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| The Stage of the REM Lee theatre on Tuesday evening just prior to the 2021 Skeena-Bulkley Valley candidates debate (photo from Terrace Standard FB page) |
After two hours of what many times was a rambling affair, one thing seems fairly certain in the wake of the Terrace All Candidates Debate on Tuesday night.
The two front runners in the Skeena-Bulkley Valley race, they being incumbent MP Taylor Bachrach and Conservative challenger Claire Rattée, probably are not in any peril of a late charge from the polling results from the others seeking the region's seat in the House of Commons.
Five of the six candidates were on hand for the night for the event hosted by the Terrace Standard and taking place at the REM Lee Theatre.
With the Liberal candidate a no show, an absence never quite explained; while Green Party candidate Adeana Young participated by Zoom, which at times presented some challenges when it came to hearing questions from the media presenters or the answers provided by the other candidates.
Owing to COVID, there was no audience on hand to provide for atmosphere on the night, though questions from the public were received by the media panel leading up to the event.
As for the debate format, the evening was divided into Opening Statements, a Question and Answer period with rebuttal options hosted by a stream of Northwest media representatives and a Closing Statement segment to bring the night to an end.
The Questions for the candidates included Economy/Industry, Indigenous issues, Climate Change, Social issues and the COVID-19 pandemic
For the Economy/Industry segment, much of the focus was on the resource sector in the region, with plans to transition away from oil/gas in the forefront for the Greens and NDP, while the other candidates noted of the impact on employment in the region without a more balanced approach. The return to prominence of the Northern Gateway and the potential for an overturn of the ban on oil tankers also made for some of the current to those discussion.
Indigenous Issues were mainly framed through the lens of Truth and Reconciliation and the recent discovery of the burial sites at Residential Schools. Each of the candidates offering their own approaches to how both issues can be addressed across the northwest. On Residential schools, all the candidates were of the same opinion as to how it was wrong, offering up a range of differing steps that should follow
Climate Change themes made for some interesting differences of opinion, both the Green and NDP candidates raising the alarm on the issue, the CHP and PPC candidates less inclined to think of the situation as a crisis. The Conservative candidate noting of the need to address climate change but sticking mainly to the policy of the Party which calls for lesser targets then what is the current approach out of Ottawa.
Social Issues mostly were focused towards the need for affordable housing, concerns over the lack of services for mental health and a need to address the issues related to drugs in the region the areas of most note from the discussion.
COVID-19 themes defined the rather stark differences of opinion when it comes to how the pandemic has been handled, the PPC and CHP candidates the most vociferous in opposition to how the Liberals in Ottawa and NDP in Victoria have handled the issue. The other three candidates highlighting the challenges that the coronavirus has brought to the residents of the region, some focusing on the large level of debt that has come out of the response.
And while those discussion topics were quite interesting, too often it seemed that many of the candidates would pivot away from the question at hand and instead return to their more comfortable talking points.
A frustrating thing for anyone hoping to learn more as to how they may wish to effect change should they be elected on September 20th.
From the opening statements and on through the evening for both the People's Party of Canada candidate Jody Craven and Christian Heritage Party candidate and party leader Rod Taylor the themes were fairly basic.
Both are opponents of vaccine passports, have concerns over a growing belief of tyranny and what they believe has been a loss of freedom for Canadians.
Much of the conversation for the night would circle back to those themes for both, with Mr. Taylor also returning to a frequent theme of abortion issues and his opposition to it that has framed all of his previous runs for office, making the topic a focal point for many of his commentaries regardless of the subject under discussion.
Many of the observations from both candidates provided for unsubstantiated themes and calls for residents of the riding to do some research, something which veered at times towards directions that many may think of as conspiracy theories.
In the case of Mr. Taylor the night included a closing statement that harkened to the days of National Socialism and Nazi Germany and how in his view we apparently are wandering down that road again.
A takeaway of the night for both Mr. Craven and Mr. Taylor, is one that indicates that they are channelling some of the anger that has marked the national campaign across Canada this election year.
However, such was the rhetoric from both candidates, that if they had any other policies of note or offered any hint as to how they would represent the voters of the region, those nuggets of information were lost amidst the more focused and strident direction of their commentary on the evening.
