London North Centre candidates don't want to be seen as outsiders Do drop in!
Chip Martin, Politics Reporter
The London Free Press
November 4, 2006
The Parachute Club is landing in London North Centre.
Sometimes a riding will have a candidate for MP parachute in -- but all six of them?
Dianne Haskett, left, Elizabeth May, Megan Walker, Glen Pearson, Robert Ede and Steve Hunter.(Free Press photo illustration with photo by DEREK RUTTAN/The London Free Press)
"Parachuting is in the eyes of the beholder." -- Political scientist Paul Nesbitt-Larking
PEARSON: Has worked in riding.(DAVE CHIDLEY/London Free Press file photo)
WALKER: Grew up in the riding.(MIKE HENSEN/London Free Press file photo)
Not one of the six candidates in the Nov. 27
federal byelection lives in the riding, yet none think of themselves as
so-called parachute candidates floating -- or being dropped -- in from
outside.
There's no rule that a candidate for the House of Commons must live
in the riding, but it's almost unheard of for an entire field of
wannabe MPs to be made up of outsiders.
And candidates, including those in LNC, often bristle at the parachute label because it smacks of opportunism.
"My residency is now London, Canada," said Conservative candidate
Dianne Haskett, who beetled back to London from Washington, D.C., just
days before winning the Tory nomination.
"I'm back home," said the former two-term London mayor, insisting
it's "a total misnomer" and "bogus" to call her a parachute candidate.
"Surely we want Londoners who have gained experience in other
places to come back home," she said, referring to her political work
during her six years in Washington.
Liberal candidate Glen Pearson, who lives just outside the riding,
said he considers his Tory rival a parachute candidate because she's
been away from the city for six years. "The riding has changed a lot
since Dianne was mayor."
As for himself, Pearson said he's worked in London North Centre,
the London Food Bank where he's a director relies heavily on north
London and for years he's been a member of the riding's Liberal
association.
"The Parachute Club is for people from outside the city," he said, adding, "You want people to understand the city."
Haskett said her family has lived in London for nearly 200 years, much of it in the north.
But one local political expert noted Haskett's hurried return to
the city last month and quick Tory nomination come closest to the
definition of a so-called parachute candidate.
"Parachuting is in the eyes of the beholder," said Paul
Nesbitt-Larking, a political scientist at Huron University College at
the University of Western Ontario.
He said the usual definition suggests a candidate is "foisted on (voters) in an unwarranted way."
He said Haskett most closely matches the definition "because of the
way she came back . . . like a night raid" with what seemed to be
advance information about a quick Tory nomination meeting and some
degree of secrecy.
"This, for many people, is objectionable," he said.
Three LNC candidates live in London just outside the riding.
Pearson and New Democrat Megan Walker live on Bruce Street and
Windsor Avenue, a few hundred metres to the south, and Progressive
Canadian Steve Hunter a bit more than 100 metres to the southwest.
For her part, Walker said: "I am not a parachute candidate. I grew up in the riding."
She said parachutes are for candidates who've never lived in London, or haven't for years.
"Parachute candidates come from other cities or provinces," she said.
Green Party leader Elizabeth May, of Ottawa, and Thornhill
real-estate salesperson Robert Ede, an independent, round out the
London North Centre field.
They make no bones about living elsewhere but wanting to represent a part of London.
May wants to become the first Green MP and Ede to publicize his libertarian views.
"It's just a matter of degree of non-residency that's in question," Ede said.
Nesbitt-Larking agrees there are different parachutes.
He defines Pearson, Walker and Hunter as "only slightly off-target"
chutists because their London West home riding, like neighbouring
London-Fanshawe, is demographically similar to London North Centre.
He calls May and Ede as "more like hang-gliders" because they
freely admit little connection to LNC and would ultimately land back on
their home turf. Both hope the values they espouse will "trump" the
residency issue in the Nov. 27 byelection, he said.
Meanwhile, the riding's longtime former Liberal MP, Joe Fontana,
who quit to run for mayor, concedes for 11 of his 18 years on the job
he lived in Arva, north of the riding.
"It's more about commitment than where you reside," Fontana said.
He noted many Toronto-area MPs live outside their ridings. Besides, the
work MPs do is partly national.
Candidates descend on mall
The byelection battle for London North Centre heated up Nov. 4, as New
Democrat Megan Walker brought in the party's top gun to back her up.
Do drop in!
The Parachute Club is landing in London North Centre.
Haskett touted as prudent
Stephen Harper's political minister for Ontario dropped into London
Nov. 3 to promote the byelection campaign of Conservative candidate
Dianne Haskett.
CAMPAIGN NOTEBOOK: Layton makes stops in London
The first party leader -- aside from the one who has set up shop in
London (Green Party leader Elizabeth May) -- hits London Nov. 4 to
boost the campaign of his candidate in the London North Centre
byelection.
Byelection war heats up
Politicians began stumping in earnest Nov. 2 across London North Centre with the approach of the Nov. 27 federal byelection.
Loner parachutes into race
The promise of upcoming national media attention for the byelection in
London North Centre has produced another parachute candidate.
CAMPAIGN NOTEBOOK: Voter cards in the mail
London North Centre voters should start seeing voter information cards
as they were sent out this week. You need a card to vote in the Nov. 27
byelection if you live in the riding. If you don't receive such a card,
call the returning officer at 1-866-241-7804.
Pearson to carry Liberal banner
Firefighter Glen Pearson was fired up as the just-picked Liberal
candidate in London-North-Centre riding Oct. 29, making no secret he is
targeting his Conservative rival, Dianne Haskett.
Federal byelection clouds city vote
Candidates in five city wards may need to pound the pavement harder as
London-North-Centre gears up for a federal byelection two weeks after
the municipal vote.
Second round for Ross, Pearson
The Liberals become the last of the major parties to pick a candidate
in the London-North-Centre byelection tonight when they choose between
firefighter Glen Pearson and lawyer Steve Ross.
Walker fires opening broadside at Tory Haskett
Flanked by two MPs she hopes to join in the House of Commons, Megan
Walker kicked off her campaign Oct. 27 to become the second federal New
Democrat from London.
Walker handed NDP banner
With tears in his eyes, NDP candidate Stephen Maynard threw his support
behind opponent Megan Walker at the Oct. 26 London-North-Centre
nomination meeting.
Grits still seek candidate
While the Liberals continue to hunt for a candidate, the first Conservative election sign has cropped up in London North Centre.
May wants to colour London riding green
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is asking voters in London North
Centre to help make history by sending her to the House of Commons.
Haskett, Burghardt again?
Freshly minted Conservative candidate Dianne Haskett may soon see a name from her political past appear in her political future.
Byelection race taking shape
More pieces of the intriguing London North Centre political puzzle fall
into place Oct. 24 as Conservatives pick their candidate and Liberals
continue their hunt for a contender in the Nov. 27 byelection.
Walker in NDP candidacy storm
Megan Walker's bid at a return to politics could be stopped by her own party's rules and a university student.
London in byelection frenzy
Federal political parties are scrambling to find candidates for
London's Nov. 27 byelection called by Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Oct. 22.
High profile Liberals say no
"Holy smokes," an incredulous David Peterson, former Ontario premier and MPP for London Centre, said into the telephone.
Walker ready for another fight
Admitting political fights are nothing new to her, former city
councillor Megan Walker formally announced Oct. 20 she's seeking the
New Democratic Party nomination in London North Centre.
Haskett rival undaunted by odds
Politically speaking, he's a neophyte who finds himself in a David and
Goliath tussle in which former London mayor Dianne Haskett has suddenly
appeared as Goliath.
