While it's unclear if they won any voters over, representatives for underdog parties at the Squamish federal all-candidates debate certainly drew the most audible reactions from the crowd.
An independent candidate and the People's Party of Canada and the Rhinoceros Party candidates, drew laughter on several occasions, and, in one case, even booing.
The comments which drew these reactions were made on Oct. 2 to an audience of 180 that filled almost every chair in Quest University's multi-purpose room.
The occasion marked the first and only Squamish debate before residents cast their votes for the 2019 federal election on Oct. 21.
Independent Terry Grimwood, representing his own Canada Fresh party, promised billions of dollars for public transportation hubs, or ‘pubs.'
"We need pubs — we do, we need a pub, a 24-hour pub and that becomes a hub, every 50 kilometres and you'll watch Canada sing," Grimwood said, to laughter in the crowd.
Rhinoceros Party candidate Gordon Jeffrey, dressed in a bright yellow banana suit, said that federal politics "is driving me bananas" while taking shots at legacy parties, particularly the Liberals.
"Thank you all for maintaining your civility and not bursting out laughing when the Liberal guy was speaking — that was extremely polite," Jeffrey said, prompting chuckles from the crowd.
People's Party candidate Robert ‘Doug' Bebb drew murmurs and muted laughter when he said Squamish seemed to be handling its housing crisis well.
"I think you have that problem well in hand — there seems to be lots of cranes and concrete being poured across the skyline," said Bebb. "I'm not sure how people feel about that. Maybe it's not popular, maybe it is."
His assertion that there was no climate emergency prompted a less amicable reaction. It was the only statement during the debate that was greeted with both laughter and boos.
On the other hand, candidates from the more established parties — the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP and Greens — all put on familiar performances, each slotting themselves along well-worn ideological lines.
As they are the governing party, the Liberals were a clear target.
Some of the candidates took pains to remind the audience of at least one of the Liberals' broken promises — particularly the failure to implement proportional representation.
— The Liberal candidate —
Liberal candidate Patrick Weiler introduced himself as a seasoned lawyer with expertise in humanitarian concerns.
Weiler said he could boost tourism in Squamish by lobbying for some of the $100 million the Liberals have promised in tourism infrastructure throughout the country.
"If I'm elected, I'm going to really focus on getting some of that funding here," he said.
He said investing in infrastructure as basic as washrooms in parks would help boost tourism in town.
Weiler said the Liberals have small businesses as a priority, adding that under their term, taxes for those enterprises have dropped to nine per cent, down from 11.
Regarding climate change, Weiler said the Liberals would encourage the creation of green technology.
"We're promising to cut corporate taxes in half for all companies involved in producing net-zero technologies and renewable energy," he said.
He pointed to local firm Carbon Engineering as an example of the type of company the Liberal government would encourage.
Regarding housing, a program for first-time homebuyers would lessen the cost by 10 per cent, Weiler said.
He said he'd work to fill the transportation void left by Greyhound's departure.
For students, Weiler said the Liberals would give them a two-year pause after graduation before they have to start paying off their loans. Furthermore, graduates won't have to start repaying their loans until they earn at least $35,000.
— The Conservative candidate —
Gabrielle Loren of the Conservative Party painted herself as a responsible financier, citing her experience as an accountant who at times served as treasurer for organizations.
"Being an accountant means I have to be accountable," Loren said.
She said she understood the challenges small businesses face, being a business owner herself.
She also promised to walk back what she considered to be red tape that was preventing those enterprises from thriving.
"Businesses need help, so we've got a number of policies we're looking at implementing," Loren said.
Eliminating what she deemed bureaucratic red tape and taxes would allow Squamish to overcome big issues in town, such as the failure to retain staff amidst a chronic affordable housing shortage, she said.
Loren also took aim at the Liberals' efforts to crack down on income splitting.
"The Conservative government is very supportive of small businesses, and, unlike our colleague behind me, we are looking at reducing the amount of taxes that they've implemented on small businesses, by not allowing income splitting with spouses and not allowing businesses to get ahead without a bunch of red tape."
