Federal election 2015: Conservatives again looking for breakthrough in Malpeque

On Sept. 10, Stephen Harper's campaign rolled into New Annan, P.E.I. Harper delivered his stump speech from a potato warehouse in front of a crowd of about 150 supporters.

One of the things local Liberal candidate Wayne Easter noticed about that visit was that Stephen Harper was in Easter's riding again.

Even with this mammoth 11-week campaign, leaders don't have time to check in on every race. But Easter has noticed Harper always seems to find time to visit Malpeque.

He was there for a rally during the 2011 campaign. And before that, during the 2008 election.

"I always welcome the prime minister, any prime minister in my riding, even this one," said Easter, who's represented Malpeque for the Liberals since 1993. "After he retires as prime minister, I'd welcome him even more."

Whether it's because of Harper's attention or for other reasons, the Conservatives have been building support in Malpeque. Their vote count took a deep dive during the 2004 campaign, the first election following the merger of the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties.

But in each election since then the party's vote count has increased. In 2011, Conservative candidate Tim Ogilvie earned 39 per cent of the popular vote, restoring the party to pre-merger levels. He was 671 votes behind Easter.

'We can't just throw money away'

The Conservatives have pinned their hopes this time around on Stephen Stewart, an entrepreneur who made his mark on the province's cultured mussel industry.

"I [would] bring a very different perspective to government," he said.

"I've worked hard my entire life helping to create an industry. So I've lived through it all. I could have probably been bankrupt numerous times if I didn't think ahead and worry about the future. And that's what we've got to do. We can't just throw money away. We've got to do exactly the best we can with what we have available."

Stewart says health care, jobs and the economy are the issues he hears about most on Island doorsteps.

Easter says he's hearing about the same issues, but also getting another message Islanders want to see the end of Harper's tenure as prime minister.

"My experience over the last 10 years of a Stephen Harper government has shown a tremendous decline for this country in the way we're respected around the world," he said. "Services to Canadians and constituents have been cut."

Easter says Parliament doesn't work under Harper. Committees can't function the way they're supposed to because, under Harper, "all the MPs are just nothing short of being Harper-light. Because they never have a [more] diverse opinion than that that they're told to have coming out of the Prime Minister's Office."

Greens want strategy for seniors

Green Party candidate Lynne Lund says becoming a mother is what inspired her to enter the political realm. She's launched a pair of home-based businesses so she can stay close to her two young children.

But she says it's seniors she's most concerned about in this election. Going door to door she says she's met many seniors in Malpelque who can't afford to pay their bills.

"We need to form a council of Canadian governments that gets all levels of government pulling in the same direction," said Lund.

"One of the things that council would take on is a national seniors' strategy, which would work on more aging-in-place policies that make it easier for people to stay in home. We would be advocating for a guaranteed livable income that would be phased in for the most vulnerable people in the beginning. We want a national pharmacare plan, which would make it much, much more affordable for us to be purchasing medications."

Concern for farmers under TPP

Leah-Jane Hayward ran for the NDP in the 2015 P.E.I. provincial election. This is her first time running federally.

She's had to fit in campaigning around her day job. Hayward is a tour guide, and says September is her busiest month.

She says concern over Conservative changes to employment insurance is the issue she hears about most on the doorstep. But she is also concerned about the impact the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement will have on all Canadian farmers not just dairy farmers.

She says conditions in Canada lead to higher production costs, and Canadian farmers won't necessarily be able to compete across the Pacific Rim.

"Countries in the Pacific area don't have to contend with winter. So they don't have to house their livestock during the winter. They could probably get two crops during a year because they don't have winter. So their product is a lot cheaper, and it's really going to hurt dairy farmers and the other farmers as well in Canada."