Something that likely will leave them on the fringes of the vote count on September 20th.
The other three candidates explored more familiar topics of political policy on the evening, not really straying too far from their party platforms.
Adeana Young's focus for the evening was on Truth and Reconciliation themes, returning often to the need for action on the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, seeking to draw the other candidates out on how they would approach the issues.
That proved successful for her, with much of the discussion turning to what the best path forward towards reconciliation should be, with consultation with elders and officials hereditary or elected the main focus for most.
The topic also provided for some flash points as the challengers put incumbent Bachrach into the spotlight on the work done so far on reconciliation and how or if an NDP government may do things differently than the current government.
While successful in delivering on her chosen areas of concern, the Green policies didn't stray too far from those elements, leaving a number of gaps for voters as to what else the candidate and her party may have to offer beyond the area of Indigenous and Environmental issues in the region.
With no Liberal candidate on hand to defend the current government record, the NDP's Taylor Bachrach found himself the focus for the collective's approach to what is wrong with Ottawa elements of the night.
Though it did also provide him with opportunity to recount his work in Ottawa over the last two years.
That theme provided for one of the key moments of the night and perhaps the strongest of takeaways of the two hours, as well as for the most entertaining and educational elements of the night.
Conservative candidate Claire Rattée who clearly did some homework on the night, raised the theme of how the NDP is now speaking out against Liberal policies in many areas, while then highlighting Mr. Bachrach's voting record in the House of 47 of 58 times in support of Liberal measures over the last two years.
Mr. Bachrach took advantage of the recent revival of the pipelines debates in the region to try to pin the Conservative to the national policy, and while Ms. Rattée observed of her belief in a need for Social licence, the topic was one that seemed to give the NDP incumbent his own moment of strength on a key topic of the night.
Ms. Rattée also took on the People's Party candidate head on, that after Mr. Craven had yelled across the stage as to whether the Conservative was vaccinated or not.
In reply, Ms. Rattée noted that she was, adding not that it was any of his business;, as well she noted of the Conservative's policy that whether to get the COVID vaccine or not is a personal choice.
For the most part, while there may have been four on stage, another on Zoom and one missing in action; the night evolved into mostly a review for voters as to whether the two perceived front runners will sway any votes to their ledger on election night.
The most engaged debates on the evening were between Mr. Bachrach and Ms. Rattée, both of whom covered their themes well, the two candidates offering very different views as to how the region should be represented.
Their final statements on the night putting the exclamation mark on where they are positioned in the campaign to this point.
Mr. Bachrach observed on the driving theme of the NDP's National campaign and Leader Jagmeet Singh.
"Jagmeet has a saying that when we lift each other up we all rise. We are living through some incredibly difficult times and the social fabric of our communities is stretched tight. We have important work to do together, we have important choices to make. Over the past two years I've worked hard as your representative to bring your voice to Ottawa to push for better, to ensure that people got the help that they need" -- NDP candidate Taylor Bachrach
For her part, Ms. Rattée made note of the last six years of government and framed that as the choice for voters.
"I hope that you at home can see the choice that you have in front of you because it's a simple one. Are you prepared for another six years of deficits and deceit from your government, or are you ready for better. A fresh start for Skeena-Bulkley Valley and for Canada and a government that will put Canadian first with a plan to actually recover" -- Conservative candidate Claire Rattée
The absence of the Liberal candidate should also be noted on the night.
A late entry to the Skeena-Bulkley Valley roster, Lakhwinder Jhaj remains very much an unknown contender for the seat, with the candidate literally having zero visibility in the riding other than a campaign photo on the Liberal website.
That lack of engagement with the voters of Skeena Bulkley Valley should be reflected by the vote count we imagine come September 20th.
Even the most loyal of Liberals must be questioning the strategy, such as it is from the national party and that should put a significant amount of vote in play for the other candidates.
Two years ago the Liberals received 4,793 votes, or 11.6 of the ballots handed in.
How that vote scatters, if it does, along as whether the national troubles for the Greens are reflected in Skeena-Bulkley Valley totals, could make for an interesting vote count on election night.
You can check out the debating styles of Tuesday and explore each of the individual segments on the night from the Terrace Standard Facebook page.
A look at the campaign so far can be explored from our archive page here.
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