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For the first time in 11 years, voters in communities like Barrhaven and Bells Corners are heading into an election day without Pierre Poilievre as their Conservative option after the four-term Member of Parliament decided to run in the new — and more rural — riding of Carleton.
Without the stalwart Poilievre in the race, the newly drawn Nepean riding is seen as one of Ottawa’s battleground seats that parties need to win to come to power on Oct. 19. And in this race, personality is a central issue.
Conservative candidate Andy Wang is 27 years old and his most significant experience has been working with Poilievre, first in his constituency office and for the last five years on Parliament Hill. He was just 16 when he started knocking on doors for Poilievre, himself then just 25 and running for the first time in 2004.
The comparisons between the two are obvious, and Wang’s opponents are using the similarities against him.
“I think a vote for Andy Wang is absolutely a vote for the kind of politics that Pierre Poilievre represents,” says NDP candidate Sean Devine. “If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck it’s a duck.”
Poilievre has been a polarizing figure ever since he was elected in 2004, evoking a love-it-or-hate-it reaction for his partisanship, occasional over-the-top comments, devout adherence to political messaging and unwavering support for the widely unpopular Memorial to the Victims of Communism.
But the 36-year-old’s record is hardly all negative. Poilievre has been an 11-year electoral winner. He helped to land one-third of the funding for the Vimy Memorial Bridge in south Ottawa and secure airport property needed for the Limebank Road extension. He was the senior minister for the capital when the Conservatives committed funding for the Ottawa River Action Plan and the second phase of light-rail transit.
Wang, meantime, is quick to assert his independence and local knowledge.
“I’m my own man,” Wang says. “I’m very proud to say not only have I worked on Parliament Hill, but I’m also the previous office manager at the constituency office. I understand truly the issues that local residents call about on a daily basis.”
But when asked his priorities for the riding, Wang trots out national Conservative talking points such as keeping the economy strong through lower taxes, a small business tax deduction and stopping “real threats” to national security.
“Folks here do not expect their government to continue to give out handouts or freebies,” says Wang, borrowing a line similar to one posted on Poilievre’s webpage.
New Democrat Devine and Liberal candidate Chandra Arya say they are hearing dissatisfaction from the large number of public servants who live in the riding. Both hope to capitalize on the “anyone but Conservative” sentiment they are hearing from some in the riding, and both vow to restore respect for public servants.
It appears to be working, at least for Arya: A new Mainstreet poll conducted for Postmedia shows Arya and Wang are running neck-and-neck among leaning and decided voters.
“The anger of the public service employees is very evident,” says the Liberal candidate. “Every day we are pleased to hear people say, ‘We voted Conservative last time, not anymore.'”
Adds Devine, a playwright and theatre company director: “There is a culture of fear and intimidation and disrespect within the public sector that is nothing like any of us have ever seen before.”
Devine and Arya are among eight candidates vying for the riding. The others are the Green Party’s Jean-Luc Cooke — the only candidate running for the second time — Marxist-Leninist Tony Seed and three independents: Jesus Cosico, Harry Splett and Hubert Mamba.
Arya, whose background is in high-tech and finance, has a vision is to turn Ottawa into a hub for the defence electronics industry, while Cooke cites infrastructure as one of his top priorities. That includes finding ways to fund light rail and high-speed train service to Toronto and Montreal running from the Via Rail station in Barrhaven, as well as finding tax cuts that will help small businesses thrive.
aseymour@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/andrew_seymour
查看原文...
Without the stalwart Poilievre in the race, the newly drawn Nepean riding is seen as one of Ottawa’s battleground seats that parties need to win to come to power on Oct. 19. And in this race, personality is a central issue.
Conservative candidate Andy Wang is 27 years old and his most significant experience has been working with Poilievre, first in his constituency office and for the last five years on Parliament Hill. He was just 16 when he started knocking on doors for Poilievre, himself then just 25 and running for the first time in 2004.
The comparisons between the two are obvious, and Wang’s opponents are using the similarities against him.
“I think a vote for Andy Wang is absolutely a vote for the kind of politics that Pierre Poilievre represents,” says NDP candidate Sean Devine. “If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck it’s a duck.”
Poilievre has been a polarizing figure ever since he was elected in 2004, evoking a love-it-or-hate-it reaction for his partisanship, occasional over-the-top comments, devout adherence to political messaging and unwavering support for the widely unpopular Memorial to the Victims of Communism.
But the 36-year-old’s record is hardly all negative. Poilievre has been an 11-year electoral winner. He helped to land one-third of the funding for the Vimy Memorial Bridge in south Ottawa and secure airport property needed for the Limebank Road extension. He was the senior minister for the capital when the Conservatives committed funding for the Ottawa River Action Plan and the second phase of light-rail transit.
Wang, meantime, is quick to assert his independence and local knowledge.
“I’m my own man,” Wang says. “I’m very proud to say not only have I worked on Parliament Hill, but I’m also the previous office manager at the constituency office. I understand truly the issues that local residents call about on a daily basis.”
But when asked his priorities for the riding, Wang trots out national Conservative talking points such as keeping the economy strong through lower taxes, a small business tax deduction and stopping “real threats” to national security.
“Folks here do not expect their government to continue to give out handouts or freebies,” says Wang, borrowing a line similar to one posted on Poilievre’s webpage.
New Democrat Devine and Liberal candidate Chandra Arya say they are hearing dissatisfaction from the large number of public servants who live in the riding. Both hope to capitalize on the “anyone but Conservative” sentiment they are hearing from some in the riding, and both vow to restore respect for public servants.
It appears to be working, at least for Arya: A new Mainstreet poll conducted for Postmedia shows Arya and Wang are running neck-and-neck among leaning and decided voters.
“The anger of the public service employees is very evident,” says the Liberal candidate. “Every day we are pleased to hear people say, ‘We voted Conservative last time, not anymore.'”
Adds Devine, a playwright and theatre company director: “There is a culture of fear and intimidation and disrespect within the public sector that is nothing like any of us have ever seen before.”
Devine and Arya are among eight candidates vying for the riding. The others are the Green Party’s Jean-Luc Cooke — the only candidate running for the second time — Marxist-Leninist Tony Seed and three independents: Jesus Cosico, Harry Splett and Hubert Mamba.
Arya, whose background is in high-tech and finance, has a vision is to turn Ottawa into a hub for the defence electronics industry, while Cooke cites infrastructure as one of his top priorities. That includes finding ways to fund light rail and high-speed train service to Toronto and Montreal running from the Via Rail station in Barrhaven, as well as finding tax cuts that will help small businesses thrive.
aseymour@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/andrew_seymour
查看原文...
