WATCH ABOVE: Parvaneh Pessian, reporter with Whitby This Week, and the Ottawa Citizen’s Mark Kennedy talk to Tom Clark about the possible outcomes of Monday’s byelections and what they will mean for the three federal parties.
Voters in the Ontario riding of Whitby-Oshawa and the Alberta riding of Yellowhead head to the polls in two federal byelections Monday. Barring a major disaster, the Conservatives are expected to keep their Alberta seat.
But a new poll released late last week by Forum Reseach shows the Liberals are in a virtual tie with the Conservatives for the seat held by former Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in Whitby-Oshawa.
In a discussion on The West Block with Tom Clark, Parvaneh Pessian, a reporter with Whitby This Week said voters in Whitby-Oshawa, located just east of Toronto, are ready for change.
“I’ve been talking to a lot of people and they’re saying they are tired of the Stephen Harper government, they’d like to see a fresh face in government, they’re connecting very well to Celina Caesar-Chavannes whose the Liberal candidate,” she said.
All three major party leaders have visited the riding. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was there last month to announce the doubling of the child fitness tax credit, and both Tom Mulcair and Justin Trudeau have campaigned heavily there in recent weeks.
The Forum Research poll shows the Conservative candidate with 44 per cent support and the Liberal candidate at 40 per cent, which given the sample size, is a statistical tie according to the polling firm.
On The West Block, Mark Kennedy of the Ottawa Citizen said if the Liberals are able to take this seat the prime minister may have some explaining to do.
“If they win this election it is horribly bad for Stephen Harper cause he won’t be able to explain how this happened,” he said.
Mark added these two byelections are a prelude for what voters can expect in the next federal election.
“It will be a battle. On the Tory side smaller government and less tax, and on the opposition side, bigger ideas — what we need to do is basically improve our communities, ” he said.
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