Federal Election Candidates Share Their Vision

Eric Duncan – CPC

As Eric Duncan undertakes his bid for a third term as Member of
Parliament for the region, he’s done something that he’s never done
before – he launched his campaign from Alexandria.

That’s something he never would have done the previous two terms, when
his riding included all of Stormont, all of Dundas, and only South
Glengarry. But now the federal riding boundaries have been drawn so that
all of the United Counties will be included in one district.

Mr. Duncan is no stranger to serving the people of SDG. The 37-year-old
is a former two-term Warden of the United Counties and former Mayor of
North Dundas. Although he easily won the riding for the last two federal
elections, capturing more than 50 per cent of the popular vote in each
case, he says he’s still campaigning like he’s 500 votes behind. On
March 30, he launched the campaign from the North Glengarry Restaurant
in Alexandria and, as of April 2, says he’s garnered at least 200
requests for campaign signs from across the new part of the riding.

As for the issues, he says that front and centre is affordability and
the cost of living. “People are overtaxed and they can’t afford food or
housing,” he says.

Adding fuel to the fire is Canada’s trade war with the United States,
prompted by the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. Mr. Duncan
says that Canadians have to become less reliant on the US and that a
great way to do that would be to create a national energy corridor
across the country.

“It will create jobs and promote growth,” he says.

He won’t give any points to the Liberals, who he says are now pretending
to be in favour of energy projects, which the Conservative Party has
been backing the whole time.

“We are in this predicament because of poor Liberal leadership,” he
says. “[New Prime Minister] Mark Carney is just a continuation of that.
Why ask an arsonist to put out a fire? Why not just elect a common sense
Conservative government?”

–

Sarah Good – Liberal

Liberal candidate Sarah Good resonated with a whole lot of Cornwall
voters when she was elected to city council during the last municipal
election. She captured nearly 5,500 votes – more than any other
candidate – and now she’s looking to replicate that success in the April
28 federal election.

The 36-year-old mother of two, who works as an Engagement and Population
Health Specialist for the Great River Ontario Health Team, says she
knows what it’s like to raise a family in this economic climate and she
wants to help her constituents navigate this new world of housing
shortages and inadequate medical help.

While the doctor shortage is largely a provincial problem, Ms. Good says
there are ways that the federal government can help. One of the things
it can do is ensure there is a national standard for Canadian physicians
so that they don’t have to wait to have their licenses approved when
they move from province to province.

Like the other candidates, she says that affordability and inflation are
big problems. And while the Liberal party has yet to release its full
platform (as of this writing) she says there are still things that can
be done to bring costs down on everyday items, like groceries.

“Since COVID, some grocery conglomerates are making record profits while
consumers are paying more,” she says, adding that she’d like to see a
European Union practice in place where, if an item is being advertised
as being on sale, the merchant has to show the lowest price the item has
been over a 30-day period.

As far as housing goes, Ms. Good would like to see the government jump
into a metaphorical time machine and go back to the post-WWII period,
when thousands of affordable homes were erected across the country,
thanks to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. She would like to
see something similar happen in Canada again and she says that the Mark
Carney Liberals is the government that will make it happen.

–

Mario Leclerc – NDP

The New Democrats have always framed themselves as an alternative to the
default governing Liberal and Conservative parties, and that’s the way
Mario Leclerc defines things as well.

The 61-year-old West Island resident isn’t a stranger to federal
politics either. He ran for the NDP back in 2011, ultimately losing to
Conservative MP Guy Lauzon in Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry. Now he’s
back to give it another kick at the can.

He’s not about to let the NDP’s relative lack of representation
discourage him either.

“Even with 25 NDP MPs, we worked to get pharmacare and dental care and
anti-scab laws in place,” he said.

Now he wants to protect food sovereignty through enhancing supply
management practices, increase the income tax personal amount to
$19,000, and remove the GST on several essential items like strollers,
children’s clothing, internet, and cell phones. He says that this could
save a family of four nearly $1,500 every year.

Mr. Leclerc, who worked for Revenue Canada for 10 years, also wants to
push through a $4 billion package that would give seniors a guaranteed
income supplement, effectively “lifting them out of poverty.”

“We want to make sure any government doesn’t hike eligibility for Old
Age Security to 67 or even 69,” he says. “That would cost between
$30,000 and $60,000 per couple. I don’t think seniors can afford that.”

–

Green Party and People’s Party of Canada representatives have not yet responded
to our requests for interviews.