Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel federal election candidates

Voting day for the 2011 federal elections is this coming Monday, May 2. Polling stations are open from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Here, The Review presents its profiles of the candidates in the western Quebec riding of Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel.

Mario Laframboise (Bloc Québécois)

According to incumbent MP Mario Laframboise, the Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel riding is at "the heart" of three major regions, and the Bloc Québécois are best positioned to serve its need for growth.

"It's clear that this riding is at the heart of a very important development, surrounded by Montreal, Mont-Tremblant and Gatineau," said Laframboise, who has held the riding since 2000. "It has one of the largest rates of residential growth per capita, and obviously Highway 50 will play an important role in that development."

The MP stressed the importance of an extension to Highway 13 to avoid an increase in traffic to the already-congested Highway 15. He also suggested that public transit could play a major role in reducing that congestion.

"There is still no train station at Mirabel, but there is one at Deux-Montagnes," he said. "We have to modernize the system while giving priority to passenger trains, instead of commercial trains. A large part of the commuter system travels on commercial railways, such as Canadian Pacific lines, and that results in delays."

Laframboise said he recently visited New York's train traffic control centre, where he learned it is the publicly-owned control centre that decides train priorities - not private companies. "So even if a private company owns the track, [the control centre] regulates it to makes sure people get to their destinations on time. It also works this way in Europe, but not yet in Canada. Companies still control the timetables."

By correcting this missing link, he said it would allow for the development of the Lachute train station, which would in turn attract new residents and result in an increased use of public transit.

As a large part of the riding earns its income from the tourism, agricultural and forestry industries, Laframboise said it is important to ease the conditions for employment insurance eligibility to ensure people continue to choose those careers.

"These industries, which rely on seasonal jobs, have difficulty to keep people employed, so people have to go on employment insurance as a result. However, the number of hours (to be eligible for employment insurance) is too high and these people are leaving these lines of work as a result."

The MP added that seniors in his riding are also seeing increased costs, especially in regard to housing, and he is looking to increase supplementary payments to offset this.

Laframboise said he has a proven track record with his constituents and that the opposition is not a factor for the Bloc Québécois.

"It's going well for us, people have known me for the last 10 years but they don't know my opponents," he said, noting the only challenge facing his party is the New Democratic Party. "The Liberals and the Conservatives are not a factor in this election."

Daniel Fox (Liberal Party)

Federal Liberal Party candidate Daniel Fox said that his campaign isn't about promises, it's about action.

A chartered accountant, Fox asserted he is ready for the challenges of politics and is looking to energize the region and to return action to a riding that he says has remained stagnant through the nearly two decades it has been held by the Bloc Quebecois.

"In the last two years I have toured the entire county and I have spoken to the people who live here," said Fox. "I have met young people who can't afford to continue their education and seniors who are struggling to live off their pensions. I have met with all of the mayors in the region and not one of them could tell me a single thing that the Bloc had done for them."

Recently, Argenteuil MNA David Whissell criticized Bloc Quebecois incumbent candidate Mario Laframboise for claiming responsibility of the Highway 50 expansion, which he said the federal government had little to no part in.

Prior to that, Fox was endorsed by Brownsburg-Chatham Mayor Georges Dinel, Mirabel Mayor Hubert Meilleur and Transport Minister Norman MacMillan.

The candidate said he is pushing for a federal budget that caters to families, students and seniors rather than handing out billions of dollars in tax cuts to corporations and oil companies.

Objecting to the Conservative Party's $350-million purchase of 65 F-35 stealth fighter jets, Fox questioned the lack of a tendering process and a discussion on the country's actual needs. He also expressed skepticism about whether the contact guarantees any economic return to Canada or any Canadian jobs. Nearly 50 per cent of Canada's aviation industry is based in Quebec.

Fox said he would push to have Highway 13 extended to meet Highway 50 and he would fight to have a proper control tower installed at Mirabel Airport.

