LFK Candidate Primer 2021

Sep 15, 2021

As part of our election coverage, the Frontenac New has published interviews with all six of the candidates in the Lanark Frontenac Kingston riding. Those interviews are available at www.frontenacnews.ca/2021-federal-election.

With the election set for next Monday (September 20) we News contacted each of the candidates over the labour day weekend with a set of questions about some national and some regional issues. The candidates were given the option of submitting written answers or answering the questions over the phone. 4 of the candidates provided written answers to the questions, and the. Liberal candidate Michele Foxton and People Party candidate Florian Bors, phoned in their answers.

The questions and answers are published below. (some of the answers have been shortened for space reasons)

1. How will your party address climate change, within the context of its medium-term economic plans for the country.

Scott Reid – Conservative Party of Canada (incumbent) - We recognize that the most efficient way to reduce our emissions is to use pricing mechanisms.

Low Carbon Savings Accounts (LCSA) help Canadians make greener lifestyle choices, while allowing them to decide what works best for them and their family. This approach to carbon pricing leverages the fact that Canadians want to do the right thing and are better positioned than governments to decide how and where they can personally invest in reducing their carbon footprints. Not one penny of the price on hydrocarbon fuels for Canadians and small businesses will go to the government.

Canada’s Conservatives will introduce a zero-emission vehicle mandate, based on British Columbia’s, requiring 30 per cent of light duty vehicles sold to be zero emissions by 2030.

Michelle Foxton (Liberal Party of Canada) - Climate change initiatives that are already underway under the Liberal government, and those in the Liberal platform, were a major reason for me to seek the party nomination.

With this platform, measurable things are being done to move the needle forward, including: a carbon price, a new initiative for passenger and light vehicles by 2030, incentives like the $5,000 rebate for the purchase of electric vehicles, and investments in battery technology that will also be key to the transformation of our economy. Transportation emissions account for 25% of our emissions, so they need to be addressed.

In the agricultural sector, which is key to our riding, the motto “restore carbon, restore agriculture" captures how the sector is committed to the future. But it cannot be done overnight. The platform also looks at mitigation and adaptation, including, for example, money for flood mapping and other measures.

Steve Garrison (New Democratic Party) - We have a plan for climate action that will cut emissions by more than half and meet the targets that scientists say are necessary to address climate change. We will create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs that will be a win-win for workers and the environment. These jobs will be related to clean energy, retrofitting buildings, building energy-efficient affordable homes, electric transit, and the production of zero-emissions vehicles and related services.

Calvin Neufeld (Green Party of Canada) - The Green Party of Canada has the boldest, clearest, and most uncompromising platform for addressing climate change. We will achieve net zero emissions as quickly as possible, end all extraction of fossil fuels, accelerate the increase in carbon taxes, improve waste management and circularity, develop a national renewable energy electricity grid, and support a just transition for workers. These ingredients are essential to securing a green future which is also the greatest economic opportunity in generations.

Florian Bors (Peoples Party of Canada) - The People Party Get would get rid of the carbon tax and make practical changes instead. One example is to give all Canadians clean drinking water. I don’t believe the carbon tax is addressing our admissions. We are looking at other ways of controlling our emissions and protecting the environment.

Blake Hamilton (Rhinoceros Party) - Scientists predict that in the next 20 years, global climate change will threaten the very existence of humanity itself. We can do better! A Rhinoceros Government promises to make it happen in 10 years! We will also use global warming to Canada's advantage, making the country more temperate, shortening winters, and thus create a new thriving agriculture industry in our northern territories. In the meantime, green cars are not available in sufficient numbers in Canada. This is why a Rhinoceros Government will force car manufacturers to build more green cars: forest green, pale green, khaki green and neon green.

2. How will your party address housing issues over the next 4 years.

Michelle Foxton - One of the Liberal Party initiatives is the rapid housing initiative. We can see a benefit from that in our area. We also have initiatives to build, repair and upgrade 1.4 million houses. It is a shame to see seniors have to go to Kingston or Ottawa. We need to invest in senior's housing, creating jobs at the same time. Government can’t do everything, but one thing the government has done is put a stop to blind bidding. The platform also includes a freeze on foreign ownership.

