On Tuesday, July 18, the East Preston Ratepayers Community Development Association sponsored a standing-room-only candidate forum at the East Preston Community Centre. The Association’s Christina Parker moderated the forum.
The nominated candidates of five parties participated In the forum:
Liberals—Carlo Simmons
PCs—Twila Grosse
NDP—Colter Simmonds
Greens—Anthony Edmonds
Nova Scotians United—Bobby Taylor
The evening began with candidate opening statements. Moderator Christina Parker then asked a series of questions, with all five candidates replying to each candidate. Parker covered health care, working from home, and the “ditch tax.” Following Parker’s questions, there were questions from the audience about the historic problem of land titles, the candidates’ attitudes towards party discipline vs. community, and concerns about a “40-Year HRM Plan” to turn the Prestons into another Burnside-like industrial park.
Click on the Video links to open each section.
Video 1
Moderator Christina Parker introduces the event and then asks each candidate to make an opening statement. 0:00 to 1:32
Carlo Simmons 1:32 to 2:50
Twila Grosse 2:50 to 4:43
Colter Simmons 4:43 to 6:30
Anthony Edmonds 6:30 to 8:23
Bobby Taylor 8:23 to end of video
Video 2
Bobby Taylor finishes his intro 0:00 to 0:56
Moderator Christina Parker: Question about health care and getting more health care works in the Prestons 0:56 to 2:12
Twila Grosse 2:12 to 8:27 (end of Video 2)
Video 3
Health Care Question continued
Colter Simmonds 0:00 to 3:25
Anthony Edmonds 3:25 to 7:11 (end of Video 3)
Video 4
Health Care Question continued
Bobby Taylor 0:00 to 3:01
Carlo Simmons 3:01 to 7:30
Moderator Cristina Parker_--Question on Carbon tax, and should the government introduce incentives to get government employees and businesses to let more people work from home, which would also same money on gas, reduce air pollution, etc. 7:30 to 8:53
Video 5
Continuation of carbon tax and working from home
Colter Simmonds O:00 4:12
Anthony Edmonds 4:12 to end of video
Video 6
Continuation of carbon tax and working from home
Bobby Taylor 0:00 to 1:05
Carlo Simmons 1:05 to 5:10
Twila Grosse 5:10 to 10:08 End of Video 6
Video 7
Moderator Christina Parker: Question on The HRM Ditch Tax 0:00 to 1:21
Anthony Edmonds 1:21 to 3:40
Bobby Taylor 3:40 to 5:45
Carlo Simmons 5:45 to 9:49
Twila Grosse 9:49 10:56 (continued on Video 8)
Video 8
Continuation of Ditch Tax
Twila Grosse 0:00 to 3:10
Colter Simmonds 3:10 to 6:43 (end of Video 8)
Video 9
Audience question about holding on to community’s land
Bobby Taylor 2:00 (to end of Video 9)
Video 10
Continuation of loss of historical lands
Carlo Simmons 0:00 to 4:32
Twila Grosse 4:32 to end of Video 10
Video 11
Continuation of loss of historical lands
Colter Simmonds 0:00 to 2:15
Anthony Edmonds 2:15 to 6:05 (to end of Video 11)
Video 12
Disagreement over Ending Questions from Audience
Moderator Christina Parker calls for 2-minute closing statements. There is strong objection from audience members to closing off questions from the audience. At the end, Parker goes ahead with the 2-minute closing statements, to be followed by more questions from the audience.
Video 13
Closing Statements from Candidates
Carlo Simmons 0:00 to 2:35
Twila Grosse 2:35 to 6:35
Video 14
Closing Statements from Candidates
Colter Simmonds 0:00 to 3:05
Anthony Edmonds 3:05 to 6:29
Video 15
Closing Statements from Candidates
Bobby Taylor 0:00 to 1:43
Audience Discussion about How to Proceed 1:43 to 4:00
Audience Question: If elected, what would they do if their party leader asked them to vote for something that the people in the Preston riding strongly opposed? 4:00 to 5:00
Twila Gross 5:00 to 5:12
Colter Simmonds 5:12 to 7:03
Anthony Edmonds 7:03 to end of video
Video 16
(In the video, candidates touch on a number of questions raised from the floor, including
Food security, health care, and the side of the road dump at the old bakery site)
Colter Simmonds 0:00 to 3:30
Bobby Taylor 3:30 to 5:22
Carlo Simmons 5:22 to 8:00
Twila Grosse 8:00 to 10:20
Audience Question: HRM has a 40-year plan to turn the Prestons into another industrial park like Burnside. What are you going to do to stop it? 10:20 to 11:40
Colter Simmonds 11:40 to 13:00
Video 17
Colter Simmonds (continued from Video 16) 0:00 to 0:56
Anthony Edmonds 0: 56 to 2:16
Bobby Taylor 2:16 to 3:40
Carlo Simmons 3:40 to 5:31
Twila Grosse 5:31 to 7:57
Audience Reactions to the “40 Year Plan”