Dean Drysdale's presence at candidates' debate makes it true battle of ideas
Bonnie Bucholtz photo
Three of the four candidates in Cloverdale-Langley City attended a candidates' meeting Wednesday organized by a variety of seniors' and veterans' groups in Langley City. With organizer Leslie Gaudette (far left) are (left to right) Rebecca Smith (NDP), John Aldag (Liberal) and Dean Drysdale (Conservative).
The candidates' meeting in Langley City Wednesday was the best of the three I moderated during this campaign.
There were two reasons. One was the presence of Conservative candidate Dean Drysdale, which ensured that there were clear choices offered to the voters who attended. The other was the fact that all three candidates are passionate and not afraid to defend their partisan perspectives. This was particularly true of Drysdale and NDP candidate Rebecca Smith. Both on occasion became a bit personal in their remarks, underscoring why they are running.
Liberal candidate John Aldag, who has worked very hard in the past year to get to know the issues and meet voters in the riding, was also very engaged and spirited in the discussion. He was a little more circumspect in his statements. He came across exactly as he is in a one-on-one conversation - a very well-informed and genuinely nice individual.
All three are solid and impressive candidates. They also conducted themselves very professionally and were very courteous to each other. Canadian politeness was the order of the day.
Green candidate Scott Anderson had planned to attend the meeting at Langley Seniors' Resource Centre, which was organized by a variety of seniors' and veterans' groups. He was unable to make it due to a last-minute challenge which cropped up.
I commend Drysdale for bucking what seems to be a strong Conservative trend in this election - candidates avoiding meetings where some controversial subjects may come up, or where the organizers aren't necesssarily sympathetic to Conservatives. I don't blame some Conservatives for initially reacting that way - they often don't get even-handed treatment from many members of the traditional media (notably the CBC). However, the media and political activists represent a very small portion of society.
When it comes to media, community newspapers, by contrast to many of the larger outlets (and many political websites), almost always treat candidates of all parties in a very even-handed way. Still, some Conservative candidates won't even talk to them in this election. This to me is silly and short-sighted, and likely will cost many Conservative candidates votes.
There are also other activists, such as David Suzuki and Neil Young (who doesn't even have a vote in this election, as he has lived in the U.S. for the past 50 years), who tend to be reflexively and viciously hostile to Conservatives. An election campaign is a battleground of ideas, and in Canada, it has usually been conducted by all parties in a spirited but generally polite fashion. There have been exceptions, but the level of nastiness shown by some commentators, media and non-media, in this campaign has been disappointing.
In spite of all those factors, candidates should be showing up at as many meetings as they can - no matter who organizes them. They should be prepared to compete in the discussion of ideas which is the nuts and bolts of an election. If that means they have to field a tough question, so be it.
It is particularly important to engage with seniors at these types of meetings. Many seniors are not online, do not watch YouTube videos, don't answer robocalls and ignore Facebook and Twitter. Yet they vote with regularity - at a far higher rate than almost every other age group.
Seniors and other voters need to be able to compare candidates and their platforms. They had a very good chance to do so on Wednesday.
When election day rolls around on Oct. 19, voters in Cloverdale-Langley City will have four candidates on the ballot, and will be asked to choose one of them. Those who attended Wednesday's meeting had a real good look at three of them, and had an excellent opportunity to compare the candidates from the three major parties. Democracy was the biggest winner at that debate.
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ReplyDeleteHi Frank: Good assessment but I disagree with your comments about CBC. I faithfully watch both the CBC and CTV nightly news and have often felt that the CBC has treated the Conservatives with kid gloves throughout this election. It's almost as if they are now desperately scared to bite the hand that feeds them since the Conservatives have been brutal in their cuts to CBC. On the other hand, I have frequently been amazed at how often and how strongly CTV has gone after the Conservative jugular throughout this election. In my opinion, I think there's been a real media role reversal in this campaign. Kim Richter
ReplyDeleteHi Frank,
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of you having a blog. It offers a whole new arena for thoughtful discussion on matters not covered in your former capacity. It also offers fans of your work to express themselves in a format that is more engaging.
With that being said, I will refrain from personal attacks or labelling as much as possible. To be fair.
Langley is this strange anomaly on the political stage. Much of the debates and public forums only take place at senior centers. In my mind it is problematic.
Why not host these events at high schools and universities? High school students are future voters and a Q & A series throughout the voting districts might entice younger people to be critically engaged in the topics of the day.
No offence to the elders of the community, but they tend to stick to their guns of which parties they will vote for. No matter how many Mike Duffy bribery scandals, no matter how many Pamela Wallen's, Bill C-51's, or how many shady international free trade agreements get shoved through parliament- that demographic will unlikely go to any lengths to see the ways in which our government does business.
On another note, activists can be criticized for their action work, but keep in mind that those activists are also regular folks who care about their community just like the folks in the senior centres. They live, work, yes work, and contribute to the socio-economic well-being of this community and deserve a shot just like everyone else. Including young people.
My hope is that ageism, ethnocentricism, and other moribund civic political formats in which Langley is known for will die a swift death in this election and all others.
The hope of the nation cannot rest on the shoulders of our elders. They have done their work. Now its our turn.