The North Delta Reporter sent all six candidates running to represent Delta in Parliament five questions submitted by readers to gauge their positions on some of the big issues for voters in the 2021 federal election. Candidates were given a limit of 1,250 words total to answer your questions. Here’s what Green Party candidate Jeremy Smith had to say:
1) Why are you running to be Delta’s MP? Why should voters choose you to be their representative in Parliament?
We need MPs in Ottawa that have real life experience and have realistic goals. I am not looking for a new carrier I am looking to help facilitate meaningful change that will have a lasting positive impact.
The Green Party reflects the hard decisions that we must make and the time in which it needs to be made, and that is now.
2) What are your top priorities if you are elected on Sept. 20?
Indigenous reconciliation and mental health. Society can’t expect people to care about external issues, regardless of how dire they are, if they don’t have the support the need for their own well-being.
Take care of the people and the people will take care of each other.
3) The top issue raised by readers was housing affordability, both for owners and renters. If elected, what will you/your party do to bring down home prices, ensure fair home-buying availability and opportunity for Canadians, and make rents more affordable and commensurate with average wages and overall cost of living?
I would push hard for interest-free loans for homeowners so they can suite their basements or garages.
I would also push to eliminate the red tape that creates overwhelming obstacles to the average homeowner. I hear homeowners saying there are too many obstacles, and the costs are too high.
Zoning also needs to be changed to protect the equity of homeowners in Delta and promote additional affordable homes.
Most properties in the older areas of Delta can be easily subdivided into two or more lots, and this would create smaller, more affordable homes.
4) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently warned that global temperature rise was reaching a “code red” for humanity, and an Angus Reid poll found climate change was the top issue identified by voters in driving their ballot choice this election. How do you/your party plan to address climate change?
) All of us need to listen to the science and follow expert advice, even if it means making tough decisions. We criticize COVID deniers for not listening to the science, and yet the government routinely ignores the science when it comes to environmental issues.
5) Do you support the proposed Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Expansion? Why/why not?
Simple answer, no. Every study I have seen has recommended against it. Even the US EPA has weighed in on this and said the damage it will cause to the local ecosystem would be devastating.
Election day is Monday, Sept. 20.
See how the other candidates answered these questions here.
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