Steve Garrison - We will implement a 20% Foreign Buyers Tax to prevent foreign speculators from driving up housing prices throughout the country. We will also fund the building of 500,000 new units of affordable housing, focusing on the co-op and not-for-profit sector. We will make life more affordable for Canadians by providing universal dental care and pharmacare programs which will help people with housing costs. We will pay for these programs that Canadians need with a wealth tax on the ultra-rich who have assets of $10 million or more. This will generate approximately $10 billion dollars in new revenue per year.

Calvin Neufeld - It’s one thing to talk about affordable housing, it’s another thing to be close to it on a personal level. I know many queer and trans people, including youth, who have known homelessness and the struggle to find safe, secure and affordable housing. Same with my work in prisoner justice advocacy. People spilling out of poverty, out of prejudice, out of prisons.

The Green Party of Canada will declare housing affordability and homelessness a national emergency. We will maintain a moratorium on evictions until the pandemic is over and for a reasonable time thereafter. We will create national standards to establish rent controls, increase access to housing for people with disabilities, limit foreign investment, end predatory practices in real estate, and appoint a Minister of Housing.

Florian Bors - I would make it my priority to learn as much as I can about this issue. It is important for all of us.

Blake Hamilton - Housing is the number one priority of the Rhinoceros Party, we will take immediate and concrete steps to address the current crisis, as well as promote sustainable solutions over the long term. We will not only ban the practice of blind bidding on properties, but also deaf and dumb bidding.

Scott Reid - Canada’s Recovery Plan will make homes more affordable - for owners as well as renters As part of our plan, we will: build one million homes in the next three years, review the extensive real estate portfolio of the federal government and release at least 15% of the 37,000 building that are government owned for homes, build more homes near publicly funded transit, make it easier for more families to get a mortgage, ban foreign investors from buying homes here if they are not planning to move to Canada, encourage foreign investment in affordable purpose-built rental housing for Canadians, and address the soaring cost of renting a home by partnering with municipalities and the private sector to bring new rental units into the market

3. Over which issues can the government have a direct impact in this riding?

Steve Garrison - We need to create the conditions and incentives that will allow farming to remain a sustainable enterprise. We need to change tax laws to make it easier for farmers to pass down family farms. We can promote and encourage local food hubs that will be served by local farmers. We need to work with Canada Post to introduce postal banking in rural communities that lack banking services, and we need to ensure that government services remain in small communities.

Calvin Neufeld - The measure of impact depends on the level of personal commitment from our elected MP. I have given over fifteen years of service to this community. In my twenties, I worked for Rainbow Health Ontario improving local rural access to LGBTQ health care. For ten years I have spoken to schools and community groups about diversity, bullying, and mental health. For five years I have investigated, exposed, and frustrated the Liberal government’s efforts to establish a factory farm at Joyceville Institution.

Florian Bors - I am opposed to the vaccine passport and would work with others to protect the rights of people in this riding against the passport.

Blake Hamilton - More help from Ottawa supporting agriculture would have a direct and positive impact on our residents. To that end, a Rhinoceros Government will legalize and actively encourage all forms of genetic modification, as well as the unrestrained use of growth hormones, in order to substantially increase our crop yields.

Scott Reid - The recovery of service industries / hospitality / from the COVID-induced shutdown of the economy is a local issue. Appropriate incentives can assist with the labour shortage that is such an issue right now. Respect for property rights in real estate & land Housing prices are an issue. The pressure to drive the prices upwards comes from the top of the market (urbanites resettling in the communities of small towns near large cities, or on their cottage properties, which they transform into year-round residences.) But the issue of affordability gets pushed down the entire supply chain, and makes things particularly hard for those who are at the bottom of the rental market and who are first-time buyers.

