What will you do specifically for rural communities?
Rural communities are an integral part of our province. Making sure farms and small communities are prosperous is important. The People’s Party government will create a free, open and fair system that will save Canadians billions of dollars, thanks to the lower prices they will pay for these products, phase out the supply management system over a number of years to allow farmers to adapt, and compensate them for the lost value of their quotas. We will allow Canada’s dairy, egg and poultry farmers to thrive and sell their products internationally.
How do you plan to prepare our rural communities for future wildfires, flooding and other natural disasters?
The disaster response to these tragedies was extremely mismanaged at the provincial level. I will work with provincial and local governments to investigate, collaborate and restructure the response policies to ensure that they are proactive instead of reactive.
How will you ensure health care specialists are available locally to rural residents?
Health care is under the jurisdiction of the provinces. The policies of the Canada Health Act have to be met by the provinces in exchange for transfer payments. PPC will replace the transfer payments with the permanent transfer of tax points of equivalent value to the provinces and territories. We will establish temporary programs to compensate provinces whose revenue from the tax will be lower than the payments. We will create conditions for provincial governments to innovate and be fully responsible for the management of health care. I will work with the province to ensure this helps with better service to rural communities.
How will you address issues with childcare in rural areas?
Childcare is under the jurisdiction of the provincial government. We will again have to work collaboratively to look at how we can allot funding and assistance to the rural areas.
How will you ensure affordable housing in rural communities, especially for seniors and those on fixed incomes?
The inflation in the housing market is something we can tackle. This can be reduced by lowering the immigration quotas from 400,000 per year to 100,000-150,000 a year, reducing the demand for housing. We will modify the bank of Canada’s inflation target from 2-0 per cent, which will cool down inflation in the housing market. I will be looking at the National Housing strategy to see where we need to make changes. The current government is spending close to half of the promised money on interest and unpaid debt. We need to get that funding to the people and help create more affordable housing.
What do you intend to do to get people back to work during and after COVID-19?
The PPC plans to stop all mandates and lockdown measures imposed during the pandemic. We plan to put efforts on focused protection for the vulnerable and support medical research and development of therapies to treat COVID-19 and other diseases. To stimulate the economy we will stop all corporate bailouts. We will reduce the corporate taxes over time from 15 per cent to 10 per cent, allowing $9.5 billion to become available to businesses. We will also gradually abolish the personal capital gains tax.
What commitments will you make to addressing climate change locally and nation wide?
I will only go to Ottawa when absolutely necessary to reduce my own personal contribution of pollution to the environment. We will withdraw from the Paris accord, stop sending billions to other countries, abolish the carbon tax and leave it to the provinces to adopt programs to reduce emissions. We will invest in adaptation strategies if problems arise from climate change and prioritize implementing practical solutions to protect our air, water, soil and bring clean drinking water to the remote First Nations communities.
How will you address Truth and Reconciliation with First Nations?
The People’s party will explore options to replace the paternalistic Indian Act with a new legal framework that guarantees equal rights and responsibilities to indigenous people as Canadians, and promotes self-reliance of communities. We will respect the constitution and treaties. The People’s party will ensure that indigenous communities take more ownership of the services they receive in partnership with Ottawa and other levels of government.
In the North Thompson, what are your plans regarding bringing natural gas into the corridor?
I would take the needs of the people in the corridor to the head of the province and work to improve the infrastructure in the remote parts of my riding. We have the ability and the technology to bring natural gas to these communities. The collaboration with all levels of government will be at the forefront of my job to make sure everyone’s needs are met.
What will you do to remove inter-provincial trade ticketing barriers?
The People’s Party recognizes the hindrances this causes for the economy, the suppliers and the consumers. We would take back the federal authority on internal trade. We will use section 91(2) of the constitution to regulate matters of international and interprovincial trade. We will appoint a Minister of Internal Trade whose sole responsibility will be to conduct studies, raise public awareness, counter the influence of special interests groups that benefit from the barriers and put pressure on the provinces to be rid of them.
