And down the stretch they comeGloves come off as candidates eye the finish line
By Dan MacLennan, Courier-Islander April 29, 2011
Conservative candidate John Duncan has claimed the campaign "high road" while calling his fellow candidates ignorant and inexperienced.
That sparked return fire from NDP candidate Ronna-Rae Leonard and the Liberal's Mike Holland as the 2011 election campaign entered its final days. Holland said Duncan's record shows him to be unfit for public office. Leonard said the Conservatives have led the way with "negative US-style attack ads".
"We are heading into the home stretch," Duncan said at a sparsely attended Wednesday afternoon press conference. "We've had over four weeks. In that time it's become very clear that the main competition, the other two candidates from the NDP and the Liberals, are running a negative campaign, so I'm very proud of our team. We've stayed on the high road. We have not attacked the other candidates in any way."
Only seconds later, however, Duncan was on the attack.
"It's been very clear as we've traveled through the riding, that the other candidates had very little appreciation for the various communities and their issues and their priorities," he said. "I was much better prepared, as a brand new candidate, than the candidates that I'm facing, in terms of understanding the communities they're hoping to represent.
"My NDP opponent claims she will represent the riding, yet she has little comprehension or understanding of the resource industries that drive our economy."
"She has not been supportive or even demonstrated a strong interest in the forest sector, the aquaculture sector."
Duncan played the experience card again and again.
"The choice is to vote for an experienced candidate who understands all of the communities in this riding and knows how to get things done, or to vote for someone with little demonstrated understanding of the diversity and unique needs of our coastal communities and the families who live here," he said.
Duncan went on to boast "that I know the coast of British Columbia better than any other Member of Parliament from any party."
"My almost 13 years in opposition, my time in government and my time in Cabinet have given me an understanding of how things work that simply cannot be matched by my opponents," he said.
Duncan also thought little of his fellow candidates' performances at the all-candidates meetings to date.
"They have been amazingly consistent throughout the previous all-candidate meetings," he said. "I think part of the reason why is because they actually don't know the various communities, therefore they just stick to their script. I'm really the only candidate that's been adapting what I say to my community just because it's the right thing to do.
"The choice is clear. I'm asking people to vote for stability and experience."
Leonard said she was proud of the New Democrats for running a very positive campaign based on making life more affordable, generating jobs and improving health care.
"From the beginning the Conservatives have run negative US-style attack ads, but I don't think that works with the Canadian public," she said. "People tell me they like Jack Layton's practical solutions, and that's why there's such an NDP surge in Vancouver Island North and across the country.
"John Duncan claims he understands the priorities of our communities, but his actions tell another story. He voted for the HST in Parliament. He encourages the export of jobs and raw logs. He opposes Jack Layton's plan to strengthen pensions. These aren't the priorities of our community.
"I love this riding and I'll fight for our communities. As a city councillor I've shown that I have the experience and toughness to get things done as your Member of Parliament."
Holland agreed Duncan's record and experience shouldn't be ignored.
"John is right, his experience should be an issue, and it disqualifies him from public office," Holland said. "Maybe if John's record wasn't so negative, our calling attention to it wouldn't be so bad.
"We first sent him to Ottawa in 1993 and he quickly began building a record of being low profile and doing as little as possible. When he did pop back up, it was to go against his promises. As a Reformer he ran in 1993 against what he called gold-plated MP pensions, but once elected he was one of the first to opt back in.
"If Mr. Duncan wants to run on his record, how about his record of promising to never tax income trusts and then wiping out billions in Canadian seniors' retirement savings overnight?
"How about his refusing to meet with veterans to discuss why he voted against ending the clawback of their pensions? How about his refusing to meet with halibut fishermen to discuss resource allocation? How about his ignoring local experts on the Point Race? John is a member of the party that has spent millions in taxpayer-subsidized dollars demonizing the last two Liberal leaders with the worst personal slurs and attacks, so for him to bemoan the alleged negativity of others is laughable in the extreme."
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