Chatham-Kent-Leamington federal candidates debated over how Canada will fair in the global marketplace during an all-candidate's night Wednesday.
The event was held in Council Chambers at the Chatham-Kent Civic Centre, put on by the CK Chamber of Commerce. As expected the economy was at the forefront of discussion.
Conservative candidate and incumbent Dave Van Kesteren says his party has the track record to keep the country's economy afloat.
"Through our economic action plan, we've created new jobs, restored the jobs that we lost. We've also strengthened our economy and balanced our budget," he says.
Meanwhile, the NDP's Tony Walsh says while his party has never led federally, they'd like to be given the chance.
"What we've done provincially started with Tommy Douglas with 17 consecutive balanced budgets. That was a time when we brought in universal healthcare, one of our staples now," says Walsh.
How Canada can compete in agriculture was also discussed, specifically with respect to the slow decline in new farmers.
The Liberal's Katie Omstead wants to make the ag industry an inviting place to work.
"We'll ensure business risk management works for farmers and is designed by farmers," she says "We'll partner up with them to ensure these programs make sense."
The Green Party's Mark Vercouteren, meanwhile, believes farming can be fostered at a grassroots level.
"We want to see what we can do to teach about food in our schools," says Vercouteren.
Make sure to tune to AM 630 CFCO, or listen online at BlackburnNews.com Thursday, October 8 at 7pm for back-to-back all candidates debates for the ridings of Chatham-Kent-Leamington and Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.
