- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,198
- 荣誉分数
- 76
- 声望点数
- 0
There were those who said the high-minded, issues-driven campaign being waged in Hull-Aylmer was too good to last. Sadly, they appear to have been right.
Before the campaign’s last official week, the showdown across the river featured what appeared to be serious political discourse, with qualified candidates vigorously debating local issues and concerns before an engaged population, open-minded to a certain degree and ready to listen.
Then, the NDP complained to Elections Canada that the Liberals were gossiping that their candidate, sitting MP Nycole Turmel, was “extremely sick,” possibly near death. The complaint cited four incidents involving mostly Liberal campaign workers, but also alleged that Pontiac Liberal candidate Will Amos made such a remark last month.
Both Liberal Hull-Aylmer hopeful Greg Fergus — who is not named as having personally spread the rumours — and Pontiac’s Amos furiously denied the allegations.
While the story does not seem to have gained a lot of traction in the area, it has provided fodder for pundits and political junkies trying to understand the thinking behind the late-campaign shakeup.
“It’s just strange. There was no indication that Turmel (who turned 73 in September) was in any danger of being defeated, even though the Liberals (were) making advances,” said one observer involved in Quebec provincial politics. “Turmel has been all over the riding from the first day … she sure doesn’t look like someone with health problems.”
Until they were so rudely interrupted, Turmel and Fergus, along with Bloc Québécois candidate Maude Chouinard-Boucher and Green standard-bearer Roger Fleury, were conducting themselves in a model fashion with campaigns long on specifics and solutions for the riding. In fact, with no viable Conservative representative — candidate Etienne Boulrice was a late entry and shot himself in the foot when he “inadvertently” revealed a funding request sought by the City of Gatineau to a federal department where he worked — the campaign was short on flash.
Which was good news for the voters, observers said.
“The candidates, particularly Mme. Turmel and Mr. Fergus, have conducted very strong, focussed campaigns,” said Thomas Collombat, professor of political science at the Université du Québec en Outaouais.
“They have both concentrated on local issues (and) have not really been caught up in some of the drama that revolves around the (party) leadership.”
“It seems to have been pretty civilized, discussing issues and (the candidates’) own ideas,” agreed Fred Ryan, founder and now editor emeritus of a three-newspaper publishing empire in the West Quebec-Pontiac.
Not surprisingly, public service is front of mind in the riding, both because of the tens of thousands of “fonctionnaires” who work in the region, but also because of their effect on the booming Aylmer sector, in particular, where residential construction is everywhere, from single-family dwellings to luxury homes to condos and retirement centres.
Collombat and Ryan agree that Turmel and Fergus have both come across well in the riding with pledges to safeguard public service jobs. Turmel is accepted at face value, in large part because she was president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Fergus, a past president of the Liberal Party who’s been active in the community, has been successful in distancing himself from the fact that the PS downsizing began under former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin.
The four candidates also shared a commitment to press for infrastructure improvements, particularly transit system expansion to the Aylmer sector.
“Aylmer is exploding,” notes Bulletin d’Aylmer’s Ryan. “It’s not unrealistic to expect it will become its own riding.”
Indeed, massive construction in the riverside community has led to lots of upscale renovation with pretty bistros and shops along the old Aylmer Road leading to a bustling marina, creating a sort of West Quebec Westboro.
The only problem is you pretty much have to drive to get there. Chouinard-Boucher and Fleury, in particular, have been insistent on increased federal involvement in Quebec systems, particularly expanding the Rapibus (Gatineau’s Transitway system) west to Aylmer.
They point out the hundreds of millions of federal dollars pledged for light rail in Ottawa, with “not a penny for Gatineau.”
Fleury also raised some interest by proposing the region take over the unused Prince of Wales railway bridge and use it for a light rail connection to Ottawa.
Similarly, there were assurances from all candidates on assistance for small business, social housing, environment. Different responses to the problems, assuredly, but serious proposals from most quarters.
