Jeff Watson 'getting all the love' from groups opposing him

With barely two weeks to go before the election, a Conservative incumbent in the southwestern Ontario riding of Essex once again finds himself the target of a rally aimed at ousting him.

Jeff Watson, a four-term parliamentarian,has already seen autoworkers call for him to be exported duringa rally heldoutside his campaign officeand has also seen the leader of the NDP take a very personal swipeat his record in Ottawain a pre-election visitto his riding.

"I don't know I'm getting all the love, I guess,"Watson said Saturday, when asked for his reaction to being targeted by anotherrally from opponents.

On Saturday, a weeks-long, cross-country campaign, known as the Save Canada Post Coast to Coast tour, rolled into LaSalle's John Dupuis Park, with organizers taking aim at Watson.

"Jeff Watson is the parliamentary secretary to the minister of transport and as such, he's been very vocal in supporting the cuts at Canada Post,"said Mike Palecek, the national president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

Palecek said the postal union will have visited more than 100 ridings by the time election day arrives. And he said that the people they have been talking to in cities and towns, like LaSalle and like the riding of Essex, are "outraged"by the ongoing cuts to Canada Post.

"The people of this country do not support these cuts," he said. "We can say that with absolute certainty, they were never consulted on it."

'I don't want mailboxes down here'

Ted Squire, rode his bike to the LaSalle rally.

The 70-year-old said that he fears what losing door-to-door delivery will mean tohim as he gets older.

"I don't want mailboxes down here because in 10 years, I might not be able to ride my bike or even walk down here,"he said Saturday. "So I want door-to-door delivery for my mail."

Jeff Carroll, the president of CUPW Local 630, which represents about 450 Canada Post employees, said that his members have been getting an earful from the people on their routes.

"The letter-carriers have to listen to it and it isn't really their fault,"he said.

When the Save Canada Post tour stopped in LaSalle on Saturday, several speakers accused Watson of "hiding" from the postal cutbacks issue during the election.

Watson prepared 'to stand up'

But Watson, who spoke with reporters at a different location, said that he's been quoted at length in the past about problemsat Canada Post.

"Listen, if the unions don't want to stand up for the pensions and the unfunded pension liability of postal workers, I'm prepared to do that. Canada Post has to get its finances in order,"Watson said.

AudreyFesteryga, the Liberal candidate inEssex, said that she is "very concerned"about the end of door-to-door mail in areas that still have it, and how it will affectmany elderly and disabled people.

The Liberals have said they wouldstop the end of door-to-door deliveryand review Canada Post to ensure it is meeting its mandate.

Tracey Ramsey, the New Democrat candidate in Essex, told CBC News that voters should support her party since it has vowed to repeal the cancellation of door-to-door delivery and restore delivery to all communities affected by cuts announced two years ago.

Allegations from Watson

Earlier in the day, Watson held a news conference at LaSalle's Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex to highlight an ad that he said was brought to his attention by"whilstleblowers" and which he said may violateelection financing rules.

"We were provided evidence that one union the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association, Windsor-Essex Occasional Teachers'Unit may be breaking the election finance law,"he said.

Watson said that an ad appeared on a union intranet site describing an opportunity to get paid doing door-to-door canvassing.

He alleged the ad "shows clearly this union's attempt to solicit and pay interested members $17 per hour to conduct election voter identification," for two local NDP campaigns.

Watson said that if this occurred, this could constitute a union donation, which he said is illegal.The Conservative candidate said he had filed a complaint about the matter with the Commissioner for Canada Elections.

Brian Hogan, the president of the local OECTA's secondary unit, said Watson and other Tory candidates are "wasting everybody's time making false allegations."

Hogan said that he'd received a call about the matter involving the ad and he was asked if the union was paying members to work on those campaigns.

"I said: 'Entirely not.'"

Hogan said Saturday that his groupdid tell workers that the NDP "may have some spots to pay," and he noted that campaigns often have both paid workers and volunteer workers.

But Hogan said "the allegation is entirely false."

In a statement, Ramsey, the NDP candidate in Essex, said Watson's allegations were a "distraction" tactic aimed at taking "the focus off Stephen Harper's abysmal record on protecting good jobs here in Essex."

"To be clear, this was a posting for employment with the NDP. We're hiring people here because we believe we can win," Ramsey said."The person who posted this was not requested or authorized by our campaign."