4 candidates, 4 approaches as Elgin county farmers hear from federal hopefuls

An all-candidates meeting held in Shedden, Ont., on Wednesday night drew a crowd of close to 100 Elgin County voters as candidates from four parties running in Elgin–St. Thomas–London South laid out their visions for a post-election Canada.

Conservative candidate Andrew Lawton, Liberal candidate David Goodwin, NDP candidate Paul Pighin and People's Party candidate Stephen Campbell all attended.

The question-and-answer session, which was was hosted by the Elgin Federation of Agriculture, focused primarily on rural issues important to farmers, including regulation, protection of farmland, inter-provincial trade, and how much input government should get from farmers before making decisions.

"Over the last bunch of years we've seen a lot of policies that have seemed disconnected from the grassroots, from us," said Kevin Howe, a fruit and vegetable farmer. "If we don't have policies that support us and if our voice is taken out of the equation, then we can't have affordable food."

Howe said that while he was ultimately undecided in his vote, he felt Liberal leadership over the past decade had failed to let farmers in on the discussions about environmental sustainability and how to achieve it.

Other farmers, like Gary Smith, said a top concern was which party can best handle the threat of U.S. tariffs that could devastate a number of sectors, including agriculture.

"I've even talked to friends who aren't farmers and they're concerned about the future and who will be able to look after things the best," Smith said.

All-candidate meetings and debates this election campaign have primarily seen conservative candidates missing from the table. Lawton, who has faced criticism by voters in the riding for past comments, did attend.

He focused mostly on discrediting policy decisions made by the Liberal government, while promising changes that take the concerns and expertise of farmers into account. He also noted U.S. tariffs as a serious threat to the agricultural sector.

"There are a lot of people who have been struggling with the way things have been going under the Liberal government, but I feel farmers have been in particular hurt by everything that's happened with the economy over the last several years," Lawton told attendees.

He pointed to the recently scrapped consumer carbon tax as an example, as "one of the most incredibly destructive policies for our agricultural sector."

Lawton said a Conservative government would leave some programs, like the Liberal Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership program, intact, while pushing a message of reducing taxation and regulation for farmers.

He said immigration should be tied to the availability of housing and jobs, but special care should be taken to ensure farmers have access to the temporary foreign workers they often rely on.

He also pointed to the farmland protection plan in the recently published Conservative platform when asked about the subject.

Liberal candidate David Goodwin, much like Liberal leader Mark Carney, paid special attention to threats from south of the border.

The politician grew up in rural Elgin County and said on multiple occasions that Donald Trump's economic threats are a grave danger to Canada's agriculture sector. He also gave a nod to outgoing Conservative MP Karen Vecchio, who has represented the riding since 2015, and who he called "a good friend of mine."

"My voice in Ottawa [would be] that we need to protect the farmland in this riding," he said.

In response to concerns that the Liberals haven't done enough to include farmers in policy decisions, Goodwin said "Mark Carney has a strong commitment to the farming community across Canada, and it's a cornerstone of his Liberal policy."

He pointed to platform promises like an increase to funding for programs that help farmers with expansion and sustainability-related expenses, and a promise to increase domestic food processing capabilities.

Goodwin also said a re-elected Liberal government would do more to include farmers in the policymaking process, and would balance protecting farmland with building housing for growing communities

"My reason for running is to help people in this community. It is a vast riding. It has lots of complexities, but it's about being local," Goodwin said.

NDP candidate Paul Pighin's approach put the knowledge of farmers front-and-centre, saying on multiple occasions that the NDP would let farmers lead the way on policy decisions.

Acknowledging he has a limited understanding of the agricultural sector and the work farmers do, Pighin asked voters in the riding to "mould me in your image."

"When we hire people in our restaurant, I don't hire people with super experience. Why do I do that? Because I want to be able to train them and mould them the way I want them to be," he said.

In terms of policy, he focused on the NDP's commitments to sustainability and equity in the sector. He also said, on the issue of preserving farmland while building homes, density is key.

People's Party candidate Stephen Campbell largely ignored the questions posed to the panelists, instead preferring to share anecdotes about his experiences as a farmer, and his life growing up in rural Middlesex County.

When Campbell did address the questions, his message was largely anti-government. For example, he said he would not endorse expanding the Advance Payments Program, which offers low-cost loans to farmers, saying he "hates government handouts."

On the issue of protecting farmland, he said that all foreign land ownership should simply be banned.

Campbell also said that in support of farmers, he would not agree with PPC leader Maxime Bernier's plan to put a moratorium on immigration unless an exemption was made for temporary foreign workers.

The riding of Elgin–St. Thomas–London South was redrawn for this election, and will include more urban voters. Since 2004, it's been held by a Conservative, most recently three-term MP Karen Vecchio who did not run this election.

The Liberals and the Conservatives are both fighting hard to make gains, but Lawton's faced opposition within the community, including protests outside his campaign office.

He said that hasn't detered him, and said he is making connections with voters. Lawton said he focused more on door-knocking where he's able to tell people about the Conservative plan.

"We've knocked on thousands of doors. We're getting very late in the campaign right now and I think being able to speak to a group of [farmers] in one room on issues that I'm really passionate about is really important," Lawton said.

Meanwhile, Goodwin, Lawton's top challenger is convinced the riding would return to the Liberals.

"I think on Monday we will have overwhelming victory for the Liberals here because it's about a local MP representing our values and the people of this community."