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Jennifer Lash Talks About Polls and Cancelled Debates in North Island–Powell River

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With only five days of campaigning left until the election, Liberal candidate Jennifer Lash says the energy on the ground in North Island–Powell River is palpable.

 “We’ve been door knocking, doing ‘meet and greets’ and town halls and phone banking. I am  hearing just an amazing amount of support. So I’m loving it,” she said. 

“This poll to me reflects  what people are telling us. So I am optimistic that the undecided will come over and join us and that we can send a Liberal to Ottawa.” 

She was referring to the poll that Mainstreet Research released on Monday, April 21, which is one of the reasons I wanted to speak with her. You can access it on the Mainstreet website, but need to pay. I also wanted to ask about last night’s all candidates meeting in Campbell River, which was cancelled at the last minute.

You have to pay to go beyond this paywall on Mainstreet Research.ca

Cortes Currents: So tell me about this poll.

Jennifer Lash: “ We did not commission this poll, that’s why it’s behind a paywall. If we commissioned it, we would own it and we could share it. What it shows is that while the Conservatives are still in the lead, the Liberals are second and within the Conservative’s margin of error, while the NDP are in third, quite considerably.”

Cortes Currents: Jennifer sent that data, which shows the Conservatives at 35%, the Liberals at 27% and the NDP at 18%. As this is the property of Mainstreet Research, I cannot post the chart but the Liberal campaign staff have drawn up a chart of their own. 

Jennifer Lash:  “The margin of error is plus or minus 4.1%, with a 95% confidence level.” 

Given that they are only 8% apart, this poll indicates that it is possible, though unlikely, that Liberals are actually tied with the Conservatives

In another poll, released on Sunday and commissioned by the David Suzuki Foundation, it was the NDP who came in second and the Liberals trailing considerably behind.  

Jennifer Lash:  “What this tells me is that there’s going to be a lot of different polls and projections that say different things. I know there’s a lot of angst out there amongst people who particularly are worried about the Conservatives winning and really looking for some direction on how they should cast their vote so that they can unite as much as possible to keep the Conservatives out. But right now there’s no data that says exactly what you should do, and I don’t think there ever will.”  

“Some people are going to choose to believe some polls and not others, and that’s totally fine. People can do that, but I think what it comes right down to is there is no definitive poll that’s going to tell people exactly what to do.  People need to vote for either the Prime Minister, the party, or the MP that they want.” 

“What we’re hearing is overwhelmingly, people want to have Mark Carney as the Prime Minister,  which means you have to vote Liberal.  I know  that people say that Carney’s just going to win no matter what, but that’s not necessarily true.”

“If we really want Mark Carney as Prime Minister, people need to vote for the Liberal party. If people want a member of Parliament who is part of Mark Carney’s government and can help deliver programs, then people need to vote for the Liberal party and that means voting for me.”

Adapted from photo on Campbell River and District Chamber of Commerce press release

Cortes Currents: I also wanted to ask about the all candidates meeting that was cancelled last night. 

The Campbell River and District Chamber of Commerce issued a statement mentioning a planned rally and counter rally near the venue and stating their primary concern was the safety and well being of all attendees, candidates, staff and volunteers.

Aaron Gunn and Pierre Poilievre in Powell River

Aaron Gunn tweeted, “While disappointing, this won’t slow us down. Tonight, we’re hitting the doors in Campbell River to connect directly with as many folks as possible!”

One of his followers responded, “The people whining about Aaron’s legitimate and factual statements are the ones most likely to cause the ‘safety’ risk.”

Another wrote, “Maybe this is a blessing in disguise – this isn’t a typical election. It’s time for a revolution. People are fed up and want old Canada back. Common sense and old fashioned values and treating your neighbours, elders and our dearest friends in need with respect and love.”  

The National Observer published a story about  the 150 First Nations leaders, residential school survivors, educators and community workers demonstrating outside of Gunn’s office on April 12. They were calling for Gunn’s resignation because of the tweets he made denying that residential schools practised a form of genocide, insisting there are only two genders, the “gender pay gap doesn’t exist” and systemic racism is a “myth”.

There is also an online petition, which now has close to 20,0000 signatures calling for his removal. 

So there may have been a demonstration if the all candidates meeting at the Tidemark Theatre had gone forward last night, however this wasn’t the only ‘all candidates meeting’ Gunn has missed 

Communications over the Liberal Party phone banks

Jennifer Lash: “We still have two more. We have Port Hardy tomorrow and Quadra Island on the day after that.  So all in total there will be five debates that he hasn’t shown up for. If we had done this one,  that would’ve been a sixth debate without him present.” 

“I think people will see through it. I think people are getting very frustrated with his refusal to show up.  It’s really disappointing that we don’t have the Conservative candidate there.” 

Cortes Currents: So what did you do last night?

Jennifer Lash: “We were down  at the Tidemark Theatre, where the debate was supposed to be. The other candidates, not the Conservative candidate, but the other candidates were there. We were speaking with the media, did a little bit of speaking to the crowd and just answered some questions.” 

“People were really disappointed that the debate was cancelled.  I get that, debates are a really important part of the democratic process because  it’s a chance for people in the community to hear from all the different candidates at once and be able to compare their positions, and it really helps them make an informed decision.”

“So it was really, really unfortunate that the event was cancelled.  The reasons why are not clear to me.  I’m hearing rumours, but I don’t want to spread rumours. That’s up to the Chamber of Commerce  to discuss. But one of the consistent issues that we’ve had  in all the debates we’ve done is that the Conservative candidate  wasn’t going to show up.”

“I find it quite reprehensible that somebody wants to represent the people of this riding and will not show up anywhere and be accountable for what they say, or even just to talk to people  and share what they stand for.  The Conservative party came out with their platform today and the candidate is not out there telling us what’s in it. I don’t think that bodes well for someone who wants to be  the member of Parliament for this riding.” 

Cortes Currents has been asking to interview Aaron Gunn ever since I first learned he was the Conservative candidate, but he did not make himself available. He has consented to my reposting his tweets. 

Links of Interest: 

All undesignated photos taken from the Jennifer Lash for North Island Powell River  Facebook page or Aaron Gunn twitter feed

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