Five of the six candidates running to become Columbia–Kootenay–Southern Rockies’ next MP were in Cranbrook on Monday night for an all-candidates forum.
Incumbent Rob Morrison with the Conservative Party, NDP candidate Kallee Lins, the Liberal Party’s Reggie Goldsbury, Steven Maffioli of the Green Party and independent candidate Jim Wiedrick were in attendance.
People’s Party of Canada (PPC) representative Laurie Baird did not appear at the forum.
Candidates were asked a series of audience-submitted questions and had a chance to connect with voters.
Statements
Reggie Goldsbury – Liberal Party
Goldsbury’s statement focused on threats faced by Canada, particularly from the United States and the increasing cost of living.
“We are in a triple crisis right now: an economic crisis with tariffs threatening us and threats of annexation – I’m worried, you’re worried; a housing crisis – where are all the affordable homes and why can’t you afford one or rent one for an affordable price; affordability crisis – we have seniors on fixed incomes and families that are struggling. We need to find the root causes of these and bring them out,” said Goldsbury.
Goldsbury feels his party’s leader is well-positioned to address these issues.
“Mark Carney is an experienced economist with crisis management skills, like handling the ’08 recession – the largest recession in the modern era – and Brexit and a lot of other work internationally,” said Goldsbury.
Goldsbury says vote splitting is a concern for him in this riding.
“I am reaching out to our NDP and Green Party friends, independents and people who don’t know who to vote for yet to understand that we need to stand up and get Mark Carney into government. We don’t need a career politician, we need strong leadership,” said Goldsbury.
Kallee Lins – New Democratic Party
Lins focused her statement on issues of Canadian sovereignty, climate change and affordability.
“This is a critical time for our communities. Our industries are threatened by American tariffs, we’re facing challenges to the sovereignty of our river systems, we’re experiencing unprecedented changes to our natural environment every year and yet we are still struggling to afford our bills every month,” said Lins.
Lins feels the NDP has a strong platform to secure a stable and sustainable future for Canada.
“We need MPs who are committed to long-term thinking, collaboration and distinctly Kootenay-based solutions for the challenges we face,” said Lins.
“This is not a time to shrink our ambitions for what our country can look like. We need New Democrats in Ottawa who are fighting every day for solutions that matter to workers and everyday Canadians.”
Lins says she and her party will prioritize listening to the people in the ridings they represent.
“We need MPs committed to listening and standing by their constituents, no matter what is dominating the national agenda or what their party line is,” said Lins.
Steven Maffioli – Green Party
Maffioli’s statement focused on constituent representation and electoral reform.
“You’re going to hear a lot of things from the other people on this stage promising a lot of different things, but there are only two of us up here who are not subject to party whipping,” said Maffioli.
“You need an MP who is not going to be under someone else’s thumb. You need an MP who is going to listen directly to you and what you need. I’m happy to be that MP.”
Maffioli says the Greens stand for more than just strong environmental policy.
“There are a lot of things that the Green Party represents besides environmentalism: we are very much for universal pharma care, voter reform, universal dental and UBI [universal basic income].”
Maffioli emphasized that his party is committed to creating a more stable, sustainable country.
“I could go on and on about what we represent, but ultimately we stand for building stronger communities across Canada and looking out for the interest of Canadians,” said Maffioli.
Rob Morrison – Conservative Party (incumbent)
Morrison focused his statement on his six-year career as the riding’s MP.
“When I’m in the riding, I’m your federal representative,” said Morrison.
“We have an open door, once we’re through the election, it’s all non-partisan.”
Morrison says his role in opposition largely involved critiquing the party in power.
“It’s my job to hold the government to account. I don’t pass bills and I don’t spend money because that’s all done by the government, which has been the Liberals for the last 10 years,” said Morrison.
“We’ve had 10 years of more spending and high inflation – but we’re lucky because we have an opportunity to change direction.”
Morrison feels his party can bridge the divide between Canadians.
“It’s time that we have a leader who understands the realities in urban centres but also the differences with rural areas and how we are different people,” said Morrison.
“We need to drive our trucks, we need up to 200 kilometres for medical care – that’s just who we are. With East versus West, we just need to be unified and I assure you that I will continue to serve everyone in our riding and make life more affordable.”
Jim Wiedrick – Independent
Wiedrick says he wants to offer an alternative to voters who want to break free of party politics.
“Politics is ultimately distorted in how we’re doing it in this country. It boils down to the fact that there are only two or three party leaders’ opinions that are allowed to matter,” said Wiedrick.
“It’s squashing people’s voices and suppressing the needs of actual citizens.”
Wiedrick says he wants to take the focus of Canadian politics away from rigid party lines.
“We’re just buying into the narrative that the heroes of this story at the party leaders,” said Wiedrick.
