by Sylene Argent
With the 2019 Federal Election to take place on Monday, October 21, a few notable provincial politicians stopped by Essex to support local candidates recently, while Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer spoke about ethics in Essex.
On Tuesday, October 15, Ontario NDP Party Leader Andrea Horwath showed support for Essex Riding candidate, incumbent Tracey Ramsey.
“I have to say, I am thrilled to be here with so much momentum happening in this campaign,” Horwath said from Ramsey’s campaign office. “It is fantastic to see not only Tracey, who has been a fantastic MP, but who has been a tireless candidate during all of these weeks of the campaign. It is also great to see all of you with her, making sure we take her over the finish line so she can once again represent the good people of this Riding as she has done so well for the last number of years.”
She said Federal NDP Party Leader Jagmeet Singh has done a great job showing Canadians who he is and “what New Democrats represent in terms for a real choice for government…that is always going to have the best interest of everyday people first.”
Ramsey said she and Essex’s NDP MPP Taras Natyshak make up a team that can’t be beat. “And it is because of all you,” she said to the supporters at the event. “Because when we stand up, we are standing up for people in our communities who are the most vulnerable.”
On Wednesday, October 16, Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer met with hundreds of supporters at the Essex Centre Sports Complex to show support for local candidate Chris Lewis. He also spoke of how Federal Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau broke the Conflict of Interest Act twice and said he faced no consequences because there are not any. He said Canadians expect accountability from their leaders, and that is something he would deliver.
Scheer noted that part of the Conservative 100 Day Action Plan, a new Conservative government would implement legislation for stiff penalties of up to $20,000 for violating the Conflict of Interest Act.
“We will establish consequence for violations that do not currently have any,” he said, adding he will ensure these penalties are proportional to the severity of the violation and the offender. “This will deter future politicians from breaking ethics laws.”
He said new measures would be introduced to bring real accountability and transparency to government, which would include increasing the oversight powers of the Lobbying and Ethics Commissioners to hold politicians to account, prohibit those charged with a criminal offense from lobbying for changes to laws that would impact their criminal proceeding, introduce legislative reforms to protect whistle blowers from retaliation, and close the loophole in the Conflict of Interest Act “that allowed Bill Morneau to own shares in his private corporation through a numbered company while serving as a Minister of the Crown.”
Scheer also said a judicial inquiry would get to the bottom of the SNC-Lavalin file and introduce the No More Coverups Act that would prevent politics from using Cabinet confidence to block RCMP investigations.
On Thursday, October 10, Michael Coteau – a third-term MPP for Don Valley East and an Ontario Liberal Leadership candidate – took the time to catch-up and campaign with Essex Riding Federal Liberal candidate, Audrey Festeryga.
He said he came to the region to support Festeryga because this election is about making a decision about who can represent Essex in an effective way.
Coteau was the second Ontario Liberal leadership candidate to stop by Essex to show support for Festeryga as Steven Del Duca also help her canvas the area previously.