For a floor hockey venue, Salt Spring’s Fulford Hall felt a lot like home ice for MP Elizabeth May, who entered to a burst of applause even before the island’s all-candidates’ event began Tuesday, April 15.
Joining the Green Party incumbent onstage were challengers David Beckham, a former farmer and environmental tech innovator who hopes to add the Saanich-Gulf Islands seat to the Liberals’ national tally; and Colin Plant, a schoolteacher, Saanich councilor and former Capital Regional District board chair looking to grow local enthusiasm for his run as a New Democrat.
Absent was Conservative Party candidate Cathie Ounsted, to the voiced dismay of several members of the public who said they’d hoped to hear from all four running for a seat in the riding; a mid-morning email from Ounsted’s staff on the day of the event informed organizers she had decided against participating, citing nonspecific concerns over “smartphone debate footage [which] was selectively edited and shared on social media.”
Those who did attend were rewarded with a robust, respectful exchange that covered candidates’ policies and plans, ranging from healthcare and proportional representation to the climate emergency and international relations. Those last were clearly weighing as heavily on the minds of community members, as they lined up to ask questions often related to mounting tensions with the U.S.
One islander asked about candidates’ plans regarding the pilotage waivers Canada grants to allow American oil tanker vessels to transit the Inside Passage to Alaska. Setting aside clear environmental concerns for our waterways, May said, the answer for those waivers was easy: revoke them.
“We do it as a favour to the United States,” May said. “We receive no benefit, not even an economic one, and just take on the risk as a favour to ‘our good neighbours to the south.’”
Beckham agreed, saying while he wasn’t sure the best path toward less oil tanker traffic on the West Coast, the current situation wasn’t in Canada’s best interest — particularly given growing conflict with the U.S.
“Right at this moment, we don’t really owe them anything,” agreed Beckham. “We should be getting any tankers that are carrying dangerous materials out of ecologically sensitive waters.”
Much of the conversation predictably led to national Liberal Party leader Prime Minister Mark Carney, particularly whether voters on Salt Spring — where May and the Greens have long enjoyed reliable support — should be “strategically” voting for the local Liberal if they wanted to help Carney’s chances to remain PM.
Beckham emphasized the closeness of the race and the high consequence of the election itself, and said one of his main goals in running was to bring the riding into what he hoped would be the majority government.
“I believe in democracy,” said Beckham. “This is a tight election — the numbers are tight, it’s getting closer. Is there a possibility that this riding might end up being a swing riding? Anything is possible.”
May disagreed that the national seat count was that close, and sought to contrast Beckham’s relative influence on the Liberal Party with what she called her own “outsized” voice in Parliament, pointing to her legislative record and relationships built across party lines —and recounting a phone conversation she had with Carney “the day the writ dropped,” where she recommended extending the all-party-inclusive “Team Canada” approach for dealing with U.S. trade pressures.
“I work well with others,” said May. “I like finding solutions and working constructively with people. And if you give me a chance as your Member of Parliament, I’ll have more access to Mark Carney than any Liberal backbencher ever would.”
With perhaps some irony, given Ounsted’s decision not to attend, the discussion landed briefly on candidates’ concerns over social media misinformation, even while many in the arguably older-leaning crowd stressed the importance of reaching young voters.
Responding to a community member’s question, Plant — acknowledging his comments might make him sound older than he was (“Kids used to play outside,” he jokingly rasped) — said that in his school, he had seen first-hand how social media had led to greater anxiety and fear, particularly among youth.
“Social media is both wonderful and horrible,” said Plant. “Wonderful because I see my friend from my high school grad class I haven’t seen in 25 years, but these companies do not have the right to promote hatred.”
Beckham said he felt social media had become an “open sewer” of extremist language and misinformation; noting unspecified “underhanded tactics” associated with the Conservative Party, Beckham said a serious national conversation was overdue.
“There is a handful of tech companies run by billionaires who are controlling the conversation,” Beckham told attendees. “Right now, they’re filling the zone with nonsense and disinformation, with propaganda and hate and rage and bitterness — and turning people against one another.”
And May pointed directly to U.S.-owned Facebook, calling it a “publisher, not a platform” that refused to pay its fair share when profiting from Canadian-produced content.
“We have let the predatory foreign social media corporations rip us off,” said May. “They get away with murder, they don’t pay taxes in our community. And on top of that they run algorithms to create rage farming to further divide our societies.”
A video of the event is here.
Election day is Monday, April 28, with advance polls running April 18-21.