Question time
Candidates in May 9 provincial election participated in a 2-hour forum Thursday at the Penticton Lakeside Resort
CBC Daybreak host Chris Walker, right, whispers to Penticton Herald reporter Joe Fries during The Herald’s All-Candidates forum, Thursday at the Penticton Lakeside Resort. Also pictured are Jonathan Szekeres of Bell Media, left, and Peachland View editor Dan Walton, hidden. Questions for the candidates came from a five-member media panel.
Driving a clunker seems to be a badge of honour for the three people vying to win the Penticton riding in the upcoming provincial election. In response to one of the more light-hearted questions at Thursday’s all-candidates’ forum staged by The Herald, the candidates were happy to momentarily steer away from serious issues and explain what they drive and why.
Describing himself as a “fiscal conservative,” Liberal incumbent Dan Ashton told the audience about his 2005 Pontiac Pursuit, which has 342,000 kilometres on the odometer.
“I am actually quite proud of it — and my kids won’t ride in it,” the one-term incumbent said to laughs.
New Democrat Tarik Sayeed related a story about his 1993 Ford Festiva, a near-identical version of the car he owned when he met his wife’s parents for the first time.
“That’s our favourite car here in Penticton — and it’s green,” he noted.
Perhaps most surprisingly, Green candidate Connie Sahlmark gets around in a 1996 Dodge pickup truck.
“I drive that because I’ve been a full-time student for four years and it was $800,” she explained.
The two-hour forum, which attracted about 400 people to a ballroom at the Penticton Lakeside Resort, failed to generate any knockout punches, as candidates mostly stuck to their well-worn scripts on questions of general interest.
More direct questions that were tailored to each candidate provoked far more interesting responses.
Ashton was asked specifically how the Liberals’ campaign can be viewed as credible, given the party’s 2013 platform was based on the promise of a liquefied natural gas industry that has yet to materialize.
Rather than tackling the question head on, though, he retreated to the Liberals’ economic record of five consecutive balanced budgets.
“Not fudge-it budgets — five balanced budgets — and this year a $1.5-billion surplus,” Ashton said.
Sayeed, who’s currently on unpaid leave from Penticton city council, declined to give a firm answer when asked if he will follow Ashton’s example and reimburse municipal taxpayers the cost of a byelection to replace him if he wins on May 9.
Instead, he told the audience he’s considering staying on as a city councillor while serving as MLA.
“Technically, I can do both. I have done my homework, the corporate officer said it can be done. Realistically? I’m not sure. I have never been an MLA, but I want to. So let me get in there, and I will do what’s best for the community,” said Sayeed.
Ashton, who stepped down as mayor to run for provincial office in 2013 and later reimbursed the city the $32,000 for the byelection, warned his rival that being an MLA and city councillor is unrealistic.
“There’s no way on God’s green earth you can hold both positions and represent the people that have elected you properly,” he said.
Sayeed thanked Ashton for his concern, then added: “I will come to you after I win this election and get your advice.”
Sahlmark’s personalized question pertained to why people should vote Green, a party that’s unlikely to form government.
“First off, I think it’s very presumptuous to assume we won’t win,” she said to applause, noting the NDP’s stunning win in Alberta and the Liberals’ equally surprising win federally.
Sahlmark later drew cheers for her take on political donations from corporations and unions.
“I’m looking at room full of people and you tell me: Ladies, if a guy’s buying you drinks all night, are there expectations?” she said.
The audience also leaned in when Sayeed and Ashton were asked to explain their involvement with Trio Marine Group’s ill-fated plan to build waterslides in Skaha Lake Park.
Ashton, who was on leave in May 2013 when the city issued its original request for expressions of interest to improve the marina and the area around it, said he was actually pushing to expand the park before he stepped aside for the election.
“The discussions we had about Skaha Lake Park was to take the (marina) parking lot and move it over to South Main Street and increase the grass area,” said Ashton, noting the waterslides “came forward in a council where I had nothing to do with.”
Sayeed admitted he flip-flopped on the waterslides, explaining he originally voted against the concept to allow for more public engagement, then went along with the plan, before calling last November for a referendum and sounding the alarm about Trio’s 29-year lease of the marina.
“I felt the contract given to them for the marina expansion felt like dominance. It wasn’t a contract. It felt like they were getting more than they deserve,” he said.
Ashton was picked as the winner of the forum by 46 per cent of people who responded to an online poll on The Herald website immediately afterwards. Sahlmark ranked second with 30 per cent, followed by Sayeed at 24 per cent. A total of 195 people voted.
Additional support for the event was provided by the Penticton Lakeside Resort, South Okanagan Real Estate Board and Peach City Radio. The meeting can be heard in its entirety by visiting www.peachcityradio.org.
Full disclosure: Herald editor James Miller was the forum moderator, while reporter Joe Fries was one of five members of the media who asked questions of the candidates.