NDP leadership voting starts in a week and a half, and candidate Guy Caron came to state his case in Nanaimo.
Caron spoke to New Democratic Party members and supporters Thursday night at the Windward Pub in a town hall meeting.
Caron is preparing for the final debate Sunday (Sept. 10) in Vancouver, and also for the leadership balloting which starts Sept. 18.
“I want to connect with members,” he said. “I want to speak to them, I want to hear their concerns, I want to explain to them what I’m proposing.”
Caron said “it’s obvious” his leadership bid has momentum, pointing to endorsements from past leadership candidate Brian Topp, former party leader Alexa McDonough and former Nanaimo-Cowichan MP Jean Crowder, among others.
Caron has received attention for his proposal for a basic income for all Canadians – a top-up of existing social programs to bring every person above the low-income cutoff line. It would cost $30 billion, but Caron pointed to the Liberal government’s $28.5 billion deficit and said there’s “nothing to show for it.” To pay for basic income, Caron would introduce new taxes on wealth, estates and financial activity and increase corporate taxes.
Addressing climate change is another of Caron’s priorities. He said Kinder Morgan, Trans Mountain and Energy East cannot be approved.
“The priority of an NDP government should be to invest in renewables and ensure that we can catch up with the countries which have invested massively in this and are light years ahead of us,” he said.
He said the National Energy Board needs to be reformed, with federal and provincial environment ministries handling the environmental assessments of energy projects. There has to be a parallel consultation process with First Nations, he said, which must include consent.
He criticized the Liberals for backing away from an electoral reform promise and said it would be the first bill of an NDP government under his leadership.
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Caron said he thinks he’s demonstrated that he’s the leadership hopeful who has the most comprehensive policies, and now it’s a matter of rounding out his candidacy.
“People know me for my policies, they know me as a nice guy, they know my sense of humour by now, well, now I need to demonstrate that I can connect and establish that communication that is so crucial in politics today,” he said.
The others in the race are Niki Ashton, Charlie Angus and Jagmeet Singh. Sheila Malcolmson, member of Parliament for Nanaimo-Ladysmith, said Thursday that she hasn’t chosen which candidate to support yet and is still considering all four.
Singh will be in Nanaimo on Friday (Sept. 8) for meet-and-greet at Bocca Café from 6:30-8 p.m.