ABOUT THE CANDIDATE
Age: 47
Have you held office in past? If so, please specify: No
Bio: Rajesh is a small business owner, dedicated activist, and active volunteer working to make Cloverdale-Langley City a better place for people.
Running a technology education company, he’s worked hard to create engaging educational opportunities for young people.
Rajesh has always fought for families and workers in our community. He is passionate about supporting workers in our rapidly changing economy with skills training and stable employment.
He believes every family should be able to access the health-care they need and an affordable and safe place to call home.
He has fought for the expansion of rapid transit across the Lower Mainland and led a campaign to diversify the Surrey Libraries’ language offerings. Living in Cloverdale with his wife and son, he is ready to build more inclusive communities where no one is left behind.
Rajesh is ready to fight for you in Ottawa with Jagmeet Singh and the NDP.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RajeshJayaprakashNDP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rajeshjayap
Website: https://rajeshjayaprakash.ndp.ca/
Telephone : 604-767-1900
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ELECTION QUESTIONS:
Each candidate for the Sept. 20, 2021 federal election has been provided with these five (5) questions, along with the following instructions.
To help voters make their choice on election day, the Langley Advance Times is asking local candidates a series of questions on issues of importance.
Each question MUST be answered: yes (Y), no (N), or (D) Don’t Know. This is not meant to make things difficult. But reality is that if you’re in the House you’d have to vote yes, no, or abstain. The bonus is that each candidate can expand on ANY or ALL of our questions with answers of up to 200 words each that will appear online.
Please note, that due to space limitations, only one of your answers will be included in the print edition of the Langley Advance Times on Sept. 16. You get to pick which one. So, you must CLEARLY indicate which expanded answer you want to see published in print. If you don’t specify, we will choose.
NOTE: Rajesh Jayaprakash’s answers were co-submitted with Michael Chang, NDP candidate for Langley-Aldergrove
1. Would you support a federal vehicle tax based on CO2 emissions?
Jayaprakash: “Canadians want to do their part to protect our environment, so we will make it easier to get and use a zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV). As Canada moves towards 100% of all new car sales being zero-emissions by 2035, we will make sure that more of these vehicles are built here in Canada. An NDP government will extend federal incentives for ZEVs and provide a break for working families by waiving the federal sales tax on ZEV purchases, and grow these incentives for made-in-Canada vehicles. To make ZEV use easier for Canadians in all regions, we’ll build out Canada’s charging infrastructure and help people purchasing new or used ZEVs cover the cost of installing a plug-in charger. We will also look at ways to strengthen the low-carbon fuel standard.
Lastly, we will promote smart community planning and active transportation like walking and cycling, helping Canadians make choices that are healthier and more affordable for everyone. And we will work with other levels of government to encourage the use of electric bikes and their safe integration into our active transportation network.”
2. Does your party have a plan to fill the many staff vacancies in the RCMP?
Jayaprakash: “Every Canadian deserves to feel secure in the knowledge that their streets, home, business and community are safe. New Democrats know that building a sense of community safety is not just about the absence of crime – It’s about making sure that everyone matters, that we address the root causes of crime, and that the justice system treats everyone fairly.
Police accountability is an important way to make our communities safer. It’s past time to put in place robust and independent civilian oversight of the RCMP. We’ll launch a review of the RCMP’s budget and the RCMP Act in order to ensure accountability of the RCMP to the public.”
3. Would you support the federal government cancelling the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to fight climate change?
Jayaprakash: “One thing we won’t do is continue down the path that Liberal and Conservative governments have chosen when it comes to spending public money on oil and gas subsidies.
We strongly oppose the purchase and expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. New Democrats know that public funds are best spent supporting the transition to renewable energy, rather than on profitable oil and gas companies.
We will fulfill Canada’s G-20 commitment to eliminate these fossil fuel subsidies and redirect these funds to low carbon initiatives, and make sure that future governments can’t reverse this by putting in place legislation to ban any future oil, gas and pipeline subsidies.”
4. Should Ottawa provide cash incentives to parents for fully vaccinating children, including vaccination against COVID, flu, measles, etc.?
Jayaprakash: “The health and safety of people and communities is something we all must involve ourselves in. That includes having as many people vaccinated as possible. Vaccinations are an important responsibility that falls on everyone so we can keep ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities safe.”
5. Given our inability to make vaccines at the start of the pandemic, should Ottawa double its investment in research, science, and tech startups?
Jayaprakash: “Canada needs to have the capacity to produce vaccines for public health emergencies, a capacity that we lost under Liberal and Conservative governments.
New Democrats will establish a crown corporation charged with domestic vaccine production so that Canadians are never again at the back of the line.
Canada is a leader in innovative health research, a field that is more important than ever.
We will work with universities and health professionals to make sure that public research on critical health issues continues to flourish.
New Democrats will reverse the Liberals’ reckless move to weaken the Global Public Health Intelligence Network, which provides surveillance and early warnings that are critical for managing international public health emergencies like pandemics.”
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Is there more to the story? Email: news@langleyadvancetimes.com
