ARICHAT - Widely seen as the two front-runners in the race for the federal riding of Cape Breton-Canso, Liberal incumbent Mike Kelloway and Conservative candidate Fiona MacLeod are offering differing backgrounds and approaches with one common thread: they have each seen first-hand the governing style of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party. 

In an interview with Telile Community Television's Becky Bourinot at the station's Arichat studios, Kelloway insisted that he and the people of Cape Breton-Canso have achieved great things together, partly because he sees his role as a non-cabinet MP as far more than ceremonial. 

"This is not just about cutting a ribbon - anybody can cut a ribbon," Kelloway declared. "I want to be in the foxholes at the very beginning of finding solutions to problems, finding opportunities that we can accentuate - that's what I want to do."

Shortly after his first election victory in October 2019, the former Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) executive was named to the House of Commons Standing Committees on Health and Justice. Today, Kelloway feels the former committee helped him develop a safe yet proactive approach to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the latter committee enabled him to work on behalf of such underrepresented communities as his LGBTQIA constituents and the three Mi'kmaq communities in his riding, which takes in the counties of Inverness and Richmond, portions of Guysborough and Antigonish Counties, and such areas as Sydney River, Glace Bay and Dominion within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. 

Conversely, MacLeod has served for a combined 32 years in the federal public service and civil service in Ottawa, often working hand-in-hand with Members of Parliament and cabinet ministers of different political stripes. 

Her most recent six years in this vein coincided with the election of a Liberal government under Justin Trudeau, which included the assignment of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and similar regional development agencies to an Ontario MP, Navdeep Bains, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry in Trudeau's government for the past six years. 

MacLeod feels this action is an example of the current federal government's inequity when it comes to dealing with Atlantic Canadian issues, and she is hoping the voters of Cape Breton-Canso trust her and the CPC under leader Erin O'Toole to finally address such longstanding issues as federal health care funding, spotty cell phone and internet coverage throughout the riding, and development of various sectors of the local economy, including the Atlantic fisheries. 

Along with MacLeod and Kelloway, voters in Cape Breton-Canso can also choose to vote for NDP candidate Jana Reddick or People's Party of Canada candidate Brad Grandy. Reddick was featured on last week's TELILE 24/7 Podcast, while Grandy has declined media interviews regarding his candidacy.