As part of our coverage leading up to the Portage-Lisgar by-election June 19th, we have provided an opportunity to each of the five candidates on the ballot to answer five questions related to issues impacting residents across the riding. Over the course of this week, we will be publishing the answers provided by the candidates, as sent to us.
Below are the answers from People's Party of Canada candidate Max Bernier.
1. If you were to win the election, what would you do to ensure the development of sustainable, additional, water supply and treatment for the region in order to allow for further growth, both from a business/industrial and population perspective?
Water supply and treatment is a provincial and municipal responsibility, not a federal one. It is up to the relevant provincial and local authorities to deal with this issue. I will not try to fool voters into believing that I as a federal MP, or the federal government, can solve every problem in the country, including problems on which they have no jurisdiction. I will focus on raising federal issues that the fake Conservatives are ignoring, such as radical gender ideology, abortion, mass immigration, climate hysteria, peace in Ukraine, etc.
2. Affordable housing is a topic that is front and center around the country and in Portage Lisgar. Many are saying they cannot find a reasonable place to live. If you were to win this election, how would address this issue when in Ottawa?
The supply of housing, such as zoning laws and permitting, is a provincial and municipal issue. However, on the demand side, Ottawa has an enormous impact on the cost of housing through its immigration policy. There is no way we can build enough housing every year to accommodate one million more people coming to Canada. The fake Conservatives agree with the Liberals’ mass immigration policy. As an MP, I will continue to advocate for much lower, reasonable and sustainable immigration.
3. If you were to win the election, what would you do to address the current skilled and unskilled labour shortage across the region, which seems most pronounced in the manufacturing, agricultural and health care sectors?
I would advocate for the federal government to have the same kind of agreement with Manitoba that it has with Quebec, that is, allowing the province more autonomy in selecting economic immigrants in order to meet its manpower needs, and allowing it to manage manpower training programs with federal funds, again with a view to better meet local needs as opposed to federal priorities.
4. Crime is a top-of-mind issue for many residents in the riding. Considering the significant mix of rural and urban communities, policed by municipal services and RCMP, how does your party plan to address growing concerns about crimes rates across the region?
I would advocate for a reinforcement in the Criminal Code of the right to self-defence, which is too vague and based on the ambiguous concept of the use of reasonable force proportionate to the perceived threat. It is unacceptable that victims of a home break-in in rural areas are told to call the police and then do nothing to defend themselves while potentially waiting a long time for the police to arrive. We must have a castle doctrine that allows victims of violence to use force (up to and including deadly force) to defend themselves against an intruder, free from legal prosecution.
5. Agriculture is a significant part of the riding's economy. If you were to win the election, how do you propose to address concerns/impacts related to the Carbon Tax and the proposed fertilizer emissions reduction target of 30% by 2030?
I do not believe in climate change hysteria. I have always opposed the Liberal Carbon Tax, as well as all measures imposed by the federal government to reach the Paris Accord’s emission targets. I would support any legislative proposal to abolish it. I am also opposed to any regulation that forces farmers to reduce fertilizer use in the context of the government’s emissions target plan.