The crowd at the Edmonton-Strathcona all-candidates’ debate on Sept. 30 at the University of Alberta Students Union Building consisted predominantly of earnest students, but was seasoned liberally with salt-and-pepper professionals as well as the odd set of coveralls.

The relatively strong presence of both the Liberals and the NDP in Edmonton-Strathcona makes this a hot race, watched both nationally and locally.

The incumbent, Conservative Rahim Jaffer, usually comes up the middle. Last election, he snapped up 42 per cent of the vote. Environmental lawyer Linda Duncan, on the NDP ticket once again this election, came in second with 33 per cent. One of many websites designed to help citizens avoid splitting their vote, VoteForTheEnvironment.ca, thinks that gap can be closed this time around: “This is one of the few ridings in Alberta,” it says, “where we could elect a pro-environment candidate.”

In 2006, the Liberals came in third with 18 per cent of the vote with candidate Andy Hladyshevsky, who was replaced this election with retired teacher Claudette Roy. Jane Thrall holds the Green flag, and Kevan Hunter runs once again for the Marxist-Leninist Party.

Janelle Morin, present of the students’ union, says the left side of the debate was a little crowded, and none of the candidates did a good job of differentiating themselves. “I was disappointed there wasn’t more division on a lot of issues,” she says.

In the debate and in separate interviews, here’s what the candidates had to say:

Carbon Tax/Environment
Duncan: “We’ve taken the stance that the most important thing is to put the right price on carbon. We are pushing for much quicker, faster reductions than the Liberals are. ... My worry, and because I’ve been at so many of these [environmental stakeholder] tables, is we need to stick with one agenda, because we are losing time. We need to get something in place now. That doesn’t mean that down the road we can’t have some kind of incentive or disincentive for specific sources of carbon.”

Roy: “Instead of making laws that will make companies go to their lawyers to find loopholes, Mr. Dion has said we need to tax polluters [with the Green Shift]. When they see that tax, instead of going to see their lawyers, they are going to go to their engineers and say, ‘Look, start researching and finding some technology so that we are polluting less.’”

Jaffer: “You can make a lot of promises, but especially here in Alberta where we are so dependent on natural resources, we have to be careful not to sacrifice the economy.”

Thrall: “We are using the carbon tax and a cap and trade program. ... None of the other parties are doing this, but we feel one is short-term and the other is long-term.”

Economic Instability
Jaffer: “Already people are going to have limited incomes if there is a recession. So if taxes are high, then they have less money to invest in the economy, or even spend on essentials. What happens is you start to penalize your own economy. The fundamentals here in Canada are strong. We have been paying down the debt.”

Roy: “The Liberals are the ones that inherited a huge debt from Brian Mulroney’s Conservatives. And we wrestled that to the ground and put up huge surpluses, which Harper has squandered. I don’t think we have any lessons to learn from the Mike Harris boys.”

Duncan: “We will reassess the bank legislation and make sure consumers are protected.”
Thrall: “We feel that the jobs of the future won’t be found in the oilsands, but in the green economy.”

Funding Education
Jaffer: “One of the biggest things we’ve done is the $1-billion grants targeted at low-income students.”

Roy: “Some students have told me the tax credits are no good because they don’t pay tax.”
Hunter: “How is it that every election every candidate is for public education, however once they are elected it’s the status quo or worse?”

Funding The Arts
Roy: “From the music, to the pottery that you can buy at the market, to the many people who try to make a living acting, singing, and creating, these are ordinary people. It’s an insult to say art is not for ordinary people. When you develop the right brain, you develop the ability to think and imagine new things, not only in arts, but in all areas of life.”

Jaffer: “Unfortunately there’s been some confusion. There have been cuts, but some of those programs were delivered though different departments. ... The film credit is still under review, and I think there’s going to some sort of an exemption for films. I’m hoping that will be resolved. ... I’m going to make sure it’s reinstated.”

Duncan: “It’s not confused. [The Tories} clearly cut funding to the arts in favour of sports. ... He’s niggling, because it’s clearly a disaster.”