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Five takeaways from the Oakville Chamber of Commerce debate

Candidates in Oakville's two federal ridings squared off in debates organized by the Oakville Chamber of Commerce, televised on Your TV and made available online. Here's what we noticed in the debates on Friday.
Chamber debate (2)

With just over a week remaining in the federal election campaign, most Oakville area candidates faced off in debates organized by the Oakville Chamber of Commerce on Friday.

Held without an audience due to COVID concerns, the debates will be televised on Your TV and available to view online.

The tightly focused hour-long debates offered candidates in the Oakville and Oakville North-Burlington (ONB) ridings the chance to articulate their party’s vision on questions related to the economy, business success, Canada’s infrastructure, housing costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Candidates running for the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) were excluded from the debates.

Debate moderator Michelle Eaton, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s vice-president of public affairs, said the Oakville Chamber of Commerce decided to follow the rules established for the federal leadership debate in determining which candidates to invite.

JD Meaney says residents should be outraged, given that the PPC is polling higher than the Green Party and the Bloc Quebecois combined.

Here’s some of what we noticed during the debates:

Liberals are worried about backlash from an unpopular election call

Anita Anand tried to distance herself from the Liberal decision to send voters to the polls only two years after the last election.

“I had no say when this election was called, but I had to take a moment to decide whether I would run again,” said Anand, who captured the Oakville riding with 46.3 percent of the vote in 2019 and spent the last two years as Canada’s Minister of Public Service and Procurement in Justin Trudeau’s minority government.

“I realized I had more to give to public service, to Oakville and to Canada at large.”

Conservatives are worried about the People’s Party of Canada

Conservative Kerry Colborne expressed skepticism about Anand’s effort to distance herself from the “unnecessary election,” arguing that “a vote for Anita is a vote for Justin Trudeau.”

But then the former chair of the Oakville Chamber of Commerce added, “A vote for the People’s Party of Canada is a vote for Justin Trudeau.”

While both Oakville ridings were seen as tight races earlier in the campaign, surging support for the PPC has dimmed Conservative hopes of capturing either seat.

In a crowded field of left-wing candidates at Friday’s debate, Colborne suggested the Conservatives stood alone in offering a real alternative.

“If you want higher taxes, higher debt, less opportunity and less prosperity, then your choice is clear. Any of my opponents here will deliver that for you,” said Colborne.

NDP is offering it all

Dental care, pharmacare, guaranteed minimum income, affordable housing, affordable childcare, EI that works, job training, small business support – Oakville candidate Jerome Adamo speaks more in bullet points than full sentences, but the message is clear. There’s nothing that Oakville residents could want that the NDP aren’t promising. And the cost?

The NDP will “force big corporations and big polluters to start paying what they owe,” Adamo insisted.

Or, as ONB candidate Lenaee Dupuis put it, “Jagmeet Singh will make the ultra-rich pay their fair share so life will be better for everyone.”

The Green Party is out NDP-ing the NDP

Has green fallen out of favour in the Green Party?

Rather curiously, neither of the Green Party candidates appears to have much passion for the environment.

On climate change questions, Bruno Sousa and Oriana Knox rapidly recited the party’s laundry list of promises. Still, neither offers the sense of deep environmental commitment that built the party’s reputation.

Oakville candidate Knox seems most engaged with social justice issues, sounding largely indistinguishable from the NDP candidates on topics like a guaranteed basic income, wealth taxes and executive pay.

“Remember, there is no environmental justice without social justice,” she repeated for the second debate in a row.

ONB candidate Bruno Sousa focused on developing a green economy through venture funding, business taxes and improving the efficiency of regulation.

Sticking to talking points

Watching two debates back-to-back offered an interesting perspective on how closely candidates are following national party scripts.

Themes and even the same wording came out of the mouths of candidates for each party.

The Liberal candidates focused on their record in government, with Anand and ONB candidate Pam Damoff repeating the phrase “moving everyone forward” and specifically mentioning Black and Indigenous-led businesses.

Anita even repeated a quote previously attributed to Trudeau.

“My understanding is that (Erin O’Toole) can’t even get his own candidates vaccinated to 90 percent,” she said, arguing that vaccination is key to Canada’s economic recovery.

Conservative candidates repeated the mantra that Liberals have not succeeded while in government and kept their focus on jobs and economic recovery.

Colborne and ONB candidate Hanan Rizkalla also cited hydrogen and small modular nuclear reactors as key to addressing the climate crisis and weaning Canada off oil and gas.


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