Lights in party-specific colours lit up the Courtenay-Alberni all-candidates forum at the Italian Hall on Sept. 29.
It was a night of bold promises from NDP candidate Gord Johns.
“We will repeal Bill C-51 and Bill C-24,” both Johns and Green Party candidate Glenn Sollitt promised to cheers from the approximately 200 person audience.
Conservative candidate John Duncan, a sitting MP for the riding formerly known as Vancouver Island North, was put on the defensive.
“I can tell you that the act [Bill C-51] specifically excludes lawful advocacy and protest,” said Duncan.
“These people criticizing Bill C-51 know that but this is a political operation.”
Sollitt was also on the attack.
“We’re going to make omnibus bills illegal,” he said to cheers from the crowd.
Tax credits were the subject of some heated debate.
“Tax credits are something the Liberals are committed to giving because our goal is to put more money into the pockets of the Canadians who really need it,” said Liberal candidate Carrie Powell-Davidson. A tax-free child care benefit is part of that, she added.
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