1) Whether it’s groceries, gas or rent — the cost of living continues to be a challenge for many Canadians. How can the federal government make life more affordable?
Life has become unaffordable after almost ten years of this Liberal government. Conservatives will cut income tax by 15%, dropping the tax rate on the lowest income tax bracket from 15% to 12.75%, meaning the average Canadian worker earning $57,000 will save $900, with two-income families saving $1,800 a year. Conservatives will make each dollar go further by axing the federal sales tax on new homes up to $1.3 million. To protect our auto workers’ jobs and save Canadians money, we will axe the sales tax on new Canadian cars. We will help seniors with the option of growing savings in RRSPs until age 73, up from 71, and by protecting OAS, GIS & CPP by keeping the retirement age at 65. Working seniors will be able to earn up to $34,000 tax free—$10k more than now. For Tax Free Savings Accounts, conservatives will allow an additional $5,000 a year for investments in Canadian companies (on top of the $7,000 limit). The ‘Canada First Economic Action Plan’ will make life affordable by boosting Canada’s economic activity by half-trillion dollars over the next five years, with new infrastructure and resource projects across the country.
2) Home ownership continues to be inaccessible for many, especially younger Canadians. What actions can the federal government take to help?
Increasing housing stock is crucial to driving down costs, and the Canadian housing stock has not kept pace with population growth under this Liberal government. Conservatives will accelerate housing by cutting red tape and eliminating gatekeepers. We will axe the federal sales tax on new homes up to $1.3 million and incentivize cities to cut development charges, saving homebuyers up to $100,000 on new homes. A Conservative government will require cities to free up land and speed up permits, they will also be required to pre-approve building permits for high-density housing around transit stations. Municipalities that fail to meet their targets will be required to build even more homes the following year while those who get homes built will be rewarded with a bonus based on how much they exceed the target. Conservatives will provide even more land to build on by selling 15% of the government’s 37,000 buildings, and require these buildings be turned into affordable housing. The CMHC will be required to approve housing applications in 60 days or less. Conservatives will restore apprenticeship grants cancelled by the Liberals and back 350,000 apprenticeship positions across Canada so we have more skilled trades workers to build our homes.
3) How would you approach the current trade tensions between Canada and the United States?
The current Liberal government has made Canada vulnerable to the unprecedented trade challenges by weakening our economy, neglecting our military, and leaving our border unsecured. Canada will never be the 51st state and we will protect our sovereignty. These tariffs are unjustified and will hurt people on both sides of the border, a Conservative government will impose reciprocal tariffs to discourage the American attacks. We must be prepared for the impact and prioritize keeping our industry moving and workers working. A Conservative government will launch a Keep Canadians Working Fund, a targeted, temporary loan program for businesses directly hit, helping keep workers working. We must accelerate re-negotiations to replace the Canada-United States -Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), bringing in a new deal of trade and security, and propose that both countries pause tariffs while we renegotiate a deal. Conservatives will protect our resources, our farmers to include supply management, our fresh water and our automotive workers. Unleashing our industry, cutting taxes on our workers, stopping increases to capital gain taxes, encouraging Canadian reinvestment, building more homes, and developing our own economic fortress here in Canada is the only way to stand up to President Trump.
4) How can we strengthen the Canadian economy?
The ‘Canada First Economic Action Plan’ will make life affordable again, unleash our economy and rebuild a Canadian economic powerhouse, boosting Canada’s economic activity by half-trillion dollars over the next five years. We will unleash resources by repealing the Liberal ‘No New Development Law’ C-69 along with Bill C-48, lifting the cap on Canadian energy and scrapping the industrial carbon tax. The Conservatives will create a National Energy Corridor, a pre-approved transport corridor for pipelines, transmission lines, railways and other critical infrastructure to rapidly build the projects our country needs and move resources from coast to coast, First Nations will be involved from the outset, ensuring that economic benefits flow directly to them and that their approval is secured before any money is spent. We will bring in Canada First Reinvestment Tax Cut to reward Canadians who reinvest their earnings back into our country. The Conservative will Rapidly approve Phase 2 of LNG Canada to the project’s double gas production and accelerate at least nine other projects currently snarled in Liberal red tape, and create a One-Stop-Shop to safely and rapidly approve resource projects, with one simple application and one environmental review within one year.
5) What needs to change with Canada’s criminal justice system?
