Despite a crowded seven-person candidates' table, the battle between incumbent Conservative member of Parliament John Weston and Liberal hopeful Dan Veniez was clearly the main event at the Squamish federal candidates' forum on April 13.
More than 70 residents attended the forum and though some wore their campaign buttons with pride, a tangible anti-Conservative sentiment was evident both in the questions asked and the responses from Weston's challengers.
Although some of Weston's comments drew scattered applause, Veniez's digs at Weston and the Harper government evoked by far the largest reaction.
After Weston's response to a question about integrity, Veniez scoffed at Weston's claim that Conservatives had brought accountability to the government.
"Integrity has been key and this is the government that brought in the most sweeping accountability legislation in Canadian history -the Accountability Act," said Weston, adding that the act forced cronyism out of federal politics.
After the hushed laughter from the audience died down, Veniez responded: "My first thought is Mr. Weston, you've got to be kidding me," said Veniez, causing the audience to burst into applause. "No cronyism? Have you seen the 28 appointments to the Senate? How many of those senators are on fraud charges by Elections Canada as we speak?"
Other candidates didn't miss opportunities to criticize the Harper government either.
"This government wastes a lot of money - all under the guise of, 'Look at what we're doing,' but the reality is a lot of communities are suffering because this government is spending money on things that are not high on the priority list," said New Democrat (NDP) candidate Terry Platt. "Slap a coat of paint on it and put up a sign - Canada's Action Plan."
Members of the audience were not easy on Weston, either. One Quest University student was critical of the Harper government's plan to build "megaprisons."
"Mr. Weston, your government was putting forward a budget that was tough on crime and proposed building megaprisons while being unable not to violate election policy and being the only government in Canadian history to be found in contempt of Parliament," the young man said.
Weston said the public's perception of the jails issue is often obscured - "we're talking about updating jails, making jails better, not just building new jails."
He added that safe communities are important to Canadians and reminded the audience about his Private Member's Bill to fight meth and ecstasy production that was adopted just before the election writ was dropped.
Veniez avoided the question and returned to what he considered the main issue.
"We're here because this government lied to the Canadian people and lied to Parliament, and your MP represents this government," he said. "He has to be held accountable for being a puppet for Stephen Harper."
Despite Veniez's numerous references to Weston's leader, he did not mention Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff once during the forum.
Platt said jailing more criminals isn't the answer to Canadians' desire for safer communities.
"We need to focus on being smart on crime, not just tough on crime, so we can stop crime before it starts," she said. "Give the support to families from the very beginning so that kids feel they're not invisible to the system until they show up doing a crime."
Green Party candidate Brennan Wauters supported Platt's point and took a dig at Harper and his supporters. Two Conservative senators stand charged with having violated Elections Canada spending rules.
"There are far more egalitarian ways of dealing with crime and if we put some money into prisoner reform and contravention maybe it can be used in Mr. Harper's inner circle in the Senate," Wauters said.
During her summation, Platt asked voters to stop playing the ping-pong table of disappointment between Liberals and Conservatives and give the NDP a chance.
"We have a leader who's ready to lead with a practical platform," she said.
Progressive Canadian Party candidate Roger Legassé and Libertarian Tunya Audain also spoke at the forum. The Marxist-Leninist and Western Block Party candidates did not attend.
