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Laurentian insolvency, pandemic economy hot topics at Sudbury riding Chamber debate

Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce hosted its first of two online forums for federal candidates on Tuesday night

In an unusual political move, federal Green party candidate David Robinson admitted he’s “not going to win this election.”

The declaration came during Tuesday night’s “Virtual Fireside Chat with the Federal Candidates,” which was hosted virtually by the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce. 

Although Robinson is running what he believes to be a losing campaign in the Sudbury electoral district, he clarified the effort isn’t doomed to fail by every measure of the word.

“Why vote for somebody who’s going to lose?” he asked during his closing remarks. “Because you think the big issue that’s being ignored by these candidates with their kind of namby pamby policies on climate, is the climate issue, and you want to say one thing to all of them, you want to say: ‘More, we want more, we have to have more action.’”

Sudbury is a swing riding, which he said explains why NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau have both visited the city in recent days.

“If we give two per cent more votes for the Greens, the backroom players in those parties are going to say climate matters more than we thought and we need to steal more green policy.”

Although he said his opponents Nadia Verrelli (NDP) and Viviane Lapointe (Liberal) are both “terrific candidates” with roughly the same packages, he argued Conservative candidate Ian Symington is in the same boat as he is, in that he’s “not going to win it either.”

The best thing Conservative voters in Sudbury can do to help prevent a Liberal majority is vote for Verrelli, Robinson said. 

This, Symington countered, is simply not the case. 

“With all due respect, Dr. Robinson, I’m here to win,” he said. 

In reference to the tropical beach background Robinson used during Tuesday’s online chat, Symington added, “I don’t know if you’ve been hanging out where your backdrop is but Sudbury’s got something exciting happening right now and I’m happy to be part of it.”

Symington said the Conservatives’ detailed plan, called Canada’s Recovery Plan, has what it takes to carry the county beyond the pandemic by securing jobs through investments in businesses and workers, shoring up domestic production of medical products, ensuring accountability in government and investing in mental health, among other things.

“We will secure our economy by cleaning up wasteful spending, not critical spending, and restoring public finances,” he said. 

Tuesday night’s discussion centred mainly on the economy, with the four candidates spending the majority of the time highlighting their respective platforms and reputations.  

For Lapointe, Liberal action during the pandemic, such as wage and rent subsidies to businesses, “kept businesses alive during the pandemic.”

“We know that before the pandemic, Sudbury’s unemployment rate was at the lowest in recorded history, largely because of federal investments made in Sudbury and northern Ontario, and we can get there again,” she said, pointing to a locally developed electric mining operation as being a success story others can learn from.

“The world needs our resources more than ever, and the world needs these resources to be produced sustainability, and that’s where Sudbury comes into play.”

Robinson argued local advancements in mining practices haven’t been adequately promoted, and Verrelli said she agrees that “we need to push this more.” 

Layoffs at Laurentian University as a result of the organization’s insolvency remained a sore spot on the campaign trail, with Verrelli deriding the Liberals for sitting “idly by” and doing nothing while the university took this hit, which came to the area’s economic detriment.

The topic of life beyond the pandemic and the support afforded to affected businesses also highlighted the host organization’s mandate, whose chair Neil Milner, who moderated Tuesday’s event, asked candidates what they’d do for the tourism and restaurant sectors. 

Symington pointed to a Conservative plan to offer rebates to Canadians dining out in restaurants, Lapointe noted the Liberals have invested $425 million in targeted support for Canada’s tourism industry and made additional investments in the Canada Community Revitalization Fund, and Verrelli said the NDP would work to drive innovation and modernize the Investment Canada Act, which governs foreign direct investment in Canada. Robinson said that he would push for vaccine passports. 

The Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce is hosting another live-streamed event of the same format tonight beginning at 7 p.m., with this one featuring Nickel Belt candidates. Sudbury.com will once again carry the livestream feed.

Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.


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Tyler Clarke

About the Author: Tyler Clarke

Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
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