The Question Lingering Over The N.L.’S Winter Election Is Will Anyone Vote?
NDP leader Alison Coffin has kicked off the full first week of Newfoundland and Labrador’s winter pandemic election by promising to strengthen the public services and thereby increase the minimum wage.
Coffin told the reporters on Monday in St. John’s that they are going to make different choices and that they have an $8 billion budget and that budget can be allocated in a variety of ways.
She also added that their primary concern is to ensure that the services are available for individuals. The part of the services that she promised is a dental plan for the seniors across the province.
Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie said that he didn’t intend to balance the province’s budget over the next four years. He told on Monday in St. John’s that they know they have a terrible debt situation but what’s more important right now is the job creation, which creates the wealth that further pays the taxes to lower the deficit.
Coffin also stressed her support for what she called a living wage, beginning with a $15 minimum wage. She dismissed concerns from the employers who say that small businesses can’t afford a hike in the service’s $12.15 an hour minimum wage and said that an increase would put more money I the worker’s pockets, who she pointed would spend the money in the local economy.
Both the Progressive Conservatives and the NDP have expressed dismay with the timing of the Newfoundland and Labrador’s election, the fourth happening in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Liberal leader and incumbent Premier Andrew Furey had called the election o Friday as a snowstorm howled outside the glass doors of the provincial legislature.
Coffin told that the people in her downtown district are concerned not only about the pandemic but also about slips and falls on the notoriously icy streets of St. John’s and added that she thinks the mail-in ballots will be really important.
The voter turnout in the other three provincial elections has been mixed and the numbers have been steady as compared to the previous years in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, but they significantly fell in British Columbia.
In an interview, NDP campaign communications director Jean Graham stated that her team has been taking notes from those elections. Graham said that they had spent a lot of time, rather than talking about the party, but in explaining to people how to use the mail-in ballots. The NDP team shall be thoroughly prepared and ready to do the same.
There is a forecast for more snow over the week, Shawn Skinner, the Progressive Conservative’s campaign chair is worried that the party will lose a few key, door-to-door campaigning days. Like Graham, he is also worried that there will be a snowstorm on Election Day itself on February 13 and that those who didn’t make it to the mailbox will stay home.
Furey had won a pandemic by-election in October, in the Humber-Gros Morne district, by replacing Dwight Ball.
Glenda Bozeman – Business and Services
Glenda Bozeman writes Business articles for industries that want to see their Google search rankings surge. Her articles have appeared in a number of sites. Her articles focus on enlightening with informative Services sector needs. She holds the degree of Masters in Business and Marketing. Before she started writing, she experimented with various professions: computer programming, assistant marker, and others. But her favorite job is writing that she is now doing full-time.
