The federal election campaign swung into the Barrie Native Friendship Centre for a meeting to deal with many issues, but the focus being mainly on those of Indigenous people.
The Bayfield Street facility held a forum for area candidates Friday night, which was open to one representative from each party.
Each party's candidate didn’t have to be from the two local ridings, Barrie-Innisfil and Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte.
The NDP was represented by Simcoe North candidate Angelique Belcourt, while the rest were from city ridings, including John Brassard (Conservative, Barrie-Innisfil), Lisa-Marie Wilson (Liberal, Barrie-Innisfil) and Marty Lancaster (Green, Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte). They took questions from the approximately 60 people in attendance.
The People’s Party of Canada did not send a representative.
BNFC restorative justice co-ordinator Angela Knowlton, who helped organize the meeting, explained the format was open to regional candidates because the centre has people not only on the local ridings, but also as far away as Orillia and Midland.
“I was more focused on getting people to hear about party platforms and Indigenous issues than I was worrying about individual personalities overshadowing the big key electoral issues," Knowlton told BarrieToday.
While topics of discussion ranged from immigration to fiscal responsibility to proportional representation, the main issue discussed was Indigenous rights and Truth and Reconciliation.
BNFC board of director vice-president Sonny Robbins asked the last question of the night and it was one that was close to home for the many people of Indigenous background in the gymnasium.
“I’ve noticed a lot of people in here have cups with nice, clean drinking water,” said Robbins. “But within a one- to two-hour drive from here, there are several Indigenous communities that right now are under a boil-water advisory. What is your party planning to do about this issue to the many communities across Canada?”
Wilson said more needed to be done and stated the Liberals have made progress, but maybe not enough.
“We are investing more to make lifting the boil-water advisories happen and the Liberals are committed to that,” she said.
Lancaster said the Green Party is committed to the future of reservations and the surrounding land’s drinking water.
“We are putting $750 million on infrastructure spending every year for the next five years on First Nations reserves,” said Lancaster.
“It is a crime that nothing significant has been done for years and I’m surprised that (the Liberal Party) can walk back four years later and say they’re still working on the issues," he added.
Belcourt, who is of Metis backgroun, spoke firmly: “The NDP has already made it clear that we will end all boil-water advisories within our term,” she said.
Brassard said the issue needed to be about more than just one party to make it right.
“The issue of clean drinking water is one that I feel all of us here in Canada need to get together and make sure is solved,” said the incumbent MP. “All government, including opposition parties, need to work together and get this fixed.”
The federal election is Monday, Oct. 21.