Michelle Foxton - There are a lot of measures that will help the riding, throughout the Liberal platform. Infrastructure investments in housing is one, and support for tourism is another, Paying up to 75% of wages during COVID has been important in our riding. The key, and this has been missing for 20 years in this riding, is having an MP who is committed and present in every part of the riding to help people access government programs, and to help groups and municipalities access grants and other supports.

4A and 4B. Is there a direct role for the federal government to play in the abattoir and the rural internet and cell service issues

Calvin Neufeld - 4A Abattoirs are a provincial issue. Abattoirs were crippled by COVID outbreaks. Farmers are now booking the slaughter of animals two generations before they’re even born, and many animals are being culled because backlogged abattoirs can’t kill animals fast enough. The solution is not to pour more money into these environmentally (and mentally) taxing industries, but rather to support farmers in the necessary transition to more sustainable and rewarding forms of farming as we build our greener future.

4B A Green government will establish a universal broadband strategy to give Canadians across the country and in remote areas access to reliable internet.

Florian Bors - 4A Broadband internet and cell service is a huge, long term issue, having high speed internet is critical essential get that across the riding. Cell phone reception in this riding is terrible and needs to be improved. We have to expand the infrastructure put some funds where they count. The government seems to be dumping more money into the situation, giving companies money to do it and nothing happens.

4B I am not fully aware of the abattoir issue in this riding. If elected I will look into the issue in depth and see what can be done for it.

Blake Hamilton - 4A The Rhinoceros Party has vowed to nationalize bacon. Similarly, we could expand upon that promise to include steak and hamburgers as well. This would thereby place both pork and beef under the exclusive purview of the federal government, which would in turn allow us to directly fund and oversee the construction of new abattoirs to process them. This would alleviate the chronic shortage of these facilities here in LFK accordingly.

4B It would be sufficient for Ottawa to only provide funding support to Queen's Park in their efforts to address rural broadband Internet service issues. We also support the allocation of extra federal funds to develop and deploy an emergency backup network of tin cans connected by strings.

Scott Reid - 4A Only federally-regulated abattoirs can provide beef (and other) producers the ability to sell their product across provincial boundaries and into other countries. Provincially-regulated abattoirs produce product that can only be sold in Ontario. So of course the answer is an emphatic 'Yes!'

4B The federal government needs to correct how Canada auctions off its spectrum. - We need to allow more open competition. Auctions are currently structured to freeze out both ends of the size spectrum: local enterprises with local knowledge, and giant international companies with vast capitalizations. The beneficiaries of this restriction on competition are our dominant duopoly of service providers, and consumers are the losers. We need to stop trying to turn spectrums of auction into a cash cow. When the price to purchase spectrum is driven up and the revenues go into government coffers, the telecoms have to make back their money in the form of higher prices. Instead, the spectrum should be sold cheaply - but with service-provision targets as the de facto price paid. Bids would be measured in terms of the promised service level, not in terms of the dollars going to the federal treasury. The geographic areas which are auctioned off should be smaller, so that providers have an incentive to focus on servicing lightly-populated areas.

Michelle Foxton - 4A The Liberal platform has $292.5 million in a processing investment funds. LFK is desperate to have these processors. Farmers are discouraged, and we have to work together. As MP, I would engage with our municipalities to help them play a role, and make sure that our riding is in a position to receive the support. We cannot afford to ignore this because it is making it very hard for farmers to make ends meet.

4B Making sure we have accessibility and making sure it is affordable is a worrisome issue in our riding. It involves understanding the very specific realities on the ground everywhere in the riding. That to me is where we’ve got to start. We need to ask if the CRTC is working effectively, we need to make sure the public’s interest is being served I do believe there is a role for federal government, and the provincial and municipal governments as well.

Steve Garrison - 4A Yes, many farmers are struggling to find timely access to abattoirs. The federal government needs to work with the farming industry to help current abattoirs expand or allow new ones to be built.

