Rivals trade barbs in pursuit of open seat in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek

The elbows are out as candidates jockey for votes in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek.

Chad Collins, a longtime city councillor, hopes to keep the riding Liberal while Nick Milanovic wants it back in the New Democrat fold.

The rivals traded barbs during a testy televised debate that at times left Conservative candidate Ned Kuruc and Green hopeful Larry Pattison watching them duke it out.

Collins accused Milanovic, a lawyer and Carleton University law professor, of being a political tourist" who works in Ottawa and only has a local address during campaigns.

Milanovic, who took on exiting Liberal MP Bob Bratina in the 2019 contest, acknowledged his work in Ottawa but said he lives in his native Stoney Creek.

Firing back, he called Collins a professional political prevaricator" and at one point, pulled out his voter's card to show he'd cast his ballot in a local church where his parents were married.

In an interview, Milanovic's wife said he was reluctant to publicize that it was her serious health issues in late 2019 that compelled him to stay with her in Ottawa after years dividing time between the two cities.

But they have sold their Ottawa home and, since this past spring, rented a place in Stoney Creek, Ann Catherine Decarie said.

During the debate, Milanovic pounced on Collins' record as a city politician, focusing on council's decision to keep secret a 24-billion-litre, four-and-a-half year sewage leak into Chedoke Creek.

That lack of transparency" should give voters second thoughts" about his ability to represent them in Parliament.

In response, the Ward 5 councillor said the city immediately publicized the spill when it happened but he didn't mention how council kept its full magnitude under wraps for several months and not until The Spectator reported on confidential leaked reports.

Since then, however, the city has worked with the province on plans to remediate Chedoke Creek, Cootes Paradise and the overall watershed, he added.

Kuruc also took aim at Collins' council record, noting he, like Bratina, has been a vocal opponent of Hamilton's LRT project, to which the Liberals have committed $1.7 billion.

How could residents have confidence" in Collins if Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau didn't have confidence in Bob Bratina" on the same score?

Council chose LRT, a local decision upper levels of governments have recognized, Collins said. And so I'm supportive of that."

Seizing an opening on cannabis, Collins said Stoney Creek residents had been very concerned" about an illegal" pot shop operator who'd rented commercial space from Kuruc, an entrepreneur who owns The Attic pizzeria.

Pattison said the Green Party wants amnesty for cannabis possession charges, noting post-regulation there are shops on every corner, like Tim Hortons."

The Cogeco employee and former school board trustee promised the Greens have many bold, daring ideas that can change the face of Canada to one that we can all believe in and love."

Kuruc lamented the Liberals had plunged Canada into financial chaos" and complained that life had become increasingly unaffordable in the past three years.

Collins said the Liberals had made record investments" in local transit, housing, infrastructure and post-secondary education while steering Canadians through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Milanovic warned the Liberals break promise after promise" and called Trudeau a climate change warrior" who declared a climate change emergency and then the very next day bought a pipeline."

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com