Plans to address the unregulated toxic drug supply, seniors' pensions and climate change were among the topics posed to candidates at an election candidates' town hall forum at VIU.
Four out of five of the Nanaimo-Ladysmith candidates were in attendance at VIU's Malaspina Theatre on Tuesday, April 22, including Lisa Marie Barron with the NDP, Paul Manly with the Greens, Michelle Corfield with the Liberals and Stephen Welton with the People's Party of Canada. The Conservative Party's Tamara Kronis was invited but did not attend.
Three audience questions were given to the group at a time, allowing each candidate to answer any or all within a time limit.
The first three revolved around protecting seniors' pensions, plans to ensure candidate signage isn't placed near polling stations and if regional interests are being adequately addressed at the federal level.
Corfield, Barron and Welton focused their answers on pensions. Corfield noted that pension increases are guaranteed in law and drew attention to the work the Liberal Party did in the last term including the universal dental plan; Barron supported a national strategy toward protecting and increasing pensions, as well as grocery affordability through price caps and banning corporations from buying homes as investment property; and Welton blamed inflation as the cause of unaffordability for seniors and said it "would be a lot easier to control inflation than come up with more money for pensions" through government program cuts.
Manly tackled all three questions, saying he ensures his team has the proper distance measured at polling stations for signage, supports senate reform with senators elected rather than appointed, and that reform should also be put into how judges are selected to separate them from the political process. In terms of pensions, he advocated for more protections for workers' pensions when companies go bankrupt, and added that the federal government should commit to regular "check-ups" on pensions to ensure they are being indexed and paid out properly. He also condemned foreign ownership of long-term care facilities for profit.
The next three questions were around medical cannabis, plans to address the unregulated toxic drug supply and participation in the Paris Agreement to limit global warming.
Corfield focused on medical cannabis, stating she was on the board of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia when the guidelines were first drafted for medicinal cannabis, but it is not perfect and could be better. Welton said he is a supporter of plant-based medicine and the PPC does take a "harder line" on illicit substances and would re-criminalize hard drugs, but focused much of his answer on the Paris Accords, calling human-made climate change a "hypothesis" and even if it were true, Canada going to net zero wouldn't make a difference.
Manly supported natural medicine, including cannabis, and supported the safe supply of well-regulated fentanyl patches. In terms of climate change, he supported efforts to address it, drawing attention to wildfires, floods and the 2021 heat dome, and the rising cost of food, taxes and insurance due to the natural disasters.
Barron supported ensuring access to medical cannabis, and in terms of the toxic drug supply crisis, drew attention to Moms Stop the Harm, saying that they are the groups the government should be listening to along with public health experts in the field on strategies to address the crisis. This includes more available beds for treatment, and wraparound supports such as on-demand treatment or mental health counselling. She also supported increasing the number of border officers to prevent the import of illicit substances.
The following three questions involved strategies to support vulnerable populations including those experiencing homelessness as well as missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, potentially representing constituents without official party status, and Bill C-295, which would have made it a criminal offence for long-term care facilities, their owners and their managers to fail to provide necessities of life to residents.
Manly drew attention to his previous time as an MP and the motions as well as private member's bills he put forward, despite the Green Party not having official party status. If elected, Manly said he would continue to do so, and work across party lines and be respectful, that he opposed the hyper-partisan view of Parliament. Manly mentioned that while MP he voted in favour of bills focused on addressing missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls including public transportation on the infamous Highway 16. In terms of Bill C-295, he said he was "sure" it would be brought back, and would work with other parties to do so. Welton said this election, for the PPC, it is about building the party, and will build it to the point they can make "real change" and step away from Liberal leadership.
Barron supported Bill C-295 being brought back, and drew attention to the difficulty it would take to govern without party status while there is "so much at stake" in a trade war with the U.S. Corfield said that the sovereignty of Canada is threatened but she feels the Liberal Party will be elected and she will be on the "front-line team with Mark Carney" tackling the tariff issues. In terms of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, she drew attention to her time as vice-president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council where she advocated for missing and murdered women and girls.
The next topics were on electoral reform, navigating a potential minority government, and innovation and technology.
Barron supported ending the first-past-the-post electoral system, in which people vote for single party in a riding and the one with the most votes out of the others wins the riding, saying that it has caused a situation in which people are voting for keeping out who they want to not represent them, rather than who they actually want. In terms of working with other parties as a minority government, Barron drew attention to her party's confidence and supply agreement with the Liberals that she said led to pharmacare, $10-a-day childcare and covered dental care.
Corfield focused on regional growth and the local forestry sector, cutting permit delays, prioritizing Indigenous or value-added bids in public projects and launching a reconciliation fund for Indigenous led forestry or exports. She also talked about ferries as an essential service. Manly argued that if the New Democrats wanted to end the first-past-the-post system, they could have included it in the confidence and supply agreement. In terms of forestry, he supported Canadian lumber being used to build Canadian homes and said "the only thing we should be exporting should be in flat boxes." He also spoke in support of expanding dental and pharmacare.
Welton took aim at electoral reform, suggesting ending the system in which ridings are determined by population, as he argued "larger [rural] areas with more diverse interests" are "underrepresented." He also touched on immigration, and although he admitted it may not be a popular view, he blamed immigrants for causing competition driving down wages and increasing the cost of housing.
The final three questions were on immigration as a means to solve labour shortages in hospitality and construction, education affordability as well as seniors and disability support, and the right of media accessibility to political events.
Barron spoke on pushing the Liberals to create a national disability benefit during her time as MP, but criticized the Liberals for capping it at $200 a month, calling it a "slap in the face." Despite this, she said the work is continuing and she will fight to raise it.
Corfield spoke on media accessibility, arguing that all people have the right to question their electoral candidates. She also spoke in support of the CBC, calling it a "right" to access Canadian-made content and information. She added that she supports immigration, saying the country was built on it.
Manly advised people to read the Green Party platform on their website for immigration, and stated that the party is a proponent for a Scandinavian-style post-secondary education model to create more affordability. He argued that medical assistance in dying needs changes to better protect disabled Canadians, should only be used in last resort and that disabled Canadians can be economically supported. In terms of media, Manly said he condemns any notion of the Trump regime approach to limiting media being adopted north of the border.
Welton drew attention back to his desire for a dramatic reduction in immigration, favouring those with skills to fit specific demands for workers rather than "cheap foreign labour."
The election will be held on Monday, April 28.
