Published Oct. 8 2019

To the Editor

OK so will you vote in the upcoming federal election on Oct. 21? Many of you are too busy with your everyday life to learn about the issues that matter and so you won’t even bother voting. Some of you like me may feel that your vote doesn’t matter much because this riding has always tended to vote for the Conservatives regardless of the issues and so you may decide to not even bother voting. Allow me to present an argument for why you should vote and what you should consider.
First of all the national media the press the national TV and radio networks place far too much emphasis on the polls and the merits of the party leaders. While it is important to consider the platforms that the parties put forward and the strengths of the party leaders the reality is that you are voting for the person who will be representing our riding. So for me the issue becomes what has our MP done for our riding in the past and what will our MP do for our riding in the next four years?
Now I have a reason to care about who we should elect in this riding. Now it becomes easy for me to make the decision. Historically it is always best to choose the candidate who will be on the winning side. The Conservatives win the provincial and federal elections and Tony Clements’ riding gets an incredible number of perks new double ice pad and swimming pool and so on. So what perks did our riding get when Stephen Harper was PM?

I challenge Jamie Schmale and his predecessor to show how voting for the Conservatives has helped our riding over and above the regular levels of funding. Now the choice for me is easy. The Liberals are going to win the federal election. We should elect the Liberal candidate Judi Forbes because she has the best chance of advancing the needs and causes of our riding of having them heard and getting them addressed.

Walter Tose
Haliburton