Ottawa Vanier: time for a change?

Yesterday on CFRA, Rick Gibbons had the three main Ottawa-Vanier federal election candidates from the Conservative, NDP and Liberal party, on his show.

Liberal incumbent Mauril Belanger told us that he attends all the community AGM's and has regular coffees with constituents. That's funny. He's never invited me to any of his coffee dates. Come to think of it, he never answers my emails either. Although he has hung the phone up on me. I guess he invites his other constituents to coffee: the ones who agree with him on abortion. Or maybe they just don't know about his stand on abortion.

But the discussion got interesting between Belanger and Conservative candidate David Piccini when discussing the possibility of a tunnel going through the downtown core, to divert truck traffic.

Piccini: "I was at those King Edward task force meetings. I didn't see our Member of Parliament there."

Belanger: "Come on. I'm present all the time. Don't lie."

Unfortunately moderator Rick Gibbons stopped the exchange as there was only one minute left and he asked each of the candidates for their final words. I would have loved to know more about those meetings Belanger said he attended.

Belanger then had this to say:

"If people are not satisfied with the work I do, and I do work very hard, I would not have been re-elected seven times."

I think if a Liberal lamp post ran in Ottawa-Vanier, it would win too.