All-Candidates Meetings Next Two Mondays

Jeff Green | May 22, 2014

Do you want to know where the local candidates stand on the issues of concern in our corner of the province? The Frontenac News is providing two opportunities for you to find out. On Monday, May 26 at 7 pm, we are teaming up with the Friends of Arden at the Kennebec Community Hall, located on the Arden-Tamworth Road at the junction with Elm Tree Road, a hundred metres or so past the Mill Pond if you are headed south.

The second meeting, co-sponsored by the Verona Lions, will be held on Monday, June 2 at the Verona Lions Hall at 4504 Verona Sand Road, which runs west off of Verona Main Street (Road 38) near the foot of the village.

The candidates (in alphabetical order by last name) are Randy Hillier (incumbent PC) Bill MacDonald (Liberals) Cam Mather (Green) Dave Parkhill (NDP).

The nomination deadline is Thursday, May 22 and this is being written on May 20 so another candidate may still come out of the wood work.

The candidates will each have four minutes for opening remarks at the beginning of the evening, and before taking questions from the floor, this time around there will be a question that we think may frame some of the debate. We will be asking each candidate to explain what their party will be doing for rural Eastern Ontario other than the farming community, in the next four years, if elected.

We are not asking what they will do individually as MPPs, or what their own issues are, and we are not asking what their party has done or advocated for in the past. We want information about the party platforms.

The reason for this question is that thus far the party platforms that have been publicized, as far as rural Ontario is concerned, have been limited to policies regarding farming issues .

The Liberal party is offering subsidies to support farmers. The Conservatives are promising to eliminate or streamline regulations, promote bio-diesel and cut energy costs. The Liberal and Conservative parties also have radically different policies regarding wind and solar power production, which is a rural issue as well as an energy policy issues

As for the NDP – the rural page on their election website says “The page you were looking for was not found” - an indication of the slow roll-out of their election platform.

This question will be sent to the candidates in advance. Once they have a chance to answer, the public will be invited to ask questions for the rest of the evening, followed by a final statement by each candidate. The meeting will last no more than 2 hours.

For further information, call the Frontenac News (613-279-3150), email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact us through Facebook.