Conservative, Liberal, NDP or Green.... again

Jay and I went to an All Candidates meeting for the Don Valley West Federal riding.

The following are my notes on the event: (hope someone finds this interesting)

Attendees were: (in order of seating)

NDP - Dave Thomas
Conservative - David Turnbull
Liberal - John Godfrey (incumbent)
Green - Serge Abbat

Overall I found:

Mr. Thomas to be loud, angry, but not well spoken. (not just due to an accent, but more to the fact that his sentences were missing words and lacked any flow. They were halting.)

Mr. Turnbull - very well spoken, answered the questions but gave few details

Mr. Godfrey - well spoken, gave some details

Mr. Abbat - speeches were ok, tons of details

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Opening Statements:

NDP:
High unemployment and poverty are the main issues in the Don Valley West (esp. Flemmingdon Park)

Issues that contribute or will help:
1. no resource centre for jobs in the area
2. badly need new rent control
3. MTCE, upkeep, (of community areas?)
4. Health Insurance payments contribute negatively

CONS:
1. Employment opportunities for immigrants - why are credentials used as points towards
moving to Canada, but useless once they arrive (education)
2. Poverty - 25% increase to GST tax credit, increase in daycare allowance

LIBS:
Setup Canada Prenatal care in the area through and with Health Canada
Setup a mosque in the area after fighting off some fierce opposition

1. Youth, childcare, etc
2. Human Rights under the charter

GREEN:
Change in Govt. needed - no more professional politicians - but actual professionals!
Want consumer driven business decisions, not government + business interests deciding their own rules.

1. A testing system to qualify new immigrants quicker
2. Shift more decisions and tax gains to municipalities from the Province/Country
3. Stop trying to subsidize families but companies to setup daycare facilities onsite
through incentives to get families closer.

_____________________
Pre-written questions/issues from the Don Valley Employment Coalition
(I only wrote down some responses as they interested me, sorry!)

1. Immigrant Employment

Liberal: check our record - go to careerbridge.ca
Green: help immigrants not be put in a shell of knowing only other immigrants
NDP: $400 million was taken every year in fees for people becoming landed immigrants.
Let's not treat that as government income but money to spend back into the system
itself that works with and helps the immigrants.


2. Income Security (Employment Insurance)

Green: changes should be made to address what needs to happen so that people can get EI based on different circumstances than are presently allowed. (ie. the system is not helping today's problems)

Conservative: EI cuts hurt our area. We do need to change the standards for getting EI, especially the amount of time you have to work to be eligible to collect EI. The liberals used the EI surplus as a revenue source instead of leaving it as INSURANCE.

3. Rent Control (Low income housing)

Green: Subsidize builders and landlords that allow a certain percentage of their building, etc to be low income housing. Stop putting all low income housing in one area. Stop segregating those who need to be in those houses so that all they see around them are people with the same economic circumstances.

Increase income tax starting levels. (in other words, no one pays income tax until they reach an income of $17,000/yr.
_________
During open question period:

School debt: OSAP:

Green: Supply and demand mathematics are not applicable to education. As the number of students attending a program go up why are schools charging more each year. The cost of education does not go up by the same amount each year that fees increase by.

_________

Just writing out my notes. And no, I am not advocating Green even though I quote them more than the others. They just had the more interesting quotes, not the same old drivel the others spouted.