John McCallum

Markham-Unionville
2006: Liberal John McCallum won by 18,616 votes),Oct 09, 2008 04:30 AM

Nicholas Keung STAFF REPORTER

The Markham-Unionville race is between the known and unknown, the experienced and inexperienced.

In a riding where 77.7 per cent of the population are visible minorities, the four major parties' candidates – Liberal veteran John McCallum, Conservative Duncan Fletcher, New Democrat Nadine Hawkins and the Green party's Leonard Aitken – don't reflect that.

Yet, they all feel immigration is a key issue here, where only 40 per cent of residents list English as a mother tongue.

"It is important to fight for immigrants," says Hawkins, 51, a business administrator, who has lived here for 20 years and is running for elected office for the first time. She praises her party's platform initiatives on easing poverty among immigrants, investing in career-bridging programs and developing national foreign-credential accreditation standards.

Fletcher, the Conservative candidate, who is also running federally for the first time, says Markham-Unionville voters are looking for a strong leader and a government that won't impose a carbon tax, referring to the Liberals' Green Shift plan.

"This is especially important to new Canadians who we have fought for and will continue to speak for," says the advertising executive, 43, who has lived here for six years.

The Liberal party pledges $800 million to improve the immigration system, including a new "Welcome Canada Pass," a multiple-entry visitor's visa valid for five years that would make it easier for relatives to visit and for foreign companies to do business here.

"Canadians like the idea of having their families visiting them in Canada. We would be letting people in on merits," says McCallum, 58, who has been an area MP since 2000.

The candidates share similar concerns over the lagging social and municipal infrastructure in the fast-growing riding.

The Greens' Aitken, also running for the first time, says the race is about empowering and engaging voters in government decision-making.

He believes all candidates have a good shot at unseating McCallum.

"People should be voting for a chance to see change, to make a point to say that you are not happy," says Aitken, 45, an information technology consultant who advocates for small local businesses.

Despite his experience, McCallum, a former cabinet minister and the Liberal finance critic, has been criticized for dividing his time among his residences in Ottawa, Markham and Oakville.

McCallum is "not engaged enough locally," Fletcher wrote in his email response to the Star's interview request.

OTHER CANDIDATES

Allen Small, Libertarian party