Prue, Tabuns to run again this fall
[attach]3578[/attach]With the scent of a federal election in the air and a provincial election set for Oct. 6, speculation is arising over what Ontario’s political landscape will look like in a few short months.
But two things are certain: Area MPPs Michael Prue and Peter Tabuns confirmed they’ll both be on the ballot come Oct. 6.
The Beaches-East York riding has been a stronghold for Prue and the New Democratic Party, with more than a 5,000-vote lead in the last provincial election.
Prue confirmed in early February he intends to run in the upcoming provincial election.
“We will be holding nominations next month and into April, and the party knows I’m returning,” said Prue, a former mayor of East York.
The MPP said the demographics of the riding have changed in the past four decades.
The NDP voter base has moved north as wealthier residents flocked to southern developments, he said.
He said key election issues will cross into multiple tiers of government.
“A lot of the issues are both municipal and provincial,” Prue said. “Transit policy strikes a huge chord with people of the Beaches, and so does education and health care.”
But with eight months until election day, the MPP also had words of caution regarding early conclusions.
“Those are the issues today, two months from now it could be very different,” said Prue, adding there is still the potential for a federal election to transform the political landscape.
“The decision has been made to wait and see what happens in Ottawa, if the (Conservatives) survive the budget,” Prue said of the March budget vote in Ottawa.
“If there’s a federal election we’ll start campaigning the day that is over.”
Toronto-Danforth MPP Peter Tabuns, also a New Democrat, said he intends to hold on to his provincial riding, and following party nomination, will begin campaigning in earnest in mid-summer.
He cited hard work, good policies and communicating on community issues as reasons his party has had a long run in the riding, which is represented on the federal level by NDP leader Jack Layton.
“People know I do case work for them, and we have addressed many community issues and keep in touch with them,” said Tabuns, who was first elected to represent the riding during a March 2006 by-election.
Tabuns said important election issues in the riding will include faith-based funding for schools, hydroelectric prices, HST, childcare and professional employment opportunity for youth.
“A lot of young, educated people have a hard time finding employment,” Tabuns said. “We probably have some of the most educated coffeehouse staff in the world,” Tabuns said.
University of Toronto political science professor Nelson Wiseman said that while Toronto-Danforth and Beaches-East York ridings are important political arenas for the New Democratic Party, they likely won’t be the main battlegrounds for the NDP provincial base in Ontario.
“You want to maintain your electoral base and expand it, and you can’t do that if you’re losing areas,” Wiseman said.
As of press time, the Progressive Conservatives, Liberals and Green Party have not nominated candidates for Beaches-East York or Toronto-Danforth.
Clarification: Town Crier indicated Peter Tabuns believes faith-based funding would be an election issue this year. In fact, Tabuns was using faith-based funding as an example of an issue that no one expected to be significant early in the 2007 provincial election campaign. Further, Tabuns says it is too early to determine issues that will be highlighted in the 2011 provincial election campaign.
