On September 20, Canada goes to the polls to elect the next government of Canada. The Mission Record contacted all five candidates in the Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon riding and asked them to answer the following three questions:
1. Dire warnings about the future of the planet continue to be made by environmental scientists. Canada currently ranks 58th in the world in the Climate Change Performance Index – and is far behind its obligations set in the Paris Accords.
What is your position on these obligations? How do you feel your party’s platform is best equipped to address climate change?
2. Young Canadians often view home ownership as a pipe dream. According to monthly data released by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, the average July sale price of a property increased over 20 per cent since July prices last year. The national parties have made promises to help ease the cost of housing, what solutions does your party offer that the others don’t?
3. Economic priorities – and where to funnel federal monies – often provides the clearest picture of what divides Canada’s national parties. Where should Canada be focused when it comes to the economy? What are your biggest fears about the current, or alternative, economic trajectories, should another party win the election?
Read the answers below:
Brad Vis
Conservative
1. Our constituency experienced the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Canada three separate times this summer. We cannot ignore the reality of climate change – it is already affecting our ecosystems, hurting our communities, and damaging our infrastructure.
Canada’s Conservatives knew we had to do more to protect the environment and address climate change, which is why we had our plan independently analyzed by Navius Research – Canadian leaders in quantifying the impacts of energy and climate policy.
Navius found our plan is expected to achieve substantially the same emissions reductions as the government’s current plan in 2030, while resulting in a boost to jobs and the economy. We will meet our Paris climate commitment without driving out investment, crippling the economy, and saddling working Canadians with ever-increasing taxes.
Canada is blessed with incredible natural beauty, and nowhere is that more evident than in Mission–Matsqui–Fraser Canyon. I am committed to increasing funding for habitat restoration and was proud to aid the Fraser Valley Conservancy in successfully securing over $600,000 for local ecosystem protection.
We must safeguard our ecosystems for future generations, which is why our plan will:
• Restore funding for the National Wetland Conservation Fund and the Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnership Program, which Justin Trudeau cancelled.
• Tackle Plastic Waste – including banning its export so that we’re not saddling developing nations with our garbage;
• End raw sewage dumping; and more!
Pages 73-84 of the Conservative Platform (www.conservative.ca/plan) outlines our detailed plan to Secure the Environment and Tackle Climate Change.
2. Pushing for change and providing real solutions to tackle Canada’s Housing Affordability Crisis has defined my tenure as the Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing.
Canada’s Conservatives have a plan to:
• Increase Housing Supply - build one million homes in three years and use federal levers to get municipalities to boost densities and expedite construction;
• Get crime out of real estate and crack down on money laundering;
• Ban foreign buyers and redirect foreign investment to affordable rental housing for Canadians;
• Enact a “For Indigenous, By Indigenous” Housing Strategy to empower Indigenous Canadians;
• Make mortgages more affordable and preserve the dream of homeownership for young Canadians.
The independent Parliamentary Budgetary Officer just reported that in the first three years of the Liberals’ National Housing Strategy they’ve only spent half the budget of their two main housing programs. Let me repeat that, they’re already failing to build 50% of the housing they promised – announcing more money isn’t going to fix their mismanagement.
And while the Liberal Platform includes a new tax on the sale of Canadian homes, the Conservatives will never tax Canadians’ capital gains on the sale of their principal residence.
Under a Conservative government, I will ensure that communities like Mission – which had our homelessness count triple – get their fair share of housing supports, along with the under served rural regions of our riding.
Pages 54-57 of the Conservative Platform (www.conservative.ca/plan) outline our detailed plan to address Canada’s Housing Affordability Crisis.
3. The Conservative Electoral Platform is titled “Canada’s Recovery Plan” for a very important reason: it outlines precisely how, as Canada’s next federal government, Canada’s Conservatives will secure our economic future.
Our top priority is getting as many people back to work in good jobs, in every part of Canada, in every sector, as quickly as possible. We will do whatever it takes to get people working and get the economy back on track. Canada’s Conservatives got us out of the last recession—we’ll get us out of this one too.
Our detailed plan to get Canadians back to work includes four major initiatives to create jobs:
• Canada Job Surge Plan: paying up to 50% of the salary of new hires for six months following the end of CEWS.
• Canada Investment Accelerator: getting companies spending money and creating jobs by providing a 5% investment tax credit for any capital investment made in 2022 and 2023, with the first $25,000 to be refundable for small business.
• Rebuild Main Street Tax Credit: a 25% tax credit on amounts of up to $100,000 that Canadians personally invest in a small business over the next two years, to get money flowing into main street businesses and create jobs.
• Main Street Business Loan: up to $200,000 loans to help small and medium businesses in hospitality, retail, and tourism get back on their feet, with up to 25% forgiven.
Pages 16-39 of the Conservative Platform (www.conservative.ca/plan) further outlines our detailed plan to Secure Jobs and Economic Growth.