Frustration mounts in Shippagan-Lamèque-Miscou ahead of election
Gabrielle Fahmy | CBC News | Posted: September 21, 2018 11:19 AM | Last Updated: September 21, 2018
A battle is brewing between PC star candidate Robert Gauvin and Liberal incumbent Wilfred Roussel
Frustration is growing in Shippagan-Lamèque-Miscou, a riding in northern New Brunswick, where voters depend on the health of the fishery.
That's true for the fishing boat captains and deckhands catching the fish, the plant workers processing it, or the store and restaurant owners who sell to the people who only have money to spend when the season has been good.
Shippagan is the largest centre in the riding, with more than 2,000 people. Smaller fishing villages are scattered throughout the peninsula that extends into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Uncertainty is the best way to describe what happened to the fishery this past season.
Most fishermen ended up catching their quota, but a series of zone closures to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales travelling through fishing grounds, was enough to scare people into halting their spending.
And after a winter where many seasonal workers were in the so-called "black hole," the uncertainty around whether they will get employment insurance next winter — with the work weeks needed to qualify going up — is the number one issue on people's minds this election.
Although a federal matter, people in the area expect their provincially elected candidates to stand up and fight for them to Ottawa.
"What we'd like is for them to stop promising things and actually do something for us. It's like they don't understand us," said Mona Chiasson, a factory worker at the Fishermen's Co-op in Lamèque.
Three days before the official kick-off of the campaign, Jean-Yves Duclos, the federal minister of social development, came to New Brunswick to announce a pilot project, where about 7,000 workers in the province might be able to get up to five additional weeks of employment insurance next winter — possibly avoiding the "black hole."
It came after months of relentless protesting from seasonal workers.
But for many, it was too little, too late.
"If I vote for someone, and they do nothing, well four years later I'll change my vote," said Chiasson.
On the wharves, the frustration with the Liberal government can be heard just as loud.
"What people want is someone who works for them. Someone who can create so much work," said Victor Beaudin, a fishing boat captain in Pidgeon Hill.
Beaudin thinks PC candidate Robert Gauvin will be elected in Shippagan-Lamèque-Miscou, a riding with a history of electing Progressive Conservatives going back to the late 70s when Gauvin's father, Jean joined the government of Richard Hatfield.
"They want people who are going to work for the Acadian Peninsula. That's what people need. Doesn't matter the party," he said.
Jonathan Larocque, a fisherman in Pidgeon Hill, also believes Gauvin will win the seat.
He said his name is on everyone's lips, and no one in his circle is too bothered by Higgs' lack of French.
"I never really heard anyone talk about the fact he's not bilingual," admits Larocque.
Around here, unemployment insurance is the only thing people talk about. - Jonathan Larocque, fisherman
"Around here, unemployment insurance is the only thing people talk about, and it's the only thing that's going to matter when they vote," he said.
"The Liberals have put laws in place that have really enraged people. I don't think people will vote Liberal again."
Tories try to win over francophones
The Tories knew they'd face an uphill battle adding to their seats in largely francophone northern New Brunswick with Blaine Higgs, a unilingual anglophone, as leader.
The party emerged from the 2014 election with Madeleine Dubé as their only elected candidate in francophone New Brunswick.
This time, the Conservatives tried to get ahead of the game.
On Aug. 28, PC Leader Blaine Higgs visited a mechanic shop in Lamèque with his team of local francophone star candidates, which include Robert Gauvin and Kevin Haché, the mayor of Caraquet.
There, he promised credits for small and medium businesses that would create jobs.
Gauvin asked the crowd to applaud Higgs for "making the effort" to address them in French, and reassured voters francophone rights issues would not be tossed aside in a Higgs government.
"Effort, that's all we ask," exclaimed Gauvin. "Will we punish someone who wants to learn French?"
"If we give him the chance, he will continue, and I can guarantee you he will speak five languages before Brian Gallant balances the budget," he added.
A week later, candidates — some from as far south as Memramcook, gathered in Gauvin's campaign headquarters in Shippagan.
Gauvin introduced each of the 19 francophone candidates on the Higgs team, and announced their intention to form a common front to "solve the province's francophone issues".
"He is an ally of the Francophonie," he told the crowd.
Liberals say they've helped
Gauvin said he's not too worried about his leader's unilingualism affecting the local campaign.
"I'm hearing it a little, not a lot," he said. "People are more worried about whether they're going to eat."
People are more worried about whether they're going to eat. - Robert Gauvin, Conservative candidate
Gauvin said he wants to put pressure on the federal government to decrease the number of work weeks needed to qualify for employment insurance.
"If the federal government doesn't move, well we're going to talk to the shop owners, and talk to the people who work there and go by priority — people who are in need right now, and try to plug them with a job as soon as possible, just to fill the weeks they need," he said.
Meanwhile, outgoing Liberal candidate, Wilfred Roussel, feels his party has helped seasonal workers.
"They know I am the one who stood in the legislative assembly and who asked that the insurance regulations be changed, they know that," said Roussel referring to the pilot project announced last month.
Some not buying the act
While many voters said they're not bothered by Higgs's language skills, some municipal leaders are.
"Someone running as the leader of a party, who is a unilingual anglophone and has a past against bilingualism, that's a major concern," said Rémi Hebert, a town councillor in Shippagan.
"What message does that send to anglophones in the south of the province? That from now on we're going to tolerate having a premier who is a unilingual anglophone in a bilingual province?"
"Next year we're going to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the official languages act, but I feel we're going backwards. That worries me," he said.
The mayor of Lamèque is of the same opinion.
"That after years he still hasn't been able to learn French, it doesn't bode well," said Jules Haché.
"I'm worried we're regressing."
In 2014, Liberal Wilfred Roussel won by only a 44-vote margin against Conservative Paul Robichaud.
Hébert thinks this will be another hotly disputed battle between Conservative and Liberal.
"Me what scares me about Higgs, is that he's trying to seduce francophones right now, but if he's elected he'll do whatever he wants with us," he said.
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