4B Absolutely, there is a role! In the 21st century, it is inconceivable that parts of the riding, let alone the country, have such poor broadband access and service. An NDP government will act immediately to deliver high-speed broadband to all rural areas, as well as reliable cell phone service. We will also impose price caps on Internet and cell service.

5. What aspect of your skills and/or life experience will make you an effective MP?

Florian Bors - Ever since I was a teen I had a passion for public service. I spent 1000 hours as a volunteers in the St. John’s ambulance brigade, and another 1000 more hours for various church groups, all about giving to the community. I have a family with 5 kids, and I want them to live in a good country. I want to bring back freedom to the people in this riding and this country, freedom that has been lost for this past 18 months. We need to repeal all vaccine mandates, and support legal and responsible gun owners, and support our gas industries.

Blake Hamilton - Having spent the majority of my professional life thus far working in both customer service and technical support roles, I would be eminently suited to the main function of an MP: hearing and responding to the grievances of my constituents. As a member of the Rhinoceros Party in particular, I would do so with great empathy and good humour. All joking aside, my candidacy is a statement in and of itself: to decry the sheer absurdity of our current system. A system that is horribly broken, hobbled by excessive partisan posturing and self interest. Not to mention dysfunctional due to the inherent structural flaws in our electoral process as well. So help me send a clear message to all the clowns in the House -- better to vote for us real jokers than it is to vote for them. Because humour is always better than anger or apathy.

Scott Reid - I'm a known quantity. I've represented Frontenac in the Commons since 2004. So one thing I bring to the table is oodles of experience. Also, voters know that I have a keen interest in the concerns of rural and small-town communities, which tend to be overlooked both in provincial politics (which is very GTA-centered) and federal politics (which focusses on the interests and issues of the urban agglomerations which hold the majority of Canada's population).

I plan to continue focussing on the issues that I think are important to residents of rural communities like ours, such as: the constant erosion, via regulations and zoning, of property rights without adequate (or any) compensation. I will continue to vote as instructed by my constituents (not by my party Whip) on issues of conscience, because your consciences are just as good as those of the party leaders.

Michelle Foxton - My experiences from practicing law for 20 years have given me insight, and working as a part-time crown attorney has brought me a stronger perspective about mental health issues, which is important for my candidacy.

I also have municipal council experience which helps me to understand that politics is about the options for action at all levels of government and the role a councillor, or an MP, can play.

What I'm hoping people will think about when voting is whether they want to continue to do continuing doing things in the same way in this riding. People are starving for engagement. We've started an outreach program in my campaign, contacting lake associations, chambers of commerce, municipal councils. I have been working throughout the writ period and well before that to show people that I am approachable and that I am willing to listen. That's what I will continue do four four years if elected.

Steve Garrison - I have been a teacher for 24 years, so I have experience working with and caring for young people and their families. I am fully aware of the challenges families face today and what we need to do to address them. As a father of 3, I know how expensive it is to raise a family, and I am very concerned about the climate crisis we are in that will have a huge impact on our grandchildren if we don’t act now. I have been active in my community for over 20 years; engaged in fundraising and serving on committees and councils, including 10 years as a municipal councillor. The residents of Lanark-Frontenac- Kingston deserve a member of parliament who will actively engage with people in all parts of the riding and be a strong voice for them in Ottawa.

Calvin Neufeld - My roots stretch wide across this riding. I’ve lived in Sydenham, Yarker, Godfrey, and Perth. After years of speaking to thousands of students, educators, and health care workers, I know your stories. I have supported parents struggling to understand, accept and celebrate their queer or trans child. I have empowered queer and questioning youth, many of whom would be adults now, whose rocky paths were softened as I shared my own journey. I have provided training to health units and parole offices, volunteered on local farms, and played music in elementary schools and retirement residences. Through Evolve Our Prison Farms, I have worked with MPs and Senators, academics and activists. This is why I believe I would be a good representative of Lanark- Frontenac-Kingston. I relate to all people, from prisoners to politicians, Kindergarteners to seniors, farmers to famous folk, and I’m a dedicated changemaker motivated by a politics of truth, integrity, and possibility.