Nickel Belt Liberal party candidate Tay Butt opened the doors to his campaign office in Val Caron on May 17, welcoming in supporters and Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré.
Butt and Serré have been friends and colleagues for some time and the Nickel Belt MP spoke highly of Butt's involvement in the community and his knowledge of Northern Ontario.
"I've called Tay a good friend from our days at the Chamber of Commerce and he's spent a lot of time all across Northern Ontario, helping the party, helping candidates, helping volunteers, not only in Greater Sudbury and Nickel Belt but all over Northern Ontario," said Serré. "When I was elected in 2015, Tay was there so he knows all about this."
The two share the same opinion when it comes to poll numbers, in that they don't subscribe to them and that the only numbers that matter are those that come out at the end of election day.
"We saw in 2015, the polls had the Liberals in third and we saw what happened on election day," said Serré. "When I talk to Glenn Thibeault, he tells me that he's never been ahead in the polls, yet he keeps winning."
When speaking about the June 7 election, Butt believes that the choice Ontarians have to make comes down to care versus cuts.
"We Liberals believe in care, Conservatives believe in cuts," said Butt. "We believe in health care, child care, care for students, seniors, the young, and the most vulnerable people in our society. All those in our lower and middle income brackets, we need to have equal distribution of wealth."
Butt will have a tall task ahead of him to attempt to unseat France Gélinas, who has held the job as MPP for Nickel Belt since 2007. No mention was made of the NDP, as both Butt and Serré believe this election comes down to the Liberals versus the Conservatives.
"This election is really important, we can not as a province have these types of politics, these politics of divisiveness," said Serré. "You remember back to the days of (Mike) Harris and (Stephen) Harper, and it's the same type of policies that Mr. Ford is doing right now."
"I don't go by poll numbers either," said Butt. "You just have to look at so many good things happen versus the other party that is only offering cuts...imagine cuts to hospitals, nurses, education, I don't know why anyone would choose another party when we are offering only care."
