PERTH-WELLINGTON – It appears incumbent Perth-Wellington PC candidate Matthew Rae, unlike other candidates from his party, will attend debates in his riding leading up to the Feb. 27 provincial election.
Rae told the Advertiser on Monday that he plans to attend all-candidate events in Palmerston and Stratford next week.
However, PC candidate Joseph Racinsky, who is running in the nearby Wellington-Halton Hills riding, has thus far turned down all debate invitations there.
He is one of several PC candidates planning to forego local debates in favour of door-to-door campaigning.
“Ontario PC candidates will spend every day of the campaign at people’s doors, speaking to voters about our plan to protect Ontario,” a PC Party media spokesperson stated via email on Feb. 10 when asked if the party was instructing candidates to skip debates.
The party refused to confirm or deny the existence of such a policy, and Racinsky’s campaign in particular also sidestepped direct questions about his attendance, even though three debate organizers told the Advertiser he had turned down their invitations.
“Our plan to protect Wellington-Halton Hills means being present in our community, at people’s doors and listening to concerns about the unprecedented economic uncertainty Ontario is facing,” stated Racinsky’s campaign manager Evan Holt when asked specifically about attendance at debates.
Perth-Wellington debates
Residents in Perth-Wellington can expect two debates in their riding.
The first, hosted by chambers of commerce in Minto, Mapleton and Mount Forest, is on Feb. 19 at the Norgan Theatre in Palmerston. Doors open at 6:30pm with the debate at 7pm.
Another debate being hosted by the Stratford and District Chamber of Commerce will take place on Feb. 20 from 7 to 9pm at the Stratford Rotary Complex.
“I believe I am attending,” stated Rae. “I am going door to door, as majority of candidates of all parties should be. It’s the most effective way to meet people.”
He noted the response has been “good” with “a lot of good conversations.”
According to Rae, many voters raised concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump’s possible tariffs.
“The election is very important to ensure that we have a strong, stable majority government to outlast President Trump in his threats and chaos that he’s causing right now in Ontario and Canada,” said Rae.
Candidates
Other candidates in the Perth-Wellington riding have confirmed their attendance at all future debates, including Ashley Fox of the Liberal Party, Ian Morton of the Green Party and Jason Davis of the NDP.
“It (debates) gives people the chance to have that voice,” Fox stated.
Davis said, “I think a lot of people need to start caring about who your local representative is going to be before we start talking about which party is going to be in power.”
On Feb. 11 an informational session was to be hosted by The Local Community Food Centre in Stratford.
According to Morton, the discussion was to focus on housing affordability, health care and education.
“It’s a hard time in the world right now and we need serious people who are going to take these concerns and help to solve problems, and we just don’t have that right now,” he opined.
The Ontario provincial election is to be held on Feb. 27.
