Nipissing-Timiskaming riding candidates begin their platform pitch
With less than three weeks until the federal election, local campaigns are underway.
CTV News is bringing you local coverage of each riding, the main party candidates seeking election, as well as their policies and platforms.
The first riding we are highlighting is Nipissing-Timiskaming. It’s a riding that generally votes for the Liberal Party.
Anthony Rota is the Liberal incumbent. He is the most recent Speaker of the House of Commons and is seeking re-election for a sixth term.
“Even through the pandemic, we’ve worked hard to make sure that the economy didn’t go through the floor. We kept people afloat and businesses going,” said Rota.
He said voters in this riding care about what he calls a green economy.
“It’s making sure we are saving the climate and making sure climate change is stopped and at the same time developing new technologies and creating more jobs,” Rota said.
The Liberals are promising to work with every province to bring $10 a day child care to support working parents and said it will create new good-paying, middle-class jobs.
Rota has steep competition this time around. Steven Trahan, East Ferris deputy mayor and North Bay police officer of 21 years, is the Conservative candidate. He’s hoping to flip the riding blue for only the second time. Voters are telling him Internet access needs improvement and there’s a lack of natural gas expansion.
CTV News is bringing you local coverage of each riding in northeastern Ontario, the main party candidates seeking election, as well as their policies and platforms. (Eric Taschner/CTV News)
“We just came back from New Liskeard, Latchford, and the Haileybury area,” Trahan said. “Everybody has put their applications in and checkmarks in their boxes. Not one natural gas project is going to be allocated in our district. That’s a huge issue regarding heating in the wintertime.”
The Conservatives have outlined ‘Canada’s Recovery Plan,’ aimed at creating jobs and growing the country out of the pandemic. The Conservatives also promise greater access to mental healthcare for those who need it.
Current North Bay City Coun. Scott Robertson is New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh’s candidate. He’s been going door-to-door outlining the NDP’s policies to fix affordability, including the housing crisis.
“We’re hearing about the adult children who cannot afford the housing market,” said Robertson “The No. 1 issue is the issue of supply. The NDP is proposing a massive public investment in affordable housing builds -- 500,000 units across the country.”
Robertson said voters are also concerned about prescription drug costs. He said the NDP is “fully focused” on universal pharmacare.
There is no Green Party candidate on the ballot in the riding. Meanwhile, the People’s Party of Canada has chosen former Toronto Fire Service firefighter Greg Galante as their candidate. Galante is championing against vaccine passports, for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, national defence and public safety.
All three major parties said they have a clear chance at winning the seat.
“I’m very optimistic,” said Trahan. “Listening to the people of the streets, they know of me. I’m committed to the district.”
Rota said voters need to "carefully" do their research into the parties and candidates before voting.
“They need to send the best person they believe they have here in Nipissing-Timiskaming to Ottawa,” said Rota.
The New Democrats have never won the riding before. Robertson said he strongly believes he has a chance to be the first.
“The priorities of the district really line up with the priorities of the NDP,” he said.
Just more than 74,000 people are eligible to vote in the Nipissing-Temiskaming riding. In the last federal election, there was a turnout of about 60 per cent.
Voters head to the polls Sept. 20.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
Storage shed or shipping container? B.C. Supreme Court settles long-running bylaw dispute
A long-running dispute over whether a structure on a Surrey property violates a city bylaw that prohibits shipping containers on residential lots has been settled by the B.C. Supreme Court