Conservatives seek to hold Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe

The Conservatives are trying to maintain their grip on Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe, one of two New Brunswick ridings that flipped in their favour in 2011.

Stephen Harper's Conservatives were able to form a majority government in 2011 with the help of ridings, such as Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe, abandoning the Liberals.

In light of national and regional poll numbers that have demonstrated a softening of support for the Conservatives, these ridings that only recently swung to the Tories are being eyed very closely by the Liberals.

Conservative Robert Goguen is running for re-election and is trying to distance himself from the Harper government's Employment Insurance reforms.

"The unemployment issue was probably the thing that was the most controversial," he said of his first term.

• AUDIO: Conservative candidate Robert Goguen
• AUDIO: NDP candidate Luc LeBlanc
• AUDIO: Green candidate Luc Melanson
• AUDIO: Liberal candidate Ginette Petitpas Taylor

While the EI reforms proved to be unpopular in the region, subsequent reports have shown there has been no evidence that the changes caused people to lose their benefits.

Goguen said there were other benefits brought on by the new rules.

"In essence, there were 0.08 per cent who were negatively affected by the changes," he said.

"And I think there were over 2,000 who lost their benefits, they were cut off because they were receiving EI benefits because they were not living in Canada."

The Liberals and NDP have both called for those controversial Employment Insurance reforms to be scrapped.

During the height of the EI reform controversy, Goguen ducked media questions about the reforms.

Liberal Ginette Petitpas Taylor said in a September interview that she's been hearing on the campaign trail a desire for a local politician that is ready to talk to constituents.

"I have been hearing a lot at the doors that people really want to make sure that their member of Parliament that they elect will be an accessible member of Parliament," she said.

"I want to make sure the citizens feel comfortable when they see me if they have an issue that they want to raise."

Rare Tory victory in 2011

Goguen secured the riding for the Conservatives in 2011 for the first time in 23 years.

Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe hadn't voted for the Tories since Dennis Cochrane held the seat from 1984 to 1988 in the Brian Mulroney government.

The Conservative victory was aided by a retrenching Liberal vote and a surge in NDP support.

Goguen held the Conservative vote steady from 2008, but former MP Brian Murphy's Liberal vote dropped by seven per cent, while the NDP saw its share of the vote jump by 12 per cent.

In order for Petitpas Taylor to reclaim the seat for the Liberals, she is going to have to win back the Liberal support that stayed home in 2011 or switched to the NDP.

She is also going to have to withstand any anger directed toward her from voters upset at decisions made by the provincial Liberal government.

Goguen said people he spoke to, particularly at the start of the campaign, were upset over cuts to teaching positions and the, since reversed,nursing home policy changes.

New Brunswick has 10 federal seats. After the 2011 election, the Conservatives held eight, and the Liberals and NDP each had one.

NDP, Greens focus on jobs

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NDP candidate Luc LeBlanc, an economist, is seeking the federal seat as a way to find ways to keep young people from leaving New Brunswick and to generate new jobs.

LeBlanc said he returned to the region after studying abroad and he said he "didn't see the community that I thought I grew up in."

He said families are having a hard time to make ends meet and he said the province is struggling with a shrinking population and an aging tax base.

The NDP candidate said voters are looking for a party that they can trust to bring about positive change.

"They want to get rid of Stephen Harper," he said.

"But they want a government that makes a different in their lives. Change is one thing but change that is real for people is quite another."

If you are entering politics and you have big political plans, Green party is something of an uphill climb.- Green candidate Luc Melanson

Green candidate Luc Melanson said the Liberals, Conservatives and NDP are all too focused on creating jobs through pipelines or natural resource extraction.

Melanson said he'd like to see a green technology sector blossom in southeastern New Brunswick.

"We know these [oil and gas] industries are not making any money currently because of where the fuel prices are at," he said.

"So we are at the mercy and we are fighting for scraps. I think it is time that we develop something that we can forward to for a vision. I want to be putting forward a vision. I want to go to Ottawa and fight for those funds."

But the Green candidate also said he is realistic about his chances of being sent to Ottawa on Oct. 19. The party's high watermark in terms of popular support in the riding came in 2008, when the Green candidate won 8.7 per cent of the vote.

"If you are entering politics and you have big political plans, Green party is something of an uphill climb," he said.