Liberal policies have prioritized the rights of offenders over victims. A Conservative government will repeal Bill C-75 that gave violent offenders bail not jail, and repeal Bill C-5 that ended mandatory jail time for serious gun and drug crimes. The Conservatives will implement new mandatory minimums for repeat offenders of human trafficking, importing/exporting ten or more illegal firearms, trafficking/producing large quantities of fentanyl, gang-affiliated extortion, repeat motor vehicle thefts, for scammers targeting seniors. We will address intimate partner violence by treating murder of an intimate partner, one’s own child, or a partner’s child as first-degree murder. Conservatives will tackle scammers that target seniors and others by ensuring that Canadian banks and cell phone companies do a better job detecting scams, alerting victims before they are scammed, and reporting and blocking suspected fraud in real-time. Conservative will reduce the motive to offend by making life more affordable and addressing drug addiction and by turning hurt into hope for the most vulnerable by funding treatment for 50,000 Canadians in treatment centres with a proven record of success getting people off drugs.
6) Would you prefer reducing or increasing federal government spending?
A Conservative government has committed to reducing federal government spending. This year, Canada will spend $46.5 billion to service the Liberal government’s debt, this is more than the federal health transfer. A Conservative government will cap spending with a dollar-for-dollar rule, requiring the government to find a dollar in savings for every new dollar of spending, and tackle waste and corruption through pledging an end to conflicts of interest, shadow lobbying and politicians using tax loopholes. Through strengthening the Accountability Act, we will ban shadow lobbyists and require anyone advising the government directly or indirectly, who stands to gain financially, to register as a lobbyist. We will take the following measures; ban politicians from making decisions that benefit themselves or their families, increase fines for ethics violations to $10,000, require anyone running for public office to disclose where they paid taxes for the last seven years, require cabinet ministers to divest fully from tax havens and disclose assets to the Office of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner, require party leaders to disclose their assets within 30 days of becoming leader, and require Prime Ministers to divest their assets within 30 days of assuming office.
7) What policies do you support to reduce emissions?
Conservatives believe in technology not taxes. We will tackle global emissions by supporting projects that will deliver clean, responsibly produced Canadian steel and liquified natural gas to world markets, and reduce reliance on undemocratic countries with little or no environmental protections. Our policies will be firmly based on the best scientific and technological information currently available to address clean air, climate, water, and land to support biodiversity. We have committed to supporting legislated emissions caps to reduce smog-causing pollutants. Conservatives encourage innovation in research and development aimed at creating diverse, safe, dependable, and economical energy options, including: renewables, non-carbon based energy sources, carbon capture technology, battery-based storage, small modular nuclear reactors and hydrogen-based generation like Hydrogen Optimized in Owen Sound. Furthermore, I am an advocate of nuclear energy. Canada has the safest, most reliable nuclear energy sector in the world. I believe in empowering individuals to make their properties and houses energy efficient and self-sustaining, and I am committed to conservation through extensive work with local conservation groups. The Conservative Party is also committed to provide stable long-term funding for the cleanup of contaminated sites, increasing fines and enforcement of illegal oil dumping, and addressing threats to the Great Lakes.
8) The current government banned a number of firearms over its last two terms with mixed reaction from Canadians. Would you keep or expand the gun ban, or remove it?
I, along with my Conservative colleagues, have consistently opposed these ridiculous Liberal gun bans, particularly those targeting licenced, law-abiding gun owners, such as hunters, farmers and sport shooters. We have pledged to repeal specific laws (Bill C-21, Bill C-71) and the Order-in-Council (OIC) bans, as they criminalize honest citizens without reducing crime. We have committed to eliminating the government’s ability to ban firearms via OICs and will develop a new law with objective, function-based classifications to prevent arbitrary prohibitions. We have pledged to cancel the ineffective and wasteful Liberal May 2020 gun confiscation program and redirect these millions/billions of dollars towards illegal guns and border security, unlike Liberal policies that focus on vetted owners while ignoring smuggled firearms used in crimes. Conservative know that gun crimes are fueled by organized crime, repeat violent offenders, and we will target gun violence through criminal justice policy, not criminalizing law-abiding gun owners. Conservatives will introduce stricter bail requirements for serious repeat gun offenders. The hunters, sports shooters, farmers can rest assured that I will always defend our law-abiding, trained, vetted, licenced firearms owners in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound.
