Federal election 2015: Jobs, economy, and incumbency define election in Cardigan

"It's the economy, stupid."

The phrase started as a backroom reminder for people working on Bill Clinton's first campaign for the U.S. presidency and eventually became an unofficial campaign slogan.

It could easily apply to the race in Cardigan, where candidates for all three main parties say jobs and the economy are the most important local issues for voters.

In its most recent assessment, Statistics Canada pegged unemployment in rural P.E.I. — which includes all areas outside the Charlottetown region — at 12.9 per cent.

While the riding contends with high unemployment and relatively low wages, the incumbent Liberal Lawrence MacAulay says the Conservative government in Ottawa has been chipping away at the social safety net, with changes to Employment Insurance and a planned increase in the age of eligibility for Old Age Security hurting the poorest households.

"It's the direction in general, when you look at the old age pension being shifted from 65 to 67, I don't think that would affect the wealthy people the most," he said.

"What needs to happen — there has to be a direction in government to make sure that we do something for the working poor, and make sure they have a better chance to succeed in society."

MacAulay said the Liberal plan to boost infrastructure spending by billions will provide the necessary boost to the local economy, even as it leads to more projected budget deficits out of Ottawa.

A Liberal government, he said, would reverse Conservative changes to Employment Insurance and return OAS to kick in at 65. The NDP has made similar pledges.

A long-time incumbent

While jobs and the economy may be top of mind for Cardigan voters, the riding's hopeful candidates face another challenge.

In the eight federal elections since 1988, residents have cast 149,467 ballots. More than half of all those Xs — 78,737, to be exact — have gone beside the same name: Lawrence MacAulay.

Last year, MacAulay became the longest-serving federal politician in Island history.

While some candidates on P.E.I. say is their top issue in this protracted campaign is defeating Stephen Harper, MacAulay remains the man to beat in Cardigan.

Conservative candidate Julius Patkai suggested MacAulay's 27 years in office have led to a sense of complacency.

He points to the Irving-owned East Isle Shipyard in Georgetown, which remains closed even though Irving has a multi-billion dollar shipbuilding agreement with the federal government.

"We've got a perfectly idle facility here, and we have all these people that are looking for jobs. We have Holland College bursting at the seams with tradespeople, and 95 per cent of them are going to go out west," Patkai said.

"We need a representative here in the Cardigan riding that really understands the challenges in how to connect the dots, and really deliver."

Patkai, a former tobacco farmer who is now a certified management consultant, believes he has the expertise needed to bring jobs and development to the region by increasing exports and capitalizing on available labour skills, rather than having trained workers leave the province.

He said a Conservative plan to reduce the small business tax rate from 11 to 9 per cent would boost the economy. The Liberals and NDP say they'll make the same cut.

'It doesn't pay for them to go to work'

Like his Conservative and Liberal opponents, NDP candidate Billy Cann said jobs and the economy are the most pressing issues for Cardigan voters in this election.

Cann has run unsuccessfully in two previous provincial elections, for two other parties — the Liberals in 2007 and as leader of the Island Party in 2011. Cann said he switched to the NDP because he's convinced Island voters need an alternative to the Liberals and Conservatives, but starting a new party from the ground up was a slow process.

The NDP plan to offer subsidized daycare at a cost of $15 a day for parents would create jobs, Cann said, and help many Cardigan parents re-enter the workforce after having children.

"I've talked to mothers that told me it doesn't pay for them to go to work with $35, $40 a day paying [for daycare]," Cann said.

"Some of them have two [children] ... it gets up, with gasoline, up to $100 a day. It doesn't pay for them to go to work with the wages they have."

Cann said the NDP promise to bring in a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage would also help. It would apply to positions with the federal government and its agencies like Parks Canada, and also to private-sector jobs in federally-regulated industries, including banking and inter-provincial trucking.

The minimum wage would apply to people working on fish boats but not those working in fish plants. It would apply to some telemarketing firms, but not all of them, according to information provided by the P.E.I. Department of Labour.

We're losing our democracy: Greens

Musician Teresa Doyle, who is running for the Green Party in Cardigan, agrees the economy needs a boost, but it can't come at the expense of the environment.

Rather, she says the Green Party's plan to create jobs would benefit the environment by sending tradespeople to retrofit buildings to make them more energy efficient.

Doyle thinks the most important issue in this election is correcting what she sees as an erosion of Canadian democracy after almost 10 years of Conservative rule.

"We desperately need proportional representation. I hope this is the last election we have in the country without it," she said.

"So we can send people from all parties to Ottawa and return to being a parliament where members actually work for their constituents and not kowtow to a leader."

Doyle said the Green party is prepared to broker a coalition between the Liberals and NDP if the election results in a minority government.

Cardigan also has a candidate campaigning for the Christian Heritage party in this election, Christene Squires, who said she launched her campaign over concern for the unborn.