PALMERSTON – The Minto, Mount Forest, Arthur and Mapleton Chambers of Commerce co-hosted a “Meet the Candidates” event on April 14 at the Norgan Theatre.
It was the second of three Perth-Wellington candidates’ events ahead of the April 28 federal election.
The first was held in Listowel on April 8, and another was hosted in Stratford on April 15.
The event was attended by all four candidates: Wayne Baker of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC), Kevin Kruchkywich of the New Democratic Party (NDP), David Mackey of the Liberal Party and incumbent John Nater of the Conservative Party.
Main topics at the event included the cost of living, national debt, foreign affairs, immigration and climate change.
Opening statements
To start off the two-hour meeting, each candidate had two minutes to give opening statements.
Kruchkywich emphasized the Canadian values of fairness, inclusivity and community, and outlined NDP policies on health care, dental care, pharmacare and pensions.
Mackey discussed the current “chaos” in the political environment and the need for competent politicians.
Nater thanked the chambers of commerce and emphasized his commitment to community and advocacy for small businesses.
Baker outlined his beliefs in the sovereignty of God, treasuring the nuclear family, and the importance of justice, accountability and respect for citizens’ liberties.
Cost of living
A question was raised on what each party proposes to do about the increasing cost of living, and how it will help the average lower-income Canadian.
Kruchkywich explained the NDP proposes a tax cut for working families.
“We want to raise the basic tax exemption to $18,500 … which puts about $505 on average back into your pocket,” he shared.
The NDP also plans to remove the GST on essentials such as the internet, heating, diapers and other items.
Mackey stated the Liberals have child care, dental care and pharmacare programs and “gas prices are down.”
But, he added, “we need to do more.”
He informed the crowd Prime Minister Mark Carney has a plan to double the pace of construction of housing to nearly 500,000 homes per year.
“That’s the most since World War Two. We have to take this seriously,” said Mackey.
“We have to make sure that the cost of living for average people meets the needs with the jobs that they have.”
The Conservatives, however, have a plan to first cut the lowest bracket of the income tax by 15 per cent.
“We need to get rid of the carbon tax and the industrial carbon tax for good, for everyone – not a temporary pause which is the case right now. Let’s get rid of it for good,” said Nater.
He added there are also plans to increase by $10,000 the amount that seniors can earn tax-free, and the Conservatives want to “change the rules” so seniors get to keep their RRSPs for another two years before having to transfer them out.
Baker explained that for the PPC, the biggest problem Canada is facing now is inflation, which is driving up the cost of living.
He said the PPC proposes 0% inflation in the first year of their mandate.
“We need to stop inflation. We need to reassert the value of our dollar,” he stated.
National debt
Canada’s national debt has risen from $600 billion in 2015 to “well over a trillion dollars,” stated another questioner, adding the figure is more than all previous governments combined.
Candidates were asked how their party plans to address the national debt.
“I’m going to use one word, and the word is balance,” Mackey said.
“We have income, revenue and then we have spending. We need to have the balance right. We need to be taxing the right people at the right levels.
“We need to be growing the economy, to increase what we can spend on important social programs.”
Nater explained Canada is currently paying over $50 billion every year in debt servicing charges.
“That is more than the federal government spends each year on health care,” he emphasized.
The Conservatives have also now committed to a “dollar-for-dollar” law, he added, meaning every new dollar it proposes to spend will also come with the equivalent dollar of savings.
Baker said, “We are a resource rich country, and we need to exploit our resources to bring the debt under control.
“The previous government had 10 years to bring pipelines to each shoreline, and we could be servicing our debt off the sale of our resources …”
In response to statements about cuts, balance and investment, Kruchkywich said “that’s basic math” and it “doesn’t add up.”
He added, “to balance the budget, we’d have to pull about $43 billion out of Canada. I don’t know where that comes from.
“We (the NDP) believe that these are dire times right now, and what we need to do is invest in our own infrastructure.”
The NDP wants to remove $18 billion in subsidies to oil and gas companies, and invest it in a clean economy, training workers and building homes.
“Then we can start looking at cutting, then we can start looking at balancing,” Kruchkywich said.
“But the idea right now to be austere or to privatize so we can pay for something later is not something that the NDP believes in.”
Immigration
Immigration, and how it correlates with housing and jobs was also addressed.
Candidates were asked about their party’s general stance is on immigration.
Kruchkywich stated Canada has strong and fair immigration laws and policies and the NDP is in support of a multicultural society.
However, he mentioned the local region is “sorely lacking” in skilled workers.
Mackey told the crowd Canada is “very fortunate” to have many people around the world wanting to come here for many different reasons.
“We are attracting great talent. This is good for a country with an aging population,” he said.
“We have to have immigration coming in if we want to support the economic growth that will pay for the services that we want.”
However, Mackey added there must be limits so Canada does not affect domestic issues such as housing affordability.
“Unrestrained immigration does not work. It causes our resources and their infrastructure to be overused,” he said.
Nater said it needs to be ensured that immigration numbers are linked to what’s available for resources in Canada – first and foremost, housing.
