Election_primer

Jeff Green | Jan 19, 2006

Feature Article

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2006 Federal Election Primer

With the federal election just days away, the Frontenac News is providing information about each of the seven candidates that are contesting the Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington (LFL&A) riding. The candidates represent a wide political spectrum.

Four of them have written extensively, publishing books and articles on political, environmental, and even financial themes, making this an unusually bookish crowd for a rural riding. Although several of them have studied agriculture, none of them make their living off the land. Five of them reside in Lanark County, and two in Frontenac County.

LFL&A is an entirely rural riding, encompassing several medium sized towns and many villages and hamlets, but it is split by region. People from the riding migrate in different directions for work, shopping, and entertainment. When people in Lanark County say, “I’m going to town”, they most often mean Ottawa. In Frontenac County they likely are referring to Kingston, and in Lennox and Addington they could easily be talking about Belleville. Unlike other ridings, LFL&A does not have a common centre. There are people in Napanee who have never set foot in Perth, and vice versa.

The riding itself is only 18 months old, and the riding associations for all the larger parties are still developing.

The campaign that has been waged has been more extensive than many in the past, with no fewer than 14 all-candidates’ meetings, coverage by daily newspapers from Ottawa, Kingston, and beyond, along with weekly newspapers, TV and radio. Interested voters have had ample opportunity to get information about the candidates.

The seven candidates have conducted a polite, even considerate campaign. At the two all-candidates’ meetings that the Frontenac News has sponsored, there was little or no sniping between candidates. They were willing to acknowledge the strong points of their opponents, and even hinted at parts of their own parties’ platforms that they were less than comfortable with.

As was the case in 2004, the LFL&A candidates this time around were a credit to the political process.

In this special issue of the News, there is a story about an election prediction website, an editorial about daycare policy, letters, and candidate profiles. (see index page for complete list of candidate profiles).