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Simcoe North Liberal hopefuls share ideas for unseating incumbent (4 photos)

Sandy Cornell, Gerry Hawes and Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux vying for Liberal nomination

Despite their differences, the three people hoping to run for the Simcoe North Liberals in this year’s federal election agree on one thing: Unseating the incumbent will not be easy.

Sandy Cornell, Gerry Hawes and Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux are hoping to turn the blue tide red. They took part in a meet-the-candidates event Monday at St. Paul’s Centre in Orillia.

In their opening statements, the hopefuls told the crowd of about 40 Liberal supporters about themselves.

Cornell, of Tiny Township, graduated as a registered nurse in 1975. Born and raised in Timmins, she has lived in four provinces and worked in three.

Since moving to Tiny 16 years ago, she got behind various causes and volunteered with physician-recruitment efforts, hospice and, after undergoing her third round of chemotherapy for breast cancer, championed the creation of the Georgian Bay Cancer Support Centre.

All of that volunteering, as well as her passion for arts and recreation, align with the Liberal vision and values, she said of her reason to seek the nomination.

Wesley-Esquimaux, a member of Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, also has a home in Orillia, where she has worked at Lakehead University for six years.

She is the school’s first chair on truth and reconciliation. She has also worked in governance for Rama First Nation. She ran for the federal Liberals in York-Simcoe in the 2011 election.

Hawes, a lifelong Orillian, has worked for Liberals in a variety of capacities for three decades.

He served as chief adviser and executive assistant to former Simcoe North Liberal MP Paul DeVillers and is currently a senior policy adviser in the provincial Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. He was also instrumental in bringing the Mariposa Folk Festival back to Orillia.

But, back to the challenge ahead: regaining a Liberal grip on a Conservative stronghold. All three have different strategies in mind.

For Hawes, it’s about uniting voters from all parties that lean left.

“The Conservative vote is rock solid. That isn’t changing,” he said.

He described Simcoe North’s four-term Tory MP, Bruce Stanton, as “a decent person.”

“But what happens is people here vote for him and then he goes to Ottawa and doesn’t vote for them,” Hawes said, suggesting Stanton gets behind his party’s policies even if they aren’t good for the riding.

Cornell sounded more optimistic about the local Liberals’ ability to sway Conservative voters to their side.

“I think there are people who are now willing to change their vote for a progressive candidate,” she said.

When speaking with voters, she continued, candidates need to “keep focused on what the Liberal party can do for Simcoe North.”

Wesley-Esquimaux’s focus would be on “getting out the vote” and trying to get more constituents to sign up for a party membership. She said she would also work hard to rally Indigenous and young voters.

While taking questions from the audience, the candidates were asked about their thoughts on proportional representation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reneged on his promise that the 2015 election would be the last under the first-past-the-post system.

Cornell gave the PM the benefit of the doubt.

“The first four years is just getting your feet wet,” she said, suggesting the government might be able to introduce an alternative system during its second term.

Wesley-Esquimaux said Trudeau backed away from that commitment after learning there was a lack of both understanding and support among Canadians, but she acknowledged “we have to do something that is different.”

Hawes feels the Liberals need to go back to the electoral reform drawing board.

“I think it’s true that Canadians are not ready for proportional representation,” he said.

If elected, he said he would lobby for ranked balloting.

“In a riding like Simcoe North, that would benefit the progressive voters in a massive way,” he said, noting the Liberals, New Democrats and Greens collectively received more votes than Stanton did in 2015.

The elephant in the room was addressed when the candidates were asked how they would respond to questions about the SNC-Lavalin affair that led to the resignations of then-attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould and then-Treasury Board president Jane Philpott and, subsequently, their removal from caucus.

“It was correct for Jody Wilson-Raybould to stand up and speak what she felt was truth to power,” Wesley-Esquimaux said, but added she took issue with Wilson-Raybould abandoning her post and picking a “fight with her own party.”

Hawes was “really disappointed with how this went down.”

“There were mistakes made on all sides,” he said. “Fundamentally, it boiled down to a disagreement on how to proceed (with the case against SNC-Lavalin).”

If confronted with that question while door knocking, Cornell said she would “keep it straight and simple and move on” to explain the government’s accomplishments and vision.

Confidence is key during election campaigns, and Ryan Barber had lots of it Monday.

“We are going to win Simcoe North with one of these fabulous contestants,” said Barber, vice-chair of the Simcoe North Federal Liberal Association.

The association is still waiting for word from the party about when the Simcoe North nomination meeting will take place.