Voters prep for Humber West byelection

Residents of the western Newfoundland district left vacant when Danny Williams retired in December will pick a successor in a byelection Tuesday.

Vaughn Granter, a high school principal who defeated four other candidates for the Progressive Conservative nomination, is hoping to keep Humber West in the Tory ranks.

But Granter has come under fire for evading scrutiny on the byelection trail, particularly after he skipped a candidates' debate on environmental issues.

"This government can't stand the very notion of accountability," said Liberal candidate Mark Watton, a lawyer who grew up in Corner Brook and who is now based in Toronto.

"It comes as no surprise that the Conservative candidate for Humber West isn't here," Watton told the forum. "He probably isn't allowed to be here."

Focus on door-to-door campaign: PC

Granterdisputed the allegations and said he declined the invitation to the debate because it would have taken "24 to 36 hours to get abreast of all the issues."

He said it's been more productive for him to go door to door, and to listen.

"[If] there's a student in Corner Brook going to the College of the North Atlantic or Grenfell Campus, they have student issues that they need addressed and put on the table. If I knock on a door and there's a senior there, obviously they have different issues," Granter said.

The PCs hold 42 of the 48 seats in the house of assembly.

With just four seats in the Liberal caucus, Watton who had worked as a senior aide to former prime minister Paul Martin acknowledges the party has had a hard time making a case to the electorate that it has a viable alternative.

"That means a lot of rebuilding for the Liberal party, but I think it has to start somewhere, and I'd like it to start right here," Watton said.

Rosie Myers, a university student who is making a political debut with the NDP, is running on a campaign that emphasizes environmental and educational issues.

"I'd definitely like to see more of an NDP presence out here on the west coast so the opportunity to provide an NDP candidate in the byelection is really important to me," said Myers.