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Shelburne Free Press https://shelburnefreepress.ca/?p=15167 Export date: Sun Jul 7 5:28:43 2024 / +0000 GMT |
Free Press federal candidate profile: Rehya Yazbek NDP The Shelburne Free Press requested Federal Election Candidates share a little about themselves and their policies, as well as their thoughts on two discussion topics. All candidates were asked the same questions. The following is the response from Rehya Yazbek the NDP Candidate for Dufferin-Caledon. Background: “My Dad immigrated to Canada from Italy in 1952, and married my mom, a 4th generation Canadian girl. I was born and raised in northwest Toronto, in Downsview. I went to Humber College, started work in a supermarket when I was in high school and worked there as a florist for 20 years ending as a department manager. I was an active elected officer in my union and I joined the staff of the United Food and Commercial Workers, where I work full-time on improving wages and working conditions of the people who serve you and your family in our supermarkets. My husband, Wally and I decided to move to our beloved Caledon, and we live on Heart Lake Road where we are raising our three children. Wally is a small business man and runs a successful auto-parts business. Political life: “My Mom and Dad were always active politically and I grew up in an NDP family, which was deeply committed to the social democratic values of social justice and equality for all people. I have tried to keep faith with these values in my life and work. In my own life I was especially inspired by the leadership of Tommy Douglas, who brought Medicare to Canada and with it, the equality of healthcare treatment for every Canadian, rich and poor alike. Your biggest challenge in this election: “The big challenge in this riding of Dufferin Caledon is to personally deliver our message to as many people in the community as possible.” Policy: 1) Outline your views on energy and aggregate development on prime farmland 2) Outline your Party's record & policy for Canada's role in slowing climate change 3) Outline how your Party will protect and build Canada's social safety network Policy. 1) “On energy, the New Democratic Party would reverse the total reliance of the Harper government on fossil fuels and would end the billions in subsidies Harper has given to the fossil fuel industry. A Tom Mulcair government will actively support energy efficiency, conservation and the clean energy sector. We will implement a cap and trade system that puts a price on carbon and ensures meaningful emissions reductions, with clear climate change targets. We can and will make Canada a world leader in clean energy. The new Democratic Party also believes it is imperative to preserve prime agricultural land. While aggregate development falls mainly under Provincial jurisdiction, there are many things that the federal government can do to protect farmland and the family farm. First, an NDP government will never enter into any trade deal, like the current Trans Percent Partnership, that would end supply management for egg, dairy, cheese and poultry farmers and would be the death knell of the family farm. The NDP will not allow the massive imports of American subsidized farm products which are driving our farmers out of business. Second, we will restore and strengthen our Environmental Protection Laws, and enshrine the right to clean water in a National Water Strategy. This will ensure that no aggregate mining developments which threaten lakes, rivers, or the water table can proceed.” 2) “On climate change, the NDP will implement a cap and trade system that puts a price on carbon and ensures meaningful emissions reductions, with clear climate change targets. We can and will make Canada a world leader in clean energy and an advocate for global action on climate change instead of a roadblock.” 3) ”Canada's social safety net work was decimated by the previous Liberal government of Paul Martin and John Chrétien, who repealed established program funding for Medicare, repealed the Canada Assistance Plan, abolished our social housing program, destroyed the Employment Insurance program which now covers less than 40% of the unemployed, and balanced their budgets by siphoning funds out of the Employment Insurance fund. Harper continued the devastation, with a particular target against disabled veterans and their families and with a new round of health cuts set to begin in 2017 if he is re-elected. After more than 25 years of cutbacks to our social safety net by Liberal and Conservative governments, an NDP government is committed to restoring Canada's social safety net in order to end the inequality which is plaguing our country. Unlike the Liberals who have promised to do this without paying for it, the NDP will finance the reconstruction of the social safety net by taxing those who can afford to pay and by putting an end to tax loopholes and giveaways. • We will extend the federal provincial Health Accord which guarantees stable funding for Medicare. • We will establish a new national housing program to provide affordable housing for families and senior citizens, as our federal government once did in the 70s and 80s. • We will establish a National Childcare Program which will deal with the astronomical cost of childcare, at between $1000 and $2000 per