Yorkton This Week sent a list of ten questions to each of the five candidates running in the Yorkton-Melville riding in the 2019 Federal Election. Every day for ten days, we will post their answers. Yorkton-Melville heads to the polls on Oct. 21.
In Saskatchewan, climate change remains a contentious issue. Where do you stand, what do you believe needs to be done, and how would you get the province on board?
Cathay Wagantall, Conservative Party:
Canadians trusted Justin Trudeau when he said he would protect the environment and lower Canada’s emissions. Instead his carbon tax is just making life unaffordable for individuals and small businesses and Canada is falling further behind in hitting the Paris targets. It makes virtually no contribution to the global fight against climate change.
We should all be concerned about climate change – about the kind of planet we will leave to future generations. A Real Plan to Protect Our Environment is built on three guiding principles:
1. Green technology, not taxes.
2. A cleaner and greener natural environment.
3. Taking the climate change fight global.
Our plan is the most comprehensive environmental platform ever put forward by a political party in Canada. Sixty pages and fifty-five specific, realistic, and achievable policy commitments. Under the Conservative plan, it will not be free to pollute – and unlike the Liberal scheme, there will be no sweetheart deals for anybody.
Rather than paying a tax to the government, emitters who exceed our limits will be required to invest in technology that will lower emissions to fight climate change. – Technology - not taxes. We can create more jobs in Canada through technological growth while at the same time lowering global emissions.
We will implement the Green Homes Tax Credit, a two-year plan that will encourage Canadians to improve their homes with emissions-reducing technologies. Canadians will be eligible to receive a 20% refundable credit on their income tax for green improvements to their homes of over $1,000 and up to $20,000. This will allow Canadians to save up to $3,800 on their green renovations in each year.
We will also export our environmental excellence and take the climate change flight global. We will take real action on reducing plastic waste by harmonizing recycling standards across provinces and working with industry to cut down on excessive packaging. We will protect our waterways against wastewater dumping and work with municipalities to end their practice of dumping billions of liters of raw sewage into our waterways.
Our environment plan, A Real Plan to Protect Our Environment, commits to science-based decision-making.
Stacey Wiebe, Green Party:
I believe in climate change and I believe that we as people are accelerating the process. I believe we need to stop the unimpeded growth of our economy, which is measured in how much is produced, but not at what cost to the environment, to the people or the creatures we share our planet with. The mind-set that we will just use as we need, to rethink our throw away, consumerist society. How would I get the province on board? I’m not sure to be honest. It’s a hard sell here, and I suppose everyone needs to come to the realization on their own. I cannot force someone to see something they don’t want to.
Carter Antoine, New Democratic Party:
We are in a climate crisis and changing weather is going to be particularly challenging in this riding because agriculture is such an important part of the economy. Under the leadership of decades of Liberal and Conservative governments, we are on track to fail to meet even the most modest carbon dioxide targets agreed upon at the Paris Accords. An NDP government would declare a climate emergency and establish an independent Climate Accountability Office to ensure we meet our commitments and tackle the climate crisis with the focus and effort it demands. We can transition to a green economy today with investments in alternative energy, electric transit and tougher regulations on polluters. We also need to make sure that our workers do not get left behind, which is why our plan will create at least 300,000 new jobs while transitioning our economy to a more sustainable future.
Connor Moen, Liberal Party:
Climate change is real. It is a global issue, but we must all do our part as well. The Liberals have implemented a price on pollution after the province of Saskatchewan chose not to implement its own policy. Rural based communities like we have in our community receive an extra 10% rebate on top of the standard rebate in Saskatchewan which seesÌýThe average household in Saskatchewan receive $598, taking into account the various family sizes and circumstances. This rebate is to help offset the costs of the price on pollution for individuals, specifically who need to travel longer distances, while at the same time costing the higher emitters to pay more for their higher use of carbon intensive products.
Ryan Schultz, People's Party of Canada:
We believe the climate is changing but we fully reject climate alarmism. We believe we should follow our constitution which states this is a provincial jurisdiction. A PPC federal govt wouldn’t impose a climate plan on the provinces and instead let the provinces decide what works best for them.
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