Front-running Tory cloistered from press

OTTERBURNE, Man. You know it’s a low-key campaign when voters run out of questions at an all-candidate’s debate.

About 60 people, mostly students, were attending an hour-long event at Providence University College, which produced few fireworks, much like the byelection campaign so far in the southeastern Manitoba riding.

Of the four national races being decided Monday, Provencher is the sleeper. The federal Conservatives have carefully cloistered rookie candidate Ted Falk to avoid gaffes and preserve his front-runner status, and there has been limited public exploration of issues or policies.

At the quiet mid-week debate, students and residents asked about youth voting, which federal taxes or subsidies ought to be cut, how to best fund post-secondary education, and poverty.

Liberal candidate Terry Hayward and NDP candidate Natalie Courcelles Beaudry traded some gentle taunts, and Green Party of Canada candidate Janine Gibson, now on her fifth federal campaign, earned a few laughs, especially when she leaped in to help out Courcelles Beaudry with a question, and took a jab at federal subsidies to the nuclear industry. The debate came just a few hours after fresh revelations in the Senate spending scandal, and all three opposition candidates said the issue has been top of mind. Gibson said she frequently meets traditional Tories who say they are switching their vote this time.

Hayward agreed. “The biggest issue is lack of trust and faith with what’s happening down east,” he said.