Tonight’s Your Turn was about trust. With a recent Leger Marketing poll saying that 89 per cent of Quebecers don’t believe election promises, we had to ask our viewers, if they don’t believe, how do they decide who to vote for?

We invited Kevin Gaudet, Ontario Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation to talk with our guest host Mark Kelley.

About how the promises are a factor in elections, Kevin said they factor into awareness, but can have little meaning coming from parties who will never be in power. At the same time, they can serve to elevate issues to the national agenda.

We took a look at where the party leaders were making promises today: Stephen Harper was on the defensive over remarks made by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and announced that the government would offer additional tax breaks to seniors. Jack Layton
also appealed to seniors with an expanded home care plan. Stephane Dion introduced a new Liberal plan for infrastructure, promising to spend $70 billion over the next 10 years.

Mail call

We had great e-mails, calls and Skypes. Paul from Quebec called to say he believes in the Bloc’s contribution to the national scene. Jessie, a volunteer for the Conservative party said election promises are often glorified intentions, which once elected are the responsibility of the party to adapt to the times and conditions.

Joining us by webcam: Sean from London said that election promises are a political reality, which once a party is elected, can become more like fantasy. That said, he noted, they’re better than attack ads in terms of setting policy targets. Noah from Victoria felt he wouldn’t let most politicians into his house (which from what we could see looked lovely) for their deceit. Suhana even Skyped in from North Bay, Ont. and after some technical difficulty got on the phone for the audio, and stayed on camera for the video. "Belt and suspenders," as Mark said!

A couple other e-mails we wanted to share but ran out of time:

Canadian voters who voted for the Liberal’s throughout the 90s set the standard for politicians. After Jean Chrétien promised to scrap the GST and didn’t, he should have been voted completely out of politics to send the message that Canadians want honesty.
— Milton Campbell, Sherwood Park, Alta.

The promises of politicians are obviously an indication of the policy, goals, and indicate the intensions of our politicians. But perhaps we are to blame as much as politicians for the way campaigns are carried out. We generally reward those who seem absolutely certain about their ability to deliver.
— John Banks, N.B.

Some parties such as the NDP can make extravagant promises because they know that since they have a very slight chance of forming the next government in this election, they will not have to actually go through with their election promises.
— Cathy

Be sure to watch for Mark’s election town hall specials on CBC Newsworld on September 30 and October 8 when he has high profile candidates take questions from the invited audience. The first is focused on the economy, with an audience of voters who work in sales and marketing, and the second, an environmental debate in front of an audience with big carbon footprints.