Huron-Bruce candidates: Left-to-right: Gerard Creces (NDP), Ben Lobb (Conservative), Jutta
Splettstoesser (Green) & Allan Thompson (Liberal)
Photo by Jordan McKinnonHuron-Bruce candidates: Left-to-right: Gerard Creces (NDP), Ben Lobb (Conservative), Jutta Splettstoesser (Green) & Allan Thompson (Liberal) Photo by Jordan McKinnon
Midwestern

Huron-Bruce Candidates Square Off in Underwood

The candidates in Huron-Bruce for the federal election drew a packed house in Underwood.

About 150 people took in the first of at least a half-dozen debates between the four candidates seeking to represent the region in Ottawa after the October 19th vote.

The two-hour debate saw a wide range of questions asked of the candidates, which New Democratic candidate Gerard Creces says is a sign Canadians have many issues with the direction of the Harper Conservatives.

"People are starting to take notice of what Canadian values that they want to see addressed or haven't gone addressed. The more people that come, the more questions that get asked, it shows just a variety of these different sectors of Canada and even the riding that are actually starting to pay attention and starting to get involved," says Creces.

Incumbent Conservative Ben Lobb defended the government's record, pointing to news earlier in the day of a $1.9-billion surplus.

"We've been able to balance the budget like we said we were going to be able to. We've been able to deliver transfers to the provinces for health care and social programs, like we said. We've been able to keep funding maintained to the military, we've been able to cut taxes for all Canadians, including businesses, and so we've been delivering on our economic platform," says Lobb.

Liberal Allan Thompson criticized Prime Minister Stephen Harper's style of governance, pointing to negative attack ads, suggesting people have lost faith in their politicians because backbench MP's have lost their voices to the party line.

"I had observed politics on Parliament Hill as a journalist, and made a decision that I wanted to seek office and try and help people regain some trust in their political leadership. And in Huron-Bruce, that means at this level, make the case that a member of parliament can be an effective voice," says Thompson.

With the meeting taking place just a few kilometres from the Bruce nuclear site, attention inevitably was drawn to the future of the largest nuclear station in the world and the area's largest employer.

Lobb, Thompson and Creces all spoke in support of the nuclear industry, while the Green Party's Jutta Splettstoesser was not ready to give a universal endorsement.

Splettstoesser has been a vocal opponent of plans to bury nuclear waste deep below the Bruce site, while she stopped short of backing the Green Party's policy of opposing nuclear power completely.

With six of the eight reactors at Bruce Power up for refurbishment in the coming years, Splettstoesser says she needs to see a full price tag before deciding where her support lies.

The Huron-Bruce candidates will be back on the debate stage on Wednesday in Hensall.

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