Tory incumbent in fight of his life
Polls have Liberal challenger leading in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell
Glengarry-Prescott-Russell’s pendulum politics is hardly fair. Residents vote Liberal for generations, only to exchange their MP for a Conservative for a few years before returning red. Historically, Liberals here have very comfortably worn the “natural governing party” hat.
For the past 20 years, though, GPR has been a bellwether riding. Former Liberal MP Don Boudria’s 40,000-vote margin of victory in 1993 slipped away, along with his party’s fortunes, culminating in Tory incumbent Pierre Lemieux’s squeaking out a 203-vote win in 2006, the year Stephen Harper gained power with a minority government. Like his party, Lemieux shored up his support, winning the riding by more than 5,000 votes in 2008, and 10,000 in 2011.
Today, Lemieux, like his boss, is fighting for his political life. Nonpartisan poll aggregator threehundredeight.com gives the riding’s Liberal challenger, Francis Drouin, an 11-point edge, with about 47 per cent support among voters to Lemieux’s 36. NDP candidate Normand Laurin is in third place with 12 per cent. According to the website, Drouin has a 75 per cent likelihood of stealing the seat.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement is high on the list of concerns of many voters in this largely rural riding, yet no particular issue has dominated the campaign. As with voters everywhere, many GPR ballots will be cast for, or against, a party or its leader.
“It’s time for a change of government,” says Maxville’s Sharon Johns. “I’ve been appalled by some of the positions taken by the Conservative government; they have not been progressive at all. And I’m particularly upset that people cannot go to a meet-the-candidates night and have a Conservative member there. It’s clear there are instructions from on high. And what they’re saying is, ‘We’re busy going door to door.’ Well I’m sorry, but nobody has come to our door.”
Johns’ husband, Ken, adds that while he’s written Lemieux in recent years to voice concerns, he’s only received party talking points in reply. “I don’t bear Lemieux any ill will, but I also won’t vote for him. I want to do my part to un-elect the Conservatives.”
Down the road, neighbour Lorna Blair, viewing health care and the environment as top issues, disagrees. “Harper has done a good job,” she says, “I don’t think we’ve had a more outstanding prime minister for quite a while. Maybe he doesn’t smile when someone would like him to, but I think he stands on his principles. That’s important to me. And I’m glad they’ve decided to do more for veterans.”
Alexandria restaurateur Heinz Kaswurm views the Liberals’ energy policies as reason enough to support the Tories. “You hear some customers come in and complain about their hydro bills,” he says, “and that’s when you know it’s a problem, because customers don’t normally come here to complain. And that’s an issue that could be transferred from provincial to federal down the road; the federal Liberals say they’ll use the same green-energy plan as Kathleen Wynne’s, and that just pushes factories out of the province.”
First-time voter Justin Cournoyer says most people he’s talked to don’t care much about the election. “But I want to give Justin Trudeau a chance,” says the 27-year-old Hawkesbury cook. “I think people are tired of Harper, and the Liberals have a lot of good ideas, like taxing the rich. I’ve never voted before,” he adds. “I always thought it was a puppet thing, that it’s still going to end up the same. But now I think, ‘Just try it. You never know what voting can do.’”
Hawkesbury labourer Michel Prudhomme, 56, is happy with the Conservatives. “A lot of people are going to vote Liberal because they want more money in their pockets, but it’s just their tax money. The Liberals are going to raise taxes and people will lose their jobs.”
Alfred’s Gaetan Leduc insists the economy is key. “But the politics of the Conservatives is not too good for our area. They distribute lots of money — $200 here, $200 there — but there are no big projects. And people around here are saying, ‘Well, another one couldn’t do worse. It’s time to change.’”