But it remains to be seen whether the voters remember the political discourse or the name-calling.
查看原文...
Before the campaign’s last official week, the showdown across the river featured what appeared to be serious political discourse, with qualified candidates vigorously debating local issues and concerns before an engaged population, open-minded to a certain degree and ready to listen.
Then, the NDP complained to Elections Canada that the Liberals were gossiping that their candidate, sitting MP Nycole Turmel, was “extremely sick,” possibly near death. The complaint cited four incidents involving mostly Liberal campaign workers, but also alleged that Pontiac Liberal candidate Will Amos made such a remark last month.
Both Liberal Hull-Aylmer hopeful Greg Fergus — who is not named as having personally spread the rumours — and Pontiac’s Amos furiously denied the allegations.
While the story does not seem to have gained a lot of traction in the area, it has provided fodder for pundits and political junkies trying to understand the thinking behind the late-campaign shakeup.
“It’s just strange. There was no indication that Turmel (who turned 73 in September) was in any danger of being defeated, even though the Liberals (were) making advances,” said one observer involved in Quebec provincial politics. “Turmel has been all over the riding from the first day … she sure doesn’t look like someone with health problems.”
Until they were so rudely interrupted, Turmel and Fergus, along with Bloc Québécois candidate Maude Chouinard-Boucher and Green standard-bearer Roger Fleury, were conducting themselves in a model fashion with campaigns long on specifics and solutions for the riding. In fact, with no viable Conservative representative — candidate Etienne Boulrice was a late entry and shot himself in the foot when he “inadvertently” revealed a funding request sought by the City of Gatineau to a federal department where he worked — the campaign was short on flash.
Which was good news for the voters, observers said.
“The candidates, particularly Mme. Turmel and Mr. Fergus, have conducted very strong, focussed campaigns,” said Thomas Collombat, professor of political science at the Université du Québec en Outaouais.
“They have both concentrated on local issues (and) have not really been caught up in some of the drama that revolves around the (party) leadership.”
“It seems to have been pretty civilized, discussing issues and (the candidates’) own ideas,” agreed Fred Ryan, founder and now editor emeritus of a three-newspaper publishing empire in the West Quebec-Pontiac.
Not surprisingly, public service is front of mind in the riding, both because of the tens of thousands of “fonctionnaires” who work in the region, but also because of their effect on the booming Aylmer sector, in particular, where residential construction is everywhere, from single-family dwellings to luxury homes to condos and retirement centres.
Collombat and Ryan agree that Turmel and Fergus have both come across well in the riding with pledges to safeguard public service jobs. Turmel is accepted at face value, in large part because she was president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Fergus, a past president of the Liberal Party who’s been active in the community, has been successful in distancing himself from the fact that the PS downsizing began under former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin.
The four candidates also shared a commitment to press for infrastructure improvements, particularly transit system expansion to the Aylmer sector.
“Aylmer is exploding,” notes Bulletin d’Aylmer’s Ryan. “It’s not unrealistic to expect it will become its own riding.”
Indeed, massive construction in the riverside community has led to lots of upscale renovation with pretty bistros and shops along the old Aylmer Road leading to a bustling marina, creating a sort of West Quebec Westboro.
The only problem is you pretty much have to drive to get there. Chouinard-Boucher and Fleury, in particular, have been insistent on increased federal involvement in Quebec systems, particularly expanding the Rapibus (Gatineau’s Transitway system) west to Aylmer.
They point out the hundreds of millions of federal dollars pledged for light rail in Ottawa, with “not a penny for Gatineau.”
Fleury also raised some interest by proposing the region take over the unused Prince of Wales railway bridge and use it for a light rail connection to Ottawa.
Similarly, there were assurances from all candidates on assistance for small business, social housing, environment. Different responses to the problems, assuredly, but serious proposals from most quarters.
But it remains to be seen whether the voters remember the political discourse or the name-calling.
查看原文...