"Right now Mirabel has an information-based tower where the tower has no authority over a pilot's decisions," he explained. "If Mirabel wants to be up to standards, it needs a control tower. This can be done at minimal cost and would mean increasing jobs from 19 to about 25 people, with minimal changes to the tower."

Fox noted his other policies are high-speed internet access in the next three years and a program introduced by Gore Mayor Scott Pearce to grant low interest loans for residents looking to upgrade their septic tanks.

Stephen Matthews (Green Party)

It's not easy being green, but the federal Green Party candidate for Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel said he is determined to inject environmental consciousness into the election debate.

As a high school teacher and a fifth-generation farmer in Saint-André-d'Argenteuil, candidate Stephen Matthews has seen the effects of pollution and the adverse impact of the overuse of fertilizer and pesticides.

"As a beekeeper, I have seen the impact on the environment. Too many harmful pesticides have killed off our bees and without the bees, there is no food," he said.

Disheartened by the huge debt the country has accumulated and the struggle for jobs, Matthews said he would like to advocate for more buy-local programs, which would enable farmers and artisans to sell locally and create new jobs. The candidate also said stores should be required to sell a certain percentage of local products, which would also reduce shipping costs and fuel consumption.

"The great deception that the major parties have played on us is that they have put us into massive debt," said Matthews. "Our planet is in peril and we need to work together towards common objectives."

Matthews said he decided to join the Green Party because he believes in their platform and sees the positive impact that similar philosophies have had on European countries like Switzerland and Germany, where Green parties play a major role.

To increase public transportation, Matthews suggested pushing forward with a high-speed train project from Mirabel to Montreal. He said this would cut traffic on congested highways, while decreasing pollution and road rage and enabling greater access to city schools - and more time for family and quality of life.

As a teacher, he pointed to the need to inject money directly into the schools so that class sizes can be reduced and kids who need it can get more help. "Over 40 per cent of students in this area do not attain a high school diploma and to me, that should not be tolerated," he added.

The candidate's political background includes a four-year term on the Saint-André-d'Argenteuil municipal council and experience on the governing boards for the Saint-André-d'Argenteuil School and the Lachute Fair Board.

Matthews also helped to create the Youth Hope Foundation, which helps special needs children in Argenteuil and he is a regular coach for youth sports teams.

Yvan Patry (Conservative Party)

As a veteran politician and the mayor of Oka for 22 years, Conservative Party candidate Yvan Patry is familiar with the political scene and said he is ready to venture into federal politics in Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel.

Patry left his office as mayor of Oka in 2009 and took a year off to reflect on life and to enjoy a brief retirement. When he was approached to run in this year's federal election, he said he jumped at the opportunity and hit the ground campaigning.

"I am capable of negotiating for our region," Patry said. "As a mayor, I realize how important a federal deputy is. It's certain that when your deputy is a part of the opposition party, you can't get the same things done. Decisions are made on the other side of the closed door."

Patry said a federal candidate should be willing to speak for the region, but also recognize that Canada is a mixed country and therefore, has to speak for all of Canada and not just Quebec.

The future of the Mirabel aviation industry is one of Patry's main concerns and he is pushing for the government to sign a contract that will guarantee that the nation's aging F-18s begin to be replaced by 65 new F-35 stealth fighter jets.

"There are 40,000 aviation jobs in Quebec," he continued. "We are trying to increase aviation development and since 2000, [the Conservatives] have been negotiating the sale of the stealth fighters."

According to Patry, the Liberal Party's push to have a signed guarantee of economic return on the planes and signed guarantees that the sale will lead to Canadian jobs is unrealistic, given that Canada has ordered only 65 jets and industry representatives he has spoken to say they deal in contracts of 3,000 to 5,000 jets.

"The industry doesn't want the barriers. Jobs will still come to this area. Bombardier is currently trying to hire 2,000 people. When you're talking about producing bigger numbers of planes, the price drops," he added.