"He hopes to shift the focus to promote his campaign to change divorce
laws to enshrine the principle of equal parenting. Currently, divorce
laws are stacked against fathers, Vellacott said."
-----
Saskatoon Star Phoenix - September 17, 2008
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/third_page/story.html?id
=649b5a0f-91e8-46a9-9a94-ecdf64823151Challengers not deterred by long odds
By David Hutton
Patricia Zipchen senses an opportunity as she approaches an older
two-storey home adjacent to City Hospital. It's the Liberal candidate's
first stop in an afternoon of campaigning and the house's lawn and
windows are covered with signs for Clint Davidson, her NDP opponent in
Saskatoon-Wanuskewin. "Well, this should be fun," she said, laughing.
She marches up to the door but is intercepted by the owner, a
middle-aged woman and mental health-care worker who's taking her two
dogs for a walk. The fast-talking Zipchen quickly highlights her close
relationship with Mayor Don Atchison and her history of fighting for
Saskatoon's smoking ban, then moves to some light chit chat about mutual
friends. "Can I count on your vote?" Zipchen asked. The woman, in a
hurry to start her walk, takes the campaign pamphlets, but remains
unconvinced. "Maybe if I had two votes," she said as she waved goodbye.
Taking out incumbent Conservative Maurice Vellacott in
Saskatoon-Wanuskewin is going to be a formidable task. The key strategic
concern of the pack chasing Vellacott is the vote split on the
centre-left, so wooing voters from the NDP is one of her main focuses,
Zipchen says. "I have a great deal more experience to offer," she said,
comparing herself with Davidson. "I've been telling everyone that a vote
for the NDP is a vote for the Conservatives."
Last week, while the NDP and Liberal candidates in the riding spent the
day door-knocking, Vellacott, 53, had just finished setting up the phone
line at his campaign office and was still dealing with constituent
issues left over from before the writ dropped. "I always joke that I
have two jobs ... I'm working on constituent stuff which (the other
candidates) don't have to do ... so they always get a head start," says
Vellacott, relaxing on a newly installed sofa in his Circle Drive
campaign office. Vellacott won by nearly 4,000 votes in 1997 and went on
to win by 9,000 votes in 2000, 5,000 votes in 2004 and 9,000 votes again
in 2006 despite high-profile candidates running for the NDP and the
Liberals. The riding is now a Conservative stronghold with Vellacott's
popularity in the faith-based community and the overwhelming support for
the Conservatives in the riding's rural areas.
This time, too, the competition is less politically experienced. In the
last election, the Liberals ran Chris Axworthy for a second time while
the NDP countered with former Saskatoon mayor Jim Maddin. In this race,
Vellacott is up against comparative political newcomers: Part-time cook
and corrections officer Davidson, 36, of the NDP and Zipchen, 67, of the
Liberals, who is well-known locally for her anti-smoking advocacy but
has no experience in federal politics. The Green party has nominated
Tobi-Dawne Smith, 31, a dog trainer campaigning primarily on a platform
of eliminating legislation that targets certain breeds of dogs.
In the past, those opposing Vellacott have run on the notion he has done
little for the riding since he's been in office other than promote his
socially conservative views. In the last election, the campaign became
heated after a Liberal campaign worker phoned a call-in show on cable
television and made accusations of Vellacott that prompted a lawsuit.
This time, though, his opposition seems less willing to resort to
personal barbs and name-calling. "I won't attack Mr. Vellacott," Zipchen
said. "There are a lot of other issues." That suits Vellacott just fine,
he says. He hopes to shift the focus to promote his campaign to change
divorce laws to enshrine the principle of equal parenting. Currently,
divorce laws are stacked against fathers, Vellacott said. "Every
candidate for every election I've ever had has crabbed about Vellacott
didn't do this or that, it's stock and trade. ... But that hasn't
worked. Everyone has tried to use it and it's time to try something
else."
For Davidson, the challenge is making the transition from a
behind-the-scenes campaign manager and organizer to the party's
frontman. He's helped manage several NDP campaigns across the country in
the last decade but this is the first time he's taken a shot at public
office. Door-knocking off 33rd Street last week, he forgot several times
to take down updated voter information. "The organizer in me is getting
frustrated with the candidate in me," he joked.
He hopes to get lower gas prices by prosecuting oil companies that
collude on price increases, an issue he's sure to hear about
door-knocking, he said. He's travelled to the front lines of picket
lines in the riding to show his support for striking workers. "Here are
these employers making millions and millions in profit," he said "I feel
for the workers ... they need to be getting more."
Reducing pressure on the health-care system is her main priority,
Zipchen said. Her brother and sister died recently from cancer and she
believes the federal government can play a stronger role in combating
chronic illnesses.
Smith hopes to bring some awareness to the little-known issue of dog
breed specific legislation in Canada, such as a law in Ontario that bans
new pit bulls and orders existing ones to be sterilized. She's close to
the issue, as she spends her days training dogs to aid people with
disabilities and teaching dogs to do everything from dialing 911 to
doing laundry and retrieving medication. "The dogs don't need to be
punished based on their breed," she said. "The owners do."
---
Saskatoon-Wanuskewin
This riding is composed of the northwest part of Saskatoon and rural
areas to the north and west of the city, including Leask, Rosthern,
Warman, Martensville and Radisson. The riding's population is around
72,000, according to the last census.
Clint Davidson, NDP: Cook and corrections officer from Blaine Lake.
Lives in Fairhaven.
Tobi-Dawne Smith, Green: A disability rights advocate and dog trainer.
Lives in Mayfair.
Maurice Vellacott, Conservative: A former pastor and health-care worker.
Lives in Corman Park.
Patricia Zipchen, Liberal: A retired nurse and anti-smoking advocate.
Lives in East College Park.
Riding politics: The incumbent, Maurice Vellacott, first won the seat in
1997 with the Reform party. In 2006, as a Conservative, he beat Liberal
Chris Axworthy by 9,098 votes.
Online lawn signs: Patricia Zipchen of the Liberals leads the way with
58 Facebook supporters, followed by the NDP's Clint Davidson with 32, as
of Tuesday morning. Tobi-Dawne Smith, the Green party candidate, has
nine Facebook supporters but also runs a popular dog-training advice
website,
noselicks.com. Maurice Vellacott is old-school with no Facebook
profile. Unlike the last campaign, there seem to be no anti-Vellacott
websites.
(c) The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2008
(c) 2005 - 2008 Canwest Digital Media, a division of Canwest Publishing
Inc.
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