Income splitting has been a contentious issue for some locals, who've complained Liberals' efforts to crack down on that practice have cost small businesses.
On the environmental front, Loren espoused supporting Squamish efforts to develop green technology "that can be exported to the true polluters around the world, such as Africa, China, India, etcetera."
Climate issues should be attacked at a global level, she said.
— The Green candidate —
Dana Taylor, running for the Green Party, branded himself as an activist and advocate experienced in politics. Prior to his entry into this federal campaign, he tried to unseat BC Liberal MLA Jordan Sturdy in the 2017 provincial election.
Taylor said that a tourism-based town like Squamish needs to protect its natural resources given that it's a big part of what drives the economy.
"Climate change will impact — what's happening in this emergency — tourism far more than a grant from the Canadian government, and while I wholeheartedly support and recognize the attributes and what can happen in supporting that kind of programming, we have to deal with the big issues first, and there's no shortcut to doing so. That would be the approach I'd take in looking after all of this," he said.
In addition to protecting the environment, he said the Green Party would cap small business taxes at nine per cent and create policies that assist female entrepreneurs on maternity leave.
"Having a child and running a business shouldn't be a choice — you should be able to do both and our laws should support that," he said.
Taylor also promised to crack down on tax havens and raise the tax rate for large corporations to 21 per cent.
He also advocated for taxing e-commerce transactions to ensure corporations can't evade taxes on exchanges outside Canada.
— The NDP candidate —
The NDP candidate, Judith Wilson, branded her party as a socially conscious choice that also took into account the urgency of climate change.
Wilson, a lawyer, recounted how the party was responsible for bringing a number of social welfare policies into practice.
She advocated for benefits for part-time workers in the tourism industry.
Wilson had pointed words for the Liberals regarding their broken promise on electoral reform.
"Your party betrayed everyone who made that choice," she said, motioning towards Weiler.
"So don't vote Liberal if [electoral reform is] what you're trying to achieve this time. If you're still trying to achieve stopping the Conservatives from visiting upon us Harper 2.0, then you've got a couple of other choices to make, and those choices are either the Green Party or the NDP."
She was, however, noticeably absent for much of the debate. Midway through the evening, she left. The moderator said it was because she had a ferry to catch.
— The People's Party candidate —
Bebb painted the reigning parties in Ottawa as tired, old, morally compromised and beholden to special interests.
The People's Party, in his telling, was a group that was created to confront that purported status quo.
The party would cut taxes and balance the budget, Bebb said.
The People's Party would abolish the Multiculturalism Act and reduce immigration, he said.
Bebb said he would treat all with equal rights, with no favours to anyone.
When asked by Tourism Squamish what he would for the local tourism industry, his answer ran along those lines.
"All the special interest groups are going to be quite upset when we cut off their funding, and that's what we're going to do for tourism in Squamish," he said, to laughter and applause.
— The Rhinoceros party candidate —
Rhinoceros Party candidate Gordon Jeffrey took a similar approach to Bebb.
In a similar vein, the Rhinoceros Party candidate cast establishment politics as hopeless and corrupt.
"Lie after lie is spewed, promise after promise broken, and major parties pass the ball back and forth in a twisted mockery of our democracy," said Jeffrey.
"They are established liars and proven hypocrites."
His solution was to make a joke of it all. However, he did have some policy suggestions.
Jeffrey advocated for sustainable logging practices, and an empowered Fisheries and Oceans branch to protect fish.
"Fines for illegal fishing can never be steep enough," he said. "Companies need to be kept in check for commercial fishery operations."
He also encouraged mom and pop dispensaries to open up to drive down the costs of marijuana.
— The independent candidate —
Independent Terry Grimwood, emphasized the need for public transportation across the country.
He called for investing Canadian pension funds within the nation, saying too much was being invested overseas.
"Not working for Canada," he said.
He also advocated for a balanced budget.
Grimwood said millions more should also be spent on student housing.
He also added that he was particularly persuasive in politics.
"As an independent candidate, I'll have a lot more sway in Ottawa than any of the parties, because I can make people laugh," Grimwood said.
The audience chuckled along.
