No incumbents in at least 5 GTA federal ridings means candidates working hard to gain voter trust

There are no incumbents running in at least five GTA ridings in the Sept. 20 federal election and candidates say seeking office for the first time means not taking anything for granted.

Liberal Adam Vaughan in Spadina-Fort York, Conservative Peter Kent in Thornhill, Liberal Navdeep Bains in Mississauga-Malton, Liberal Gagan Sikand in Mississauga-Streetsville and Independent Ramesh Sangha in Brampton Centre are all not seeking re-election. Sangha was removed from the Liberal caucus in January.

On the campaign trail on Tuesday, candidates in two ridings said they are working hard to get their names out there even though they have the backing of major parties. They acknowledged that party affiliation means everything when they don't have name recognition, but they believe campaigning tirelessly will make the difference.

What matters most, they told CBC Toronto, is talking to voters, whether online or in person, and doing so safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

'We're working right through the day'

Kevin Vuong, the Liberal candidate for Spadina-Fort York, said the pandemic has created campaign challenges but his team is keeping safe by wearing masks, physically distancing and having the COVID-19 alert app on their smart phones. Vuong said he has lived in the riding for 10 years but this is his first run federally. Vaughan was first elected federally in 2014.

"This is one of the most diverse communities in the world. It's so vibrant. It's also very vertical," Vuong said, referring to all the high-rise buildings in the riding.

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"We've hit the ground running and we're saying hello to everyone in the morning. We're working right through the day. And then we're knocking on doors in the evening, when there are more people at home and we're able to chat and catch up again with my neighbours." 

Vuong said he is excited to run for a party that puts people first.

'We're going right to the people in the safest way possible'

Melissa Lantsman, the Conservative candidate for Thornhill, said her team has knocked on thousands of doors and put out hundreds of lawn signs. Lantsman is a longtime Conservative strategist. Kent was first elected in the riding in 2008.

"We're putting all of those conservative strategies into practice, and I've got some really, really big shoes to fill in Peter Kent," she said. 

"He's done a tremendous amount for Thornhill, frankly, for our country, for our party. And as a result, he's pretty well liked here. And we have the benefit of having Peter by my side, helping until the day that he's not the MP anymore," she said. 

"We've hit the ground running. It might be 35 days for everybody else. For us, we've been at this for quite awhile now. We've got a great team and we're getting our message out in all of the traditional ways that one would get their message out," she added.

"I take nothing for granted in terms of any election campaign, and I don't think Peter ever did as well. We've assembled quite a team here, diverse, right across the area. I should say I was born and raised here. This community is not foreign to me whatsoever. My family still lives here. I live here. Part of this is a natural progression. We're going right to people in the safest way possible."
 
Kent added: "She's an entrepreneur and she's a terrific communicator. It's time for generational change." 

New candidates need to do outreach work, prof says

Tina Park, a lecturer in Canadian nationalism at the University College at the University of Toronto, said it's hard work for first-time candidates to gain public trust and it requires a lot of outreach work.

"I think, as with anything in life, the new candidates will have to work very hard to gain public trust and make themselves known, and that is not unique to Canada. It is true of all democracies that truly represent the electorate," she said.

She added that incumbents who are not running are likely withdrawing for a variety of reasons.

"It's entirely possible that these incumbents may have found other priorities that they like to focus on as we get out of COVID-19. As well, we are looking at an era where there's a higher bar for public scrutiny when it comes to personal life and the families of politicians may not necessarily want to go through that anymore," she said.

"Some of these incumbents have had very distinguished careers in politics. And there are certain sacrifices that are made by their families when a member of their families are in politics. I think that, combined with all the fatigue and the changes coming from COVID, they may have found something else they like to focus on."

Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto, said what matters on voting day is the party and leader.

"A lot of people go in the polling booth and they know who they want to vote for in terms of party, but they don't even know who the local candidate is. The party's name is attached to candidates," he said.

"This isn't to say the local candidates don't count at all. But in terms of the vote calculation of the overwhelming majority of people, it's marginal."