“The real heroes are the people in this auditorium, your friends and neighbours who are doing the work and keeping this country running.”
Wiedrick says his goal in government would be as an advocate for the riding.
“I want to be your listener, your guide, your fighter,” said Wiedrick.
“I want to be the person who is going to fight for effective electoral reform, affordability, environmental stewardship, abolishing trade barriers and health care accessibility.”
Columbia River Treaty
Reggie Goldsbury – Liberal Party
Goldsbury says having him as the riding’s MP will ensure a strong government voice at the negotiating table.
“We need local leadership to fight for a fair deal. We need fair revenue share, a push for more compensation for B.C. and a reinvestment in that revenue into local communities,” said Goldsbury.
“We need stronger environmental protections, advocates for stronger fish habitats and ecosystem health in treaty discussions.”
Kallee Lins – New Democratic Party
Lins says she will stand as a strong voice to oppose ways the US may try to weaken the treaty’s benefits to Canada.
“There is a concern that our control of the water levels as Canadians may be used as a bargaining chip – potentially to bail out the auto industry or other industries in Canada,” said Lins.
“I will unequivocally stand up in support of our local control of water levels.”
Steven Maffioli – Green Party
Maffioli says he largely agrees with Goldsburry’s and Lins’ proposals for the treaty but he wants to see expanded representation.
“One thing the Green Party will bring to the table is more Indigenous-led effort on the treaty. We need to make sure their interests are protected first and foremost,” said Maffioli.
“We are not as close to the United States as we used to be and that’s unfortunate, but we need to protect our interests – which includes our water.”
Rob Morrison – Conservative Party (incumbent)
Morrison says he would advocate for his inclusion into the treaty negotiation process.
“I think what we need to do – and it’s one thing that hasn’t been done – is having a representative like your MP as an observer to follow what the negotiating team is doing,” said Morrison.
“I don’t know if we need to do some adjusting to see if the local people in the area who are being affected have their concerns being heard. I haven’t seen that and this is such an important treaty.”
Jim Wiedrick – Independent
Wiedrick says Canada should not depend on the United States as a negotiation partner.
“If you know there’s a chaos agent who is doing his own thing down south and influencing how this is all going, then as part of a Trump protection plan, we need to say we’re not negotiating if they’re not coming respectfully,” said Wiedrick.
“The first thing we have to acknowledge is that we still rely on the United States for some of our electricity. It’s nice to have, except they’re showing us they’re no longer a dependable partner. The common sense, pragmatic approach from my point of view is to make sure we have enough electricity and that’s where I start talking about things like nuclear electricity.”
Health care access
Steven Maffioli – Green Party
Maffioli says bolstering rural health care is a vital issue for the Green Party.
“Our health care system is in shambles, let’s be honest with ourselves here. We need proper infrastructure and proper access,” said Maffioli.
“My party would love to push for other alternatives and there needs to be more done to achieve collaboration. I would love to see holistic practitioners coming to our health care system to take some of the pressure off our physicians and pharmacists.”
Rob Morrison – Conservative Party (incumbent)
Morrison says his party wants to cut regulations requiring different licensing between provinces and nations.
“We need to start removing the red tape, not only for our doctors who live and work in Canada but also international doctors who come from reputable universities,” said Morrison.
“We also need to look at how we entice people to come live in Cranbrook. Once you live here, you absolutely love it. We have so much to offer, but we just have to get them here.”
Jim Wiedrick – Independent
Wiedrick feels the government must update and overhaul the Canada Health Act.
“It used to be the umbrella for our health care, but it’s from 1984. We don’t practice medicine like it’s 1984 any more. The five pillars of the Canada Health Act – publicly administered, universal, comprehensive, accessible, portable – they’re all fine,” said Wiedrick.
“We have to add ‘timely’ as a pillar because being on a waiting list is not the same as getting health care, and we need to add ‘patient-focused’ as one of the pillars, which means the dollars follow the patient.”
Reggie Goldsbury – Liberal Party
Goldsbury says the Liberal Party promises to bolster training for doctors and spread more staff into rural areas.
“We’re going to train and place more doctors in rural Canada, we’re going to introduce 1,000 new family medicine residencies and we’re going to fast-track integration of foreign-trained doctors who are already here in Canada,” said Goldsbury.
“We need to make sure health care workers are focusing on their craft and not dealing with business.”
Kallee Lins – New Democratic Party
Lins says the NDP will propose a one per cent increase to transfer payments to provinces to bolster health care.
“We’re going to tie that specifically to the hiring and retention of doctors and prioritizing rural communities,” said Lins.
“We know the more we can provide a range of supports to patients, the more we can free up physicians and the better care will be. We have committed to supporting provinces in the hiring of 35,000 new nurses and paying them while they do their training and practicums.”
You can see the full all-candidates forum here.
Voters head to the polls on April 28.
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