Voters will cast ballots on Monday, May 2 after the Conservative government fell in the House of Commons on Friday (March 25). The government was defeated in a vote of 156-145 on a non-confidence motion supported by the opposition.
Incumbent Conservative MP John Weston is seeking re-election in the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country riding. Also vying for the seat are Liberal Dan Veniez, New Democrat Terry Platt and the Green Party's Brennan Wauters.
In the October 14, 2008 election, Weston won handily, with 44.6 per cent of the 60,469 ballots cast. The Liberal candidate, ex-Squamish mayor Ian Sutherland, came second with 26.6 per cent. Blair Wilson, the Green Party candidate who was the incumbent MP heading into the election, and Bill Forst, the NDP candidate, each had 14.4 per cent. Forst had five more votes than did Wilson, so officially came third.
Although he thinks an election is unnecessary, Weston said he thinks the economy and jobs are the most important issues, "building on the strong foundation that has been established over the last two or three years of the Economic Action Plan and looking to the future of continuing to pull out of the recession to build on the six straight quarters of economic growth and the 480,000 new jobs that have been created since July 2009."
For the riding, Weston said people want to see strong leadership nationally.
"They want to see a leader who can continue to move us in the right direction economically, someone who is respected on the world stage," he said.
Veniez said he thinks the most important issue in the election is the government's competence. He questioned the $10-billion allocation for expanding the prison system, $30 billion for fighter jets and $6 billion a year in corporate tax cuts. There are other pressing priorities, Veniez said, including investments in education, training, seniors, the health care system and critical infrastructure.
"I don't believe that this government's press clippings on it being sound economic managers are in any way credible," he said. "This government has presided over the largest increase in government spending in recent history and that was before the recession hit."
The other issue in the election is respect for democracy, Veniez said, noting the Conservatives came into power promising openness, accountability and transparency.
"They have done exactly the opposite and our democracy demands us to pay attention to what they've done. They can't be allowed to get away with it."
Good government is the priority in the riding, Veniez said, followed by the environment. "This government has been asleep at the switch and an international embarrassment with respect to Copenhagen, climate change and environmental matters," he said.
Platt said the most important issue in the election campaign is trust in government.
"The government that we have right now, it's as if they are running their own show. They're telling people only what they feel like telling them and what they do tell them turns out to be not the truth," she said.
"I think a lot of people don't vote because they are very distrustful of what's going on. This government says one thing and they turn around and do something else."
In the riding, Platt said local employment, affordable accommodations, affordable housing and health care are the priorities.
"When people say we can't afford an election, well, that's the price of democracy," she said. "Democracy is expensive. Dictatorships are pretty cheap."
While Conservatives say they don't want an election, Platt said she thinks they have been pushing for one since the last election in 2008 and pointed to the party's negative attack ads.
"What have they been priming us for since 2008?" she asked. "They've been working hard at staining the name long before it was ever necessary."
Wauters said he knows the economy is the primary concern for many voters in the riding.
"At the same time, the approach of the Green Party, and specifically my interest in serving the riding, is that the foundation of the economy really is the environment," he said. "It's a hard leap for people to make because they don't necessarily see all of the routes that the environment feeds into the economy."
All economic activity is predicated on a healthy environment, Wauters said. "A healthy environment is ultimately going to equate a positive, successful and sustainable economy," he said.
People come to the riding because of its beauty and recreational activities, making tourism one of the major economic drivers, said Wauters. "The balance is to say we can retain how beautiful this place is and use it to our advantage for economic purposes," he said.
