A full house was present at the Comox Legion on Monday night to listen to North Island-Powell River candidates talk about business concerns.
The Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted the event, which was an all candidates forum with questions pertaining to the concerns of the local business community. The legion hall was standing room-only, and had a line up outside the door before the event started.
Of the six candidates registered with Elections Canada in the riding, three were present at the beginning of the event, with one running late. At the start, Liberal Party candidate Jennifer Lash, Green Party candidate Jessica Wegg and independent candidate Glen Staples made opening remarks. NDP candidate Tanille Johnston was running late due to another meeting and arrived roughly 30 minutes into the event.
Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn and People's Party candidate Paul Macknight did not attend.
In Lash's opening remarks, she said that she was "passionate about building healthy communities, which of course requires a healthy economy.
"This means supporting traditional industries like logging and commercial fishing, and trying to foster the new industries and small businesses that are the entrepreneurial spirit of our communities," Lash said, adding that with the Liberal lead in the polls, nationally, Lash would "have a seat at the table as we craft a new direction for Canada."
Staples spoke next, saying that he would focus on more long-term policies than current elected officials, and that he would like to see less polarization within politics.
"I鈥檝e been involved in politics for 50 years. I鈥檝e met a lot of candidates 鈥� almost all of them are good people who are dedicated and have a lot of good opinions. What has happened now is that it has become so polarized that it鈥檚 more mudslinging than it is talk," he said.
Wegg gave her opening remarks third, saying that her focus was on "the future for our children and future generations.
"I want them to have a healthy, safe secure place to live, homes they can afford. I want to know they鈥檙e going to be okay, and that they will have a world when they grow up. It sounds doom and gloom, but it鈥檚 that serious," she said. "I鈥檓 glad that we鈥檙e here to talk about business, but I want to look at business through a climate lens; Everything is interconnected and we don鈥檛 have an economy without taking care of our environment."
After she arrived, Johnston apologized for being late, saying that she had a conflicting meeting with local healthcare professionals to hear their concerns. In her opening statement, Johnston said that she would ensure "you鈥檒l remain in great hands in Ottawa with me.
"I have a background in not only politics, but social work and healthcare," she said. "I鈥檓 well-positioned to go to bat for Canadians, facing diverse challenges and work across differences to bring awesome solutions for Canada and North Island-Powell River. I want to move forward to build a better health care system, not only affordable housing, but accessible housing, and to establish a better taxation system that sees the ultra-rich pay their fair share."
Similar to an earlier event held by the Chamber of Commerce for the Courtenay-Alberni riding, candidates answered pre-submitted questions from the chamber about local business concerns. Audience members could also submit questions to the moderator using a web-based app.
The full video is available at the Chamber of Commerce Facebook Page, and will be saved to the Chamber's Youtube Page in the future.
An all-candidates event is scheduled at the Tidemark Theatre in Campbell River for April 22 at 4:30 p.m.
