We are just one week away from the final day of the federal election campaign. Early voting closes today, and we are taking a closer look at our local candidates ahead of the final vote on April 28.
Britt Baumann is the NDP Candidate for the Moose Jaw – Lake Centre – Lanigan riding:
Affordability:
Q: Affordability has been top of mind for Canadians for years now. Moose Jaw, of course, is no different. What steps would you take if elected to ensure your constituents can make ends meet?
A: The thing is, the affordability crisis has been hitting the people of Moose Jaw hard everywhere, groceries are increasingly expensive, and we're now experiencing a 50 year high for grocery inflation. Right now, there are at least 800 households in Moose Jaw that rely on the food bank, and many people are unable to afford their rent.
So, to alleviate the affordability crisis, the NDP advocates for removing the GST from basic items like grocery meals, kids clothing, diapers, phone, Internet and home heating. We also would like to see price caps on essential grocery items, ensuring that people will be able to afford these foods.
We want to keep dental care and pharmacare in place to ensure that Canadians can continue to get dental care, contraceptives and diabetes medications for free. Additionally, we want to expand Pharmacare to include all essential medications.
The $10 a day daycare program is essential for allowing parents and families to afford daycare so they can work outside the home. And finally, we must increase the affordable housing supply, and that includes creating non-profit housing alternatives for seniors and people with disabilities.
For example, I would like to see our housing cooperatives in Moose Jaw, and we also must work with provinces to create rent control measures and ban unfair practices like fixed term leases and rent evictions.
Tariffs and Economics:
Q: What measures would you take to alleviate the potential harms caused by the ongoing economic dispute with the United States and by extension, tariffs from China?
A: Well, the Trump tariffs and the Chinese tariffs will have a detrimental impact on our economy, for sure. It's possible that we can negotiate with China, but it's no longer prudent to rely on the United States as their primary trading partner, so, to deal with this, we must retaliate against the US with tariffs of our own. But we must also immediately work to diversify our trade relations.
For example, the European Union purchases canola and manufactures canola into biofuel. Not only could we potentially sell more of our canola to Europe, but we might also begin manufacturing canola-based biofuel here as well. Saskatchewan relies too much on the export of raw materials. So instead, we could start turning our raw materials into finished products that we can sell to other Canadians and to other countries.
Carbon Tax:
Q: There’s been a pause on the Carbon Tax and consumers have adjusted to not paying it. Are you for, or against, reimplementing the tax or bringing it back in another form?
A: Well, the consumer Carbon Tax was widely unpopular. So no, I do not advocate for bringing a consumer Carbon Tax back.
Immigration:
Q: Immigration is another top issue for Moose Javians. Are you for, or against, increasing the number of people entering the province, and by extension, Moose Jaw? If so, what steps can be taken to ensure increasing numbers don’t have a negative impact on wages, housing, services, etc.?
A: Well, economic growth often depends on population growth. So, we should be reminded that unless we are indigenous persons, we are all immigrants to this land. Immigrants built Canada and built the province of Saskatchewan to what it is today, currently, one in four healthcare workers are immigrants - and we all know how much we need our healthcare workers. Additionally, one in five business owners are immigrants and we all know how small business contributes to our economy.
So, shutting down immigration is not the answer, nor will it make our affordability problems go away. In terms of impacts on housing, it is already determined that we need to increase the housing supply. We need more housing that is affordable to lower income people, and we must build affordable homes that young people are able to buy, and we should build more subsidized rental housing.
Crime:
A: What is your stance on crime in Moose Jaw and the province? How would you, if elected, aim to bring numbers down?
A: Well, crime rates are closely related to poverty levels. There's a great deal of talk right now about stiffer sentences, et cetera, but that's a bit of a red herring and a distraction from the real problem, which is the increased poverty that we're seeing across Canada.
If people can't afford food, they will still to be able to obtain it. We also know that when poverty increases. The rates of drug use increases, which again often leads to an increase in crime amongst other problems. So the NDP response is that we must attack crime at the source, which means attacking poverty.
We must fully fund our social programs, such as healthcare, dental care and pharmacare, increase the guaranteed income supplement to seniors, increase the supply of affordable housing, ensure that wages keep pace with inflation, cut taxes for low- and middle-income workers, and ensure that our youth have enough to eat.
One way to do that is to bring in a school lunch program so that kids can be assured of receiving a nutritious meal each school day. When the social safety net unravels, the fabric of society unravels, so we must ensure that the safety net remains in place, as this is for the benefit of all Canadians, rich or poor.
The final day to cast your ballot is on April 28, 2025. Click here to find your voting location based on area code.