Newmarket
October 16, 2008 10:18 PM
By: Sean Pearce
While much of the campaign in the Newmarket-Aurora riding has focused on the battle between Liberal candidate Tim Jones and Conservative candidate Lois Brown, the other candidates have worked hard to try and make themselves heard.
And, to some degree, their efforts worked.
Going into Tuesday’s election campaign, Newmarket-Aurora NDP candidate Mike Seaward said he was satisfied with the effort he put into the campaign.
“A young woman at the Aurora debate told me, ‘The working people of this riding owe you a debt for the campaign you ran,’” he said. “I think we did most of what we wanted to do.”
The economy, jobs, affordable housing, health care and other social issues have been chief concerns of local residents, Mr. Seaward said.
Voters told him they hope the NDP does well enough to continue its goal of raising awareness about social issues of national importance, Mr. Seaward said.
“We’ll keep trying ... There are a lot of battles to fight,” Mr. Seaward said. “Thanks to all the voters who have honoured me by voting NDP in Newmarket-Aurora.”
Similarly, the Green Party also captured the attention of a lot of voters in the Newmarket-Aurora riding and nationally.
Green candidate Glenn Hubbers said this election represented a breakthrough for his party and he plans to remain a presence in the party’s future.
“It’s a tough call (as to the campaign’s highlight), as there have been several ranging from the opportunity to speak to high school classes, which is always a personal highlight for me, to having Elizabeth May in the televised leaders’ debates,” Mr. Hubbers said.
“I think the major highlight of the campaign was the number of people who spoke out against the attempt to block Elizabeth from the debates. This highlighted the fact that single voices do make a difference and can change the outcomes if people react in solidarity to an issue they feel passionately about.”
Mr. Hubbers said he was grateful to all of his supporters and for all of the help he received on the campaign trail. For those who helped his cause, he reserved nothing less than the highest praise.
“I‘d like to personally thank everyone on my campaign team,” Mr. Hubbers said. “People work hard and make personal sacrifices to support their candidate and their party and this is particularly true of a small, growing party. I could not imagine a finer group of people with whom I could have surrounded myself and I owe them a great deal.”
For his part, Christian Heritage Party candidate Ray Luff said he was somewhat frustrated by the lack of exposure during the campaign, adding with so much attention on the economy, it was difficult to get the social side of his party’s message out to the public.
Still, despite the somewhat lacklustre attention paid to the party, its message got out Mr. Luff added.
“The highlight for me was when I was doing my e-mail campaign where I was sending out my information to a list of people, eventually I met a person in a doughnut shop who said, ‘I know your whole platform. Someone forwarded your e-mail to me,’” he said.
“Then, the next day, someone else e-mailed me about how that person I met in the doughnut shop had e-mailed them and told me that they were forwarding the e-mail.”
While several voters agreed with his party’s pro-life position, they still could not vote for him, Mr. Luff admitted.
Ultimately, the CHP is all about voting with one’s conscience and paying down more of the national debt, he said.
“The CHP hopes to point out to folks that something going unnoticed is that our moral compass needs repairing in our country,” Mr. Luff said.
Progressive Canadian Party candidate Dorian Baxter did not respond to questions.