Ahead of the federal election April 28, The Morning Star is giving Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee residents a look at where the local candidates stand on important issues.
Each of the candidates has also been given an on-camera opportunity to speak about why they are running, what key concerns they are focused on, how (if elected) would they support the economy amid the tariffs, vote splitting, how they will advocate for the community, favourite parts of the riding and a fun question about Okanagan Lake's Ogopogo.
Candidates were also posed a few key questions, with answers published in the newspaper:
1) Several parties have announced tax cuts if elected. Please explain what is being proposed by your party, and how someone earning $40,000 or less would benefit compared to someone earning $130,000 or more annually.
The Liberal Party recently cancelled the consumer carbon tax, saving Canadians 18 cents per litre on the price of gas so that benefits all families who drive regardless of income.
The Liberals will also lower the lowest federal tax rate by one per cent for earnings only up to $57,375 to ensure that middle and low-income Canadians benefit the most. More than 22 million Canadians will benefit directly from this tax cut.
Our Dental Care Program already includes children and seniors from these lower tax brackets, and now we will be expanding this coverage to include all Canadians aged 18-64 for households making less than $90,000/year. This will help over 4.5 million Canadians, so more people get the care they need, so families can afford a trip to the dentist.
The Liberal Government has also changed the EI system, so workers are able to get the support they need faster. With these tax cuts and investments in services the Liberal Party will help hard-working Canadians keep more of their paycheques to spend where it matters most: on their families.
2) Farmers are having difficulty accessing affordable inputs that are largely produced in the U.S., like fertilizer, and are fearful they will be unable to sell products south of the border at a profitable price. If elected, how would you advocate for farmers in our region who are being impacted by both sides of the trade war?
At the moment Trump鈥檚 tariffs are impacting American farmers, since most of the fertilizer and a lot of farm equipment come from Canada.
However, the Liberal Party has a plan to protect Canadian farmers, ranchers, and agrifood workers and strengthen Canada鈥檚 food sector for the future.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is currently seeking new markets for Canadian products with meetings with the EU, the UK, and Australia.
As well he is in talks with the provinces discussing the removal of interprovincial trade barriers to expand our markets here at home.
The Liberals will increase support for farmers, ranchers, and producers to access new markets for their food products with a significant boost to the Agri Marketing Program.
We will double the revenue protection for farmers under the AgriStability Program, in the case of significant revenue drops caused by the impacts of tariffs or extreme weather events. We will build more domestic processing capacity, including food processing, in rural and remote areas, with a new Domestic Food Processing Fund.
We will increase the help for farmers and ranchers to buy new, more efficient farm equipment.
The Liberals have a plan, and that is to support our farmers against Trump鈥檚 tariffs.
