The Peoples Political party(The People) no longer a Fringe partyJean Raymond Audet Shines in First Debate!! I attended today’s all-candidates forum, and there were clearly three story-lines which resonated with me, and based on my conversations with others in the audience afterwards, they resonated with others in attendance too. Let me try to take my partisan hat off for a moment and try to explain. https://facebook/photo.php?fbid=616801201798695&l=2c16054b98 1. Clearly, Glenn Thibeault’s absence was noted by everybody present, and the lack of explanation from even organizers couldn’t change the grim mood that the audience was in. While many in the audience, like me, were partisan, these all-candidate forums hosted by CARP and Friendly To Seniors tend to draw a number of non-partisans as well – people who are genuinely interested in hearing from all of the candidates. The mood in the room at Thibeault’s absence was, to say the least, upset – bordering on angry. That being said, perhaps Thibeault did the right thing by staying away given the second story-line. 2. The “fringe candidates” – actually, really just John Turmel more so than James Waddell and Jean-Raymond Audet. Turmel’s presence at this form was a considerable distraction. Kudos to event organizers for trying to reign him in, but his constant shouting over the other candidates and heckling was not appreciated. His only purpose in being at this forum (and indeed, at entering this by-election) is to have a spot-light shone upon himself. There’s nothing for Sudbury here. Our community would be better off without the presence of Turmel. 3. There really only were two candidates on stage which sounded reasonable talking about the issues, and laying out their positions: Paula Peroni and David Robinson (with a nod to Jean-Raymond Audet). This, for me, was probably the most surprising story – and it’s going to be the one that doesn’t get reported by the mainstream media. Andrew Olivier was incredibly weak, and clearly unwilling to take a stand on just about any issue. Frankly, it wasn’t at all clear to me that he understood many of the questions that he was asked, but he did at least sound, at times, like he had an inkling. The same can’t be said for Suzanne Shawbonquit, who was clearly a dismal performer. She didn’t know the issues. She read from prepared statements – and then not all that well. She didn’t even dance around the issues she didn’t know about the same way that Olivier did. It’s actually quite unbelievable to me that the NDP, after going through what they’ve gone through Cimino and Thibeault, would have let their ill-prepared candidate take centre stage like she did today – clearly without the preparation she needed. Look, I’m sure that Suzanne is a bright person, but I think that David Robinson and Paula Peroni could have done a better job of parroting the NDP’s party line in response to questions put to her than she did. Olivier and Shawbonquit’s poor performances were quite apparent to others in the audience. It’s unfortunate that the media isn’t going to be reporting on this third story – because really, it’s the one that affects Sudburians most of all. It’s time to stop talking about the sideshows, and focus on the issues instead – as both Paula Peroni and David Robinson did today.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 04:17:56 +0000
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