EDITOR'S NOTE: Third in a series of Cumberland-Colchester-Musuodoboit Valley candidate profiles. Tomorrow, watch for NDP candidate Wendy Robinson.
By Darrell Cole
Transcontinental Media
TRURO - Jim Burrows is hearing a common thread among the voters as he campaigns in both sides of the riding for the May 2 election.
The Liberal candidate in Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley is
hearing voter dissatisfaction with the Conservative government under Prime
Minister Stephen Harper and they are ready to go in another direction.
"One of the main things I'm hearing is people are tired of Stephen Harper,
it's something I'm hearing at a lot of doorsteps," said Burrows as he
campaigned in Amherst. "They feel we have a government that
ignores democracy and doesn't respect them."
This is Burrows second attempt at winning the seat for the Liberals in this riding. He finished third to Conservative Scott Armstrong in the 2009 byelection to replace longtime Conservative and Independent MP Bill Casey.
That time Burrow's campaign was a little slow getting out of the gate and never seemed to garner much momentum and the end result was a
disappointment. This time, however, he has been maintaining a hectic
schedule between his Green Oak farm near Truro and traveling from one end of the riding to the other talking to people and community groups in
preparation for an election call he expected in the spring.
As much as this riding has not been friendly to the Liberals, having only
gone Liberal in 1993 before going back to the Tories in 1997, Burrows is
confident of a significant breakthrough for the party.
Along with hearing how upset people are with the Conservatives, he is
also hearing a couple of other common themes including dissatisfaction with negative attack ads and a young population that is increasingly indifferent to the political process.
It's something Burrows saw as he went door to door.
"I have no interest in politics," said one resident who did not want to give
his name. "Liberal, Conservative it's all the same. I didn't vote last time
and I'm not going to vote this time because it doesn't make a difference."
Burrows has a simple request for the voters who feel disenfranchised and
those who doubt their vote will count.
"Help me be part of the team that gets Stephen Harper out of there," he
said. "People are upset with politics in general and don't want to vote. One
of the messages I've been giving them is a non-vote is a vote for Stephen
Harper."
dcole@amherstdaily.com
