For the most part, political forums held in Huntsville have generally been respectful and reserved.

That wasn’t the case Monday night at the Algonquin Theatre as two federal candidates for the Parry Sound-Muskoka riding got into a row during an all-candidates forum moderated by the Huntsville/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce.

Incumbent Conservative Tony Clement was asked, on the final question of the night, about his whereabouts at the peak of the listeriosis outbreak that has claimed 19 lives in Canada. The questioner noted that CBC radio had questioned the federal health minister on the floor of the Democratic convention in the United States.

“If health in Canada is job one for you, why were you there and what did you think you were learning from them?”

Clement responded he was there for only 48 hours on official government business as the chair of the cabinet committee for environment and energy security. He added that he was in Saskatchewan when the outbreak first occurred and was still in the country for some time after except when he was at the American convention.

“In all of those places . . . I was doing my job directing public health officials who in turn were reporting to the lead minister on the file, the minister of agriculture. So I want you to know I can do more than one thing at a time.”

Liberal candidate Jamie McGarvey took Clement to task over his trip to the convention, citing news reports that the MP was doing anything but his job.

“The reports that I heard in the media were that Mr. Clement was in Denver trying to sell tar sands oil, or what the Americans call dirty oil, to the Americans.”

“Give me a break. Give me a break, Jamie,” Clement responded. “This is low.”

“Excuse me,” McGarvey shot back. “The floor is mine. That was reported in the media.”

McGarvey also stated that the media reported that Clement hosted parties at the Canadian consulate general’s office “on our tab.”

“Come on, even for you this is low,” Clement said.

“I am sorry, Tony, but you were the one who was there when this problem was going on. It needed to be dealt with while Canadians were dying and were sick,” McGarvey responded before being drowned out by the near-capacity audience shouting in agreement of his comments or protesting.

“This is not how we conduct our business in Parry Sound-Muskoka,” Clement shouted over the audience members.

The evening featured a panel of the five candidates seeking the riding seat: Clement, McGarvey, Glen Hodgson of the Green Party, New Democrats’ Jo-Anne Boulding and independent candidate David Rowland.

Each candidate was allowed time at the beginning and end of the forum to address the audience. Between the speeches, audience members were allowed to ask questions and each panelist was given a few minutes to respond.

Rowland departed from the normal routine of reading from a prepared speech by taking the microphone and speaking to the audience from the edge of the stage, almost as if he was distancing himself from the other candidates while reaching out to the electorate.

He was campaigning on a platform that would give more power to his constituents in how he would represent them in Ottawa. He supports a web-poll system where people can vote on major topics before parliament, which would give him the direction he needs to effectively represent his riding.

“You see, government can only give with one hand and take with the other. Government doesn’t create wealth. It doesn’t create jobs. It can only create jobs in one area by increasing taxes. So one of the questions I am going to ask every time is how much is this going to cost and where is the money coming from. This (web poll) is democracy whose time has come. We have the technology to do it.”  

However, over the course of the night, Rowland agreed with many particulars of the various party platforms, especially Hodgson.

That was not the only time the evening featured some conduct that was out of the ordinary.

Audience members routinely tried to shout down the candidates, particularly Clement, on a number of answers, particularly when the MP took issue with the Green Party’s stance on FedNor.

Clement, who is the minister responsible for the federal funding agency, accused Hodgson’s party of wanting to do away with the program. Clement did so after an audience member asked a question about the agency of him, which was contrary to the format.

“I have read your platform and it says that you don’t like the fact that regional development agencies like FedNor is, has funded millions to failed enterprises and you want to put an end to corporate subsidies. So are you in favour of eliminating FedNor entirely?”

“Stick to the program,” one person yelled out.

“Yeah, quit sidetracking,” shouted another.

Hodgson said the issue he has with FedNor is that it is an instrument of “old party politics’.”

“You use something like FedNor, that is a grant that probably could be useful to people. If we use it as a political football, if we banter it back and forth and we threaten you with it 0we may get a partisan issue. We need to break down partisan party politics and stop using something like FedNor as an example. You have to suck up to whatever government that is in power to get it. No, we are not against FedNor. No, we are not against support for this community, but we are against it being used as a political football.”

The candidates were asked if they would develop legislation prohibiting fresh water export. Boulding said an NDP government would definitely support the program, unlike promises made by the Conservative government.

“It is in our platform and we will ban bulk fresh water exports from Canada by federal law. While Mr. Clement says he is prepared to support it, they (government) haven’t yet done it.”

She added that her party would not stop at implementing an export ban on water, but would instigate quality control measures.  

“There are hundreds of communities in this country that have boil water adversaries, many of them aboriginal communities. So we also need a national water strategy including a water quality audit because it isn’t just enough to ban fresh export, we have make sure the people living in our communities can turn on their taps and drink the water they are being serviced with.”

Other issues discussed that evening included public health care, pollution, taxes, Internet accessibility, aboriginal rights and gas prices.

The evening concluded with the candidates speaking with audience members in Partners Hall over issues raised during the forum.