 if her party takes power. While acknowledging the bill was “horribly drafted,” Liberal candidate Terry Beech told the crowd an update of See NDP’s page 7