Since the call of the election, incumbent MP Brian Storseth has been busy travelling the Westlock-St. Paul riding. By press time on Monday, Storseth had already visited Bon Accord, Mallaig, Redwater, Gibbons, Legal, Thornhild, Westlock, Elk Point, St. Lina, Bonnyville, Cold Lake, Glendon, Morinville, Waskatenau, Smoky Lake and St. Paul, where the Conservative Party candidate and campaign supporters met on Wednesday to cut a ribbon to mark the opening of the office on 50th Avenue near 52nd Street.
Besides discussions with voters, Storseth also spent two days at the start of the campaign knocking on doors in Toronto, where the Conservative Party hopes to gain seats that would contribute to the 12 needed to cinch a majority.
Support for the party has grown in Toronto since last election when he also went door-to-door, he said. Previously, about one or two out of 10 households he went to spoke favourably of the Conservatives, while last week that rate rose to four or five out of 10, he reported.
Storseth said he was not expecting an election, so it took a couple days to get the campaign going. While the topics of the discussions he has been having on the campaign vary from meeting to meeting, Storseth said he is focused on sharing the vision the Conservative Party has for Canada this election. A recurring topic on the campaign trail is that voters say they want to help the Conservative Party get a majority, he said.
“In this election, there really are two competing visions," Storseth explained. “There's our vision of lower taxes, tax relief for families and for seniors, and more personal responsibility."
The Liberal platform would recklessly cost billions and billions of dollars and would be funded by tax increases, according to Storseth. “That's the competing vision we have. We believe that we can … make a better economy at the same time as reducing the tax burden on the average Canadian."
He said while political parties talk about family values during elections, the Conservative Party has not just talked about it, it moved forward with policies that reflect family values, such as the universal child care benefit. The party's campaign platform of income splitting for families up to $50,000 is “huge," he added.
“Not only is it huge, but it is a responsible commitment." The party plans to implement the policy when the deficit is eliminated in 2014, he said.
The Conservative vision also includes a tough on crime agenda with changes to the criminal code to protect the rights of victims, he said. Not only does Storseth want tough on crime policies and more criminals behind bars, but he also wants to see stronger communities, which are made at the family level, he said. “I believe people want their money in their pocket and make their own decisions with it.
“You do that by giving parents as much as you can the opportunity for choice to stay home if they want to, especially in the formative years of their children."
The Conservatives plan to continue the Canada First Defence strategy. The country needs to secure the F-35 fighter jet fleet to replace CF-18s, he said. “We will not have fighter jets come 2018 if we don't move forward with this process."
Storseth and the Conservative Party support eliminating the $2 per vote subsidy all parties cash in on after an election. While his party would lose the most money, the Conservatives oppose the subsidy on principle, he said.
“If you can't raise your own money through Canadians, I don't believe that Canadian taxpayers should be forced to fund your political party." The Bloc Quebecois relies on the subsidy, he added.
'Principled record'
The government has accomplished many of its goals in the last five years, from reducing the GST from seven to five per cent, to income splitting for seniors, and tax credits and exemptions for seniors and volunteer firefighters, he said.
“We've got a very strong record, a very principled record to talk about, and I'm very proud of our prime minister and the record we've put forward," Storseth said.
Another accomplishment of the government was to say 'no' to funding the Quebec City arena, he said. Saying no to the Quebec arena took the views of Western and Eastern Canadians into account, he said, adding that if the government funded the arena, it would have to do the same in everywhere. “We can't afford to do this everywhere, so we're not going to do it anywhere," he said.
A frequent complaint is that the government could not get rid of the long gun registry after opposition party members changed the way they voted on the first and second readings, he said. The Conservative Party continues to opposed the long gun registry and plans to abolish it if elected.
People are also concerned about the economy, he said. Canada has had six quarters of economic growth, he said, adding that the country led the industrialized world in economic growth this past fiscal quarter.
“We should be proud of where we're at, proud of the things we've done, but we've got a lot farther to go," he noted.
Storseth was elected in the 2006 election that brought the Conservative minority government to power, earning over 68 per cent of the vote, 23,267 votes more than the Liberal Party candidate. He was re-elected in 2008 with nearly 73 per cent of the vote, dwarfing NDP, Green, Liberal, and Christian Heritage candidates.
Fifty one per cent of eligible voters turned out in the Westlock-St. Paul riding in 2008, 10 per cent or 5,927 fewer voters than in 2006.
Born in Barrhead, Storseth ran a business after completing studies in political science at the Universities of Calgary and Alberta. He became the youngest councillor in Barrhead history in when elected in 2001. In 2003, he moved to St. Paul where he owned and operated the Co-operators Insurance Branch.
He decided to run in 2006 after he was approached by community members. One of those people was Darryl Poirier, owner of Century 21 Poirer Real Estate and campaign manager.
“The communication with his constituents is very, very good," said Poirier. He saw political potential in Storseth because he is “down to earth," “high energy," and well-professed in politics, he said.
“He's always well prepared. I thought that was a good sign … and he's not afraid to work."
Poirier said the MP is well supported by the communities in the riding. “He respects the small communities as much as the big ones … because you have to show respect to everyone.
“A lot of people say they support Brian because he's not someone you call and never hear from again. He gets back to you."
Storseth said his five and a half years in office has flown by. “I think I've grown into the job," he reflected.
Besides parliamentary duties since elected to office, Storseth and a group of 12 to 14 MPs hold hockey nights in Ottawa twice a week during hockey season and play around 10 charity games a year. The caucus raises over $1 million dollars a year for different charities, he said.
He said a majority Conservative government would try to add property rights to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Senate reform, or triple E senate, remains part of the party's platform, he said. Another reform the party would implement is more seats for Alberta, B.C. and Ontario to reflect growth in those provinces.
