A split household in Napanee, Ont.
Hi, I’m Evan Mitsui, a photojournalist with CBC.
Gayle Furr, 65 and Robin Lee Alkenbrack, 63, are a semi-retired couple in Napanee, Ont. We connected on a story about food insecurity and have stayed in touch. They’re a split household when it comes to politics — Robin trending Conservative and Gayle NDP/Liberal — and, when we spoke on Sunday on my drive to Ottawa, they predicted the outcome we are seeing play out today.
The incumbent in their riding, Conservative Shelby Kramp-Newman, is projected to win for the third time. Robin (who has voted Conservative his whole life save for that one time he sided with Bob Rae) voted early and for Kramp-Newman.
Gayle, who likes Kramp-Newman and had a lengthy chat with her in their living room, voted for Liberal Tracey Sweeney Schenk because she couldn’t get behind Poilievre. Both Gayle and Robin agree that the Conservative leader, who is projected to lose his seat, needs to step aside so the party can return to a more centrist place under new leadership.
The couple have medical bills and, after groceries and gas, have to supplement their pension and disability earnings by driving cab and doing clerical work. They heat with propane and have a septic system — and they cite the carbon tax as the single biggest worry they have heading into this fourth Liberal government.
“If [the carbon tax] comes back in any form,” Gayle said, they’re in trouble. They both agree that Trump, and how the Carney government handles the trade war, will be the defining issue of these initial days.
