Three of the four candidates seeking the Burlington seat served the public very well; the 4th - PC Pierre was a no show

By Pepper Parr

February 19, 2025

BURLINGTON, ON

It was a typical Burlington event: polite.

The three candidates, who were on the platform, knew their briefs, some better than others, and spoke clearly and to the point.

The all candidate meeting took place at the Port Nelson United Church in Roseland, the epicentre of politeness in Burlington

Andrea Grebenc was the favourite going into the debate and left as the favourite.

Andrea Grebenc was the favourite going into the debate and left as the favourite.  Megan Beauchemin, the New Democrat suffered from being a late starter.   On paper she looked very good; the profile is what the NDP looks for.

Unfortunately, the party structure had decayed, there wasn’t much in the way of an organization.  Beauchemin relied on her husband to do a lot of the rebuild and run the campaign at the same time.

She stumbled a bit but she was certainly a very credible candidate.

She is employed as an automotive engineer (took a leave of absence to be the candidate)

Kyle Hutton, the Green candidate was ahead of the other two on the innovative and bold ideas.

Kyle Hutton, the Green candidate was the best speaker, he knew the issues and was ahead of the other two on the innovative and bold ideas.  Hutton said in an interview before the all candidiate,that the Greens could pick up 12 seats and have party status, which was a stretch.

All three candidates were fortunate to have a very good moderator working from a script that he had carefully put together.

There were some light moments – he never let it get out of hand.

In their closing statements Grebenc’s passion was very evident.  She has been seeking public office ever since she leaving the public school board where she served very well.

Megan Beauchemin, the New Democrat candidiate.

Megan Beauchemin struggled – but the future potential is clearly there.

The structure of the event had different people, selected before hand, ask questions based on specific interests: Housing, transit, budgets, health, education, livable income, and the minimum wage.

The only subject that didn’t come up was Regional government.

The failure on the part of Progressive Conservative candidate Natalie Pierre to be on the platform surprised everyone; the reasons given were very weak – pathetic as well.