month per child. Under our plan, we will cap day care fees at no more than $15 a day and create, over time, 1 million new quality affordable childcare spaces. • We will begin the process of addressing wage inequality by establishing a $15 an hour minimum wage for all workers under federal jurisdiction. • For senior citizens, we will roll back the retirement age for Old-Age Security from 67 years under Harper to 65 years under Tom Mulcair. We will raise the guaranteed income supplement and, with the provinces, we will begin the process of increasing the Canada Pension Plan to provide a decent retirement. Our program includes a new Homecare plan for seniors, and the introduction of pharmacare.” Candidates responded to the two discussion issues both below: Discussion 1 Canada is heading into a recession. Conservative leader Stephen Harper continues to stress a balanced budget in this election as most important to Canada's economy; as well, his government has focused strongly on a one-sector economy driven by the now faltering Oil Sands to steer Canada's economic growth. Please respond to this and the report below, including your Party's economic recovery policy. In September 2015, the Globe and Mail ran a report by Economist Jim Stanford, based on statistics, stating the Harper government had the “weakest economic era in Canadian postwar history” casting “major doubt on its economic credibility;” Stanford wrote that “investing” and producing a “full portfolio of excellent goods and services” were “fundamental drivers” of economic progress. Rehya Yazbek's response: “The NDP agree completely with our friend and colleague, Jim Stanford, that a balanced economy which produces a full range of goods and services and provides well-paying jobs, is essential in any modern society. The Harper government has squandered the opportunity to support a balanced economy by putting all its eggs in the oil sands basket. Harper delivered billions of dollars to corporations by reducing Corporation tax from 27% in 2006 to 15% today. And the payoff? We lost 400,000 manufacturing jobs during that period. Stats Canada tells us corporations are sitting on $600 billion of invested cash which they have not put back into the economy. “We have 200,000 fewer people working than we did before the 2008 recession. We have 1.3 million people unemployed, and less than 40% of these are covered by employment insurance. Harper's economic policy has been a catastrophe.” Tom Mulcair and the NDP have presented a concrete plan to create a balanced economy within a responsible fiscal framework. • The NDP will kick-start our manufacturing sector with targeted investments, eg. in the auto sector, in the clean energy sector and the aerospace sector. We will introduce an innovation tax credit for businesses that invest in machinery, equipment and property used in innovation-boosting research and development. • We will help small business owners grow and thrive by cutting their tax rate from 11% to 9%. Unlike Justin Trudeau who recently stated that most small business owners were tax cheaters, we respect the small business sector which creates 78% of all new private sector jobs in Canada. • We will accelerate the capital cost allowance for manufacturing and processing machinery and equipment. • The NDP infrastructure program will create 54,000 jobs in construction, manufacturing and transit operations, and will provide easy -to-access partnership funds with our municipalities to replace the red tape jungle of Harper's bungled program. • We will create a national youth employment program to enable 40,000 young Canadians to get their first job as paid interns or co-op placements, and we will expand apprenticeship support and create new apprenticeship spaces in all projects under federal jurisdiction, including infrastructure projects. The NDP's four-year plan to restore and enhance our social safety net is fully costed in our NDP Balanced Budget Plan. Details about the NDP plan are found at ndp.ca . Discussion 2 The Conservative Government's disproportionate response to the Syrian refugee crisis is a cause for deep concern for many Canadians. What will your Party do to restore Canada's reputation on the world stage as a principled and humanitarian nation? Rehya Yazbek's response: “An NDP government would replace Harper's politics of division and fear- mongering, starting with our response to the refugee crisis. We have a fully costed and a detailed plan to welcome 10,000 Syrian refugees to Canada immediately this year, and 9000 a year for the next four years, which is what the UN has asked us to do. On the world stage, the NDP will restore Canada's role as peacemakers and peace leaders. We will bring the troops home from Iraq and Syria and concentrate instead on humanitarian aid. We will work toward restoring Canada's commitment to provide 0.7% of GDP to global humanitarian aid. We will return to old balanced policy of working with all partners for peace and justice in Israel and Palestine within a framework of respect for United Nations resolutions and international law.” By Marni Walsh |
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Post date: 2015-10-01 21:24:16 Post date GMT: 2015-10-02 01:24:16 Post modified date: 2015-10-09 18:55:53 Post modified date GMT: 2015-10-09 22:55:53 |
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