“If we do not have adequate housing, then why are we bringing in people … it’s not fair to them. It’s not fair to communities,” said Nater.
He later added he is “absolutely disgusted” the current Liberal government cancelled funding to Wellington County for immigration services.
“It was an amazing project here in Wellington County that served this community well for many years, and then earlier this year, the Liberal government cancelled that funding … I think that’s unfortunate, and completely wrong,” he said.
Baker said the PPC proposes a moratorium on immigration until the housing situation is “in order.”
“Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen a 30% increase in our population without the adequate housing infrastructure, the education infrastructure, health care infrastructure,” he said.
(This is inaccurate. According to Statistics Canada figures, the population of Canada has actually grown about 16% between 2015 and 2025).
“So we need to stop immigration. We need to stop it until we can at least look after the people that are already here, and then gradually increase the immigration.”
Foreign affairs
One of the most-discussed topics at the meeting was foreign affairs, with questions focused on how each party would reduce Canada’s dependency on the U.S.
Nater explained Canada needs to be its own biggest trading partner. This means getting rid of interprovincial trade barriers .
Nater said having the federal government eliminate all internal trade barriers is the first step.
The second would be implementing a Conservative proposal to provide incentives to any province that reduces barriers on its own.
Kruchkywich said the NDP also wants to remove interprovincial trade barriers and negotiations for that need to begin.
The NDP and Liberal parties also share a combined interest in looking into foreign markets and trading with countries in the EU, as well as countries west of Canada such as Japan, Australia and South Korea.
Candidates were asked about their party’s stance on conflicts such as Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine.
“We need to get our own affairs in order before we interfere with other affairs …” said Baker.
“We need to maintain our role as peacekeepers and not as war mongers.”
Kruchkywich said Canada needs to be “very much involved,” noting, “We can’t turn a blind eye to these things that are happening.”
He said the NDP believes in continued support to Ukraine in any way possible.
On the Israel-Palestine conflict, he said “that’s become a humanitarian case. The Conservatives proposed to cut all foreign aid to close doors and shut our eyes to what’s going on.
“The NDP does not believe that we can do that to a people who are being wiped off the face of the Earth systematically.”
Mackey noted Baker brought up something “very important” when he pointed out that Canada is a nation of peacekeepers.
However, he said the global situation is “more unstable than it has been in the last many decades, so we actually have to be investing in security.”
Meeting the NATO goal of 2% of GDP for military spending is also something the Liberal Party, and the other parties, say needs to be done.
“We have to deal with new threats in the Arctic,” Mackey stated. “So it actually makes sense to spend money on ship building and putting money into our Navy with Canadian manufacturers, with Canadian ship building and Canadian technology.
“We also need to modernize the army by investing in drones.”
Nater said he wears a “badge of honour” in being banned from Russia.
“Russia has sanctioned me because of my condemnation of Russia’s illegal, unjust and unprovoked attack on Ukraine,” he said.
“It was inspiring for me to be sanctioned, but also to hear of the Ukrainian people, of their defence of their very existence.”
He added the conflict is a reminder that Canada is an Arctic nation and “what the Conservative Party plans to do is reinvest in our north, to reinvest in our Arctic sovereignty.”
Nater noted his party wants to double the size of Canadian Rangers (part of the Canadian Army Reserve, providing a military presence in remote, northern, coastal and isolated regions).
It is also proposing two new icebreakers for the Canadian Navy, in addition to two for the Coast Guard, which will be delivered by 2029.
Nater concluded, “We need a permanent Arctic base, the first one since the Cold War.”
Climate change
Candidates were asked their party’s stance on environmental concerns such as carbon footprints, global warming, fracking, pipelines, fossil fuels and other issues.
Baker offered the opinion that “this whole communication about global warming is false. It’s a false narrative” – a response that drew boos from many in the audience.
Kruchkywich said the NDP wants to cut subsidies to the oil and gas industry.
“Do we still need it? Yes. Do we need to reinvest and increase it? No. We need to invest in a green economy,” he said.
“We need to invest in new forms of energy, and we need to be working with our farmers who are way ahead of the curve.”
Mackey emphasized that climate change is real, and it needs to be addressed in a way that everyone can deal with it.
“We need to improve carbon credits for large polluters. We need to add incentives for small polluters to decrease the carbon footprint and give more options,” he said.
Nater told the crowd the riding is “leading the way in so many things.”
He highlighted Wellington County’s Green Legacy Program, the largest tree planting program in North America.
“I was there at the Wellington County Museum when they planted their three millionth tree. They are leading the way,” he said.
“And when the federal government comes in and says ‘we’re going to plant two billion trees?’
“Well, they should take their lessons from Wellington County.”
Nater concluded, “Let’s invest in clean technology, through the clean tech and clean manufacture investment tax credit, using those programs to make sure that manufacturers’, [and] agriculture are recognized right here in Perth-Wellington on the ground.”
Voting information
To view the entire debate visit youtube.com/watch?v=hvq6cCMMgXY.
The federal election will take place on April 28.
Advanced polling stations close April 21, and the deadline to apply to vote by mail is April 22.
For more information on how and where to vote, visit elections.ca.
