Saturday, September 21, 2019 ~ METCHOSIN
by Mary P Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
A sizable crowd showed up at Pearson College on Wednesday night, September 18, to hear and participate in the All Candidates debate for the federal Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke (ESS) candidates.
So much work went into stylizing the debate format into something complicated that the candidates themselves were constrained in most attempts to fully explore various points. Everyone coped but the audience was frequently short-changed.
Incumbent Randall Garrison (NDP) stood on his record of eight years as the Member of Parliament for ESS. He pointed out the continued need for securing federal funding for affordable housing in the ESS riding (none to date) and highlighted the NDP platform to work toward providing full coverage of pharmaceuticals and dental care, as well as the NDP’s promise to try and contain Internet and cell phone costs for consumers in Canada. Garrison stressed the importance of moving to a low-carbon future. He said there is “too much inequality in the job system right now” and “that we need to get all these important jobs done without leaving anyone behind”. He talked about the NDP seeking an increase in the minimum wage for federal workers.
The other experienced campaigner on the podium was David Merner, this time running as the Green candidate (after coming second as a Liberal candidate behind Garrison in the 2015 campaign). Merner highlighted the climate emergency as being “a house on fire” but that as many as four million jobs could come as part of the transition to a low-carbon economy but that it requires ‘taking on’ the effort with the equivalency of World War II urgency… everyone on board. A well-spoken lawyer, Merner said: “We’ve been laggards and we need to be leaders,” about Canada on climate change initiatives to date. Merner says the Green Party has a clear policy on social justice. He led BC’s legal justice reform within the provincial government over the past several years before retirement.
With an impressive resume of military career and community service, Liberal candidate Jamie Hammond is embarking on politics with this run for the MP seat in ESS. Hammond says Canada is a proud and caring society where he hopes to see everyone treated as if “we are in the same canoe”. He says an innovative economy will lead to a low carbon future, and that Canada “needs a smart plan” and some real action so that “real things can happen”.
New to politics is Conservative candidate Dr Randall Pewarchuk, a dentist who has lived in Metchosin for decades and runs his practice in Langford. He says that immigration should be managed more skillfully, including recognizing the skill standards of immigrants who come to work here (encouraging qualified practitioners to be included in the workforce). Pewarchuk says the Conservatives “value freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law”. He says Canadians need higher paying jobs and lower taxes, and to be “buoyed up”. Less red tape would be part of encouraging ‘home grown businesses’. He said government should increase funding to communities who deal effectively with homelessness.
Also new to politics is the People’s Party of Canada candidate Jeremy Gustafson, who has been ‘parachuted’ into the ESS riding from his film industry job in Vancouver. Some of his specifics were including geothermal in the transition to low-carbon energy (saying the island in particular is on “a ring of fire”). He is concerned about the quality of drinking water for Indigenous nations in particular. On the topic of affordable housing he says there is inadequate supply. He believes in an economy that gives opportunity to everyone, where ‘corporate welfare’ and provincial equalization payments should be eliminated.
Communist Party candidate Tyson Strandlund is a UVic student and local activist. He spoke strongly about decolonization of Canadian society and all the obvious problems with capitalism.
The four major party candidates addressed indigenous issues. Each given by the moderator the opportunity for one brief statement on that topic, Randall Garrison said “indigenous women need empowerment”, Jamie Hammond said “reconciliation starts with relationship and social equivalency”, David Merner specified the need for “education for women on reserves”, Randall Pewarchuk said it requires providing “the same rights as every other Canadian child”.
==== This article was first published on page 1 in the September 20 to 22, 2019 weekend digest edition of West Shore Voice News. (link to come)