Veteran New Democrat cruises to party’s nomination

Photo by Vince Fedoroff

It may as well have been Ken Bolton’s campaign kickoff last evening at Hellaby Hall for the NDP’s federal nomination meeting, as the 65-year-old won delegates’ support on the first ballot to rousing applause from the party faithful.

Bolton defeated challengers Robin Ried-Fraser and Peter Becker.

In a speech that electrified the room, Bolton, who drew to address party members first, gave a textbook stump performance.

“I don’t know how this is going to eat into my time,” he joked to quell one round of applause before launching into a scathing assessment of federal politics that spared few.

While Bolton evoked past prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Jean Chretien in a partisan pitch, current PM Stephen Harper took the brunt of his criticism.

In a speech that spanned the range of emotions, Bolton pledged to protect universal health care, an NDP-inspired provision that was born from the party’s predecessor, the CCF, and former leader Tommy Douglas’ roots in the 1950s and ‘60s. The NDP was created in 1961.

Bolton then spoke of a former girlfriend who recently died of cancer. The disease was not caught in time because she was without a family doctor.

“It’s because the Chretien government thought fighting the deficit was more important than funding universities to turn out the doctors and nurses that we need,” Bolton said.

Making reference to the age difference between himself and challenger 19-year-old Reid-Fraser, Bolton stressed the importance of having seniors in the House of Commons.

“We need the voices of seniors to be heard to end elder abuse and seniors’ homelessness, and we need the voice of youth as (people) Robin’s age are being sent to Afghanstan,” he said.

“And we must take on Stephen Harper,” Bolton concluded, after having inserted each local candidate and their party’s leader in the same mantra.

While the NDP has finished second in the previous two federal elections, Bolton said it would be a tough battle to reclaim the Yukon seat that was last held for the New Democrats by Louise Hardy (1997 to 2000).

Since then, after Liberal-incumbent Larry Bagnell squeaked out a narrow victory against Hardy, the NDP has barely garnered half as many votes as Bagnell in the two previous federal contests, in 2004 and 2006.

“The incumbent has a serious advantage,” Bolton told reporters after his acceptance speech, which also acknowledged the threat the Green Party poses to the local NDP bedrock.

“I don’t particularly care for (any) party’s leader, or their politics, but I respect any person who puts their name up to run.”

The NDP is the last party to field a candidate in the territory for the Oct. 14 election.

Bolton, who retired as the Yukon NDP’s long-time caucus researcher this year - will have little time to savour his penultimate victory, as the competition is already on the campaign trail.

“I think this was it,” Bolton said when he was asked about a campaign kickoff.

Though he won convincingly, capturing 51 of 85 nomination votes, Bolton could tap his nearest competitor, Reid-Fraser, for her support in the greater contest.

The 19-year-old Raven Recycling Centre employee who earned 30 votes and a standing ovation for her effort, could be a force for Bolton.

Reid-Fraser, whose punk rock style, bright blue hair and youthful exuberance brought some freshness to the proceedings, described her strong showing as “astonishing,” and also pledged to campaign for Bolton, focusing on younger voters.

“I’d definitely like to help (Bolton),” she said.

Bolton also has a community profifle for his years of work in local theatre productions. The former journalist once wrote editorials for a Saskatchewan newspaper, and has worked for the Yukon News.

During his acceptance speech, Bolton said he hoped Reid-Fraser had, “a long and impactful political career” ahead of her.

Becker, a former Olympian who rowed for Germany in the 1976 Games in Montreal before immigrating to Canada, challenged for the NDP nomination on a platform of cancelling Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“This is a treasonous element of Canadian law,” he said of the NAFTA clause that he believes could be used to trump aboriginal land claims in the Yukon in the event of the proposed Alaska-Canada gas pipeline.

Though Becker struggled at times to make his message understood, his self-effacing style earned respect from his competitors.

In her speech, Reid-Fraser said she had great respect for Bolton and Becker, while Bolton took time to compliment Becker’s spirit and intellect.

The NDP fielded Whitehorse resident Pam Boyde in the 2006 and 2008 elections.

For next month’s vote, local pharmacy owner Darrell Pasloski is running for the Conservatives, while John Streicker is carrying the Green Party’s banner.