Political observers are predicting a minority government for the Conservatives after all the votes have been counted from the May 2 federal election.
On Tuesday night, during an all-candidates forum at the Prince George Public Library, Dick Harris, Conservative MP for the Cariboo-Prince George riding, was asked if, in the event of minority rule, he would help Prime Minister Stephen Harper "remember that a majority of Canadians don't support him or his party and he should do a better job working with all parties, including the Bloc [Quebecois], to govern?"
The question, posed by moderator Philip Mantler on behalf of voters who had sent in queries via e-mail, drew the following response from Harris.
"If you present a platform that the majority of the voters appreciate more than the other parties and they present you with the office of government, then you have to pretty much stick to that platform because that's what you promised in your platform," Harris said.
"Along comes, of course, an obligation to try and work with the opposition parties so that you can keep Parliament in session and keep it going.... So yes, of course we're going to try and work with the opposition parties, including the Bloc, but what they have to do is work with us by presenting us with programs that make sense, that certainly are affordable to Canada and that we can do without significantly or even at all raising the taxes of working Canadians."
The forum, witnessed by about 100 people, was attended by candidates from Cariboo-Prince George and Prince George-Peace River.
Other Cariboo-Prince George representatives who stated their platforms and answered moderator questions were Sangeeta Lalli (Liberal), Jon Ronan (Independent), Henry Thiessen (Christian Heritage Party), Jordan Turner (Rhinoceros Party) and Jon Van Barneveld (NDP). Prince George-Peace River hopefuls who stood in front of the microphone were Lois Boone (NDP), Hilary Crowley (Green Party), Ben Levine (Liberal) and Bob Zimmer (Conservative).
The candidate who drew the most response from the audience was the Rhino rep, Turner. The crowd reaction to some of his platform points perhaps showed the general dissatisfaction with the job the main political parties have done over the years. His biggest applause came when he said he was fed up with current MPs behaving "like five-year-old children" in the House of Commons. Turner also said he would "install airbags in the Toronto Stock Exchange" and pointed out that voter turnout for federal elections has been in decline since the early 1990s, when the Rhino Party formally disbanded.
"Coincidence?" Turner asked. "I don't think so."
