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The Citizen, 2011-04-28, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011. PAGE 11. Continued from page 6 new businesses and retain the businesses we have. We need to protect the living standards of families in Huron-Bruce and continue to support farmers by expanding markets and securing trade agreements to allow Canadian products to be sold to foreign markets at completive prices. CB: The Liberal plan to assist the recovery from the recession is one that includes a dedicated plan for deficit reduction, no increase in taxes for families, assistance to students who move on to post- secondary school in the form of $4,000 over four years, a six-month Employment Insurance package for those who miss work to care for a loved one, a secure retirement option to facilitate saving for retirement, an early childhood learning and care fund to promote new, affordable, high quality early childhood learning and care plans. Also, there would be a youth hiring incentive that will grant an EI holiday for small and medium-sized businesses who hire Canadians 18- 25 years of age. Tax breaks to promote innovation and significant investments in science, technology and research will also assist the recovery. GR: Independent studies show that the massive across-the-board tax giveaways supported by the Liberals and Conservatives don’t create jobs. Those kinds of breaks go to CEO bonuses, off-shore tax havens, and most shamefully to ship jobs out of Canada. Huron-Bruce has seen this first hand and communities are still struggling. The closed-up storefronts in many communities in this riding are a testament to this failed policy. It is time to stop giving the banks and biggest, most profitable corporations all the breaks. Small business is a vital part of our economy and that is especially true in a rural area like ours. Jack Layton has a plan to lower small business taxes to nine per cent. We’ll also invest in job creation in Canada through our Job Creator Tax Credit. When that new hire lasts a year or more, companies will get a retention bonus too. We will extend the Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance for eligible machinery and equipment acquired before 2016 so that businesses can invest in new technologies and more modern equipment, making them more competitive. That’s how you create jobs in Canada. As I talk to small business owners across Huron-Bruce, they tell me that Jack Layton’s plan is the most practical and the only one that will help them right away. ES: We are still experiencing the after-effects of the recession after spending billions of dollars on aid to the automobile industry; and yet, factories were still shut down and people still got laid off or lost their jobs. By shifting taxes towards the carbon-producing industry we can make permanent jobs in both the green energy and blue collar industries. Canada is falling behind when it comes to the green economy, but we can change that. DV: I believe real jobs come from the private sector, the government’s role should be limited to a few basic regulatory guidelines. And of course, keeping taxation at a reasonable level, so people are interested in investment, which in turn, produces jobs. 3. Huron-Bruce has a high proportion of older people and a large generation approaching retirement. What will you and your party do to assist seniors to maintain an adequate standard of living? BL: Since coming into office in 2006, we have taken action to support seniors including increasing the Age Credit – twice – to increase the amount of income that can be earned without tax consequences; allowed senior couples to split their pension income for tax purposes; invested $400 million in better housing for low-income seniors, through our Economic Action Plan; and increased the amount GIS recipients can earn without losing benefits. A re-elected Conservative Government will increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement to provide up to $600 extra per year for single seniors and up to $840 per year for senior couples. CB: To assist our poorest seniors, we are allotting $700 million to prop up the Guaranteed Income Supplement. This will raise the 400,000 poorest seniors above the poverty line immediately. GR: This is a vitally important issue, not just for seniors, but for today’s workers. Seniors built this country; when we needed help they were there for us, yet pensions are becoming less secure and do not cover the costs of a lot of retired folks. After a lifetime of work and raising a family, you should be able to enjoy your retirement years, not worry about how you are going to pay the bills. Our family has experienced this insecurity first hand. Just before Christmas, after paying into her company’s pension plan for over 30 years, my mother received a letter in the mail that the company that had bought out the company that originally bought out the company she worked for decided to re- structure. Part of their re-structuring plan was to eliminate my mother and her co-workers’ pensions. As hard as it can be to believe, this is perfectly legal in Canada. Stephen Harper knows this situation exists and has done nothing. In fact, he has worked to try to defeat an NDP bill that would have put workers first, instead of the big banks and creditors. Almost 300,000 seniors are living in poverty in Canada. Last year we Canadians gave the big banks an $800 million tax break. The cost of lifting all seniors out of poverty would be about $700 million. That’s a government that has its priorities all wrong. It is a sign of how broken Ottawa has become. Jack Layton has an affordable plan to do right by our seniors and their families. The NDP will strengthen the pensions Canadians rely on and we’ll raise the GIS so no senior lives in poverty. But we won't stop there.Jack Layton’s NDP will invest infront-line health services so you canstay healthy and have the help you need if illness strikes. We’ll invest in homecare so that more families can get access to the help they need. We’ll extend drug coverage so that no senior has to choose between the drugs they need and putting food on the table. And we will introduce stiffer penalties for those who try to prey on seniors. ES: The Green Party has two policies designed to help our aging demographic. The first policy is income-splitting, which would not only help our seniors, but every family. For example, a family of four with one partner staying home with the children for a few years and the other partner earning $70,000 would be able to split their income into $35,000 each for tax purposes. The second thing we want to do is raise the GIS for seniors by 25 per cent and ensure that every individual has a guaranteed livable income. DV : If we can learn from history, we will know that, generally speaking, whatever the government does, or tries to do, it screws up, so I think we should start at an early age and teach children that they will need to grow up, and save for their own old age. In the meantime those that need the help to survive should receive the help they need. Mind you that does not, in my mind, include tropical vacations. 4. Health care is an important issue both for this older population and for families. Although health care is specifically a provincial responsibility, the federal government plays a major role in support. What will you and your party do to provide adequate support for health care? BL: Our government is committed to a universal public health care system and the Canada Health Act, and the right of provinces to deliver health care within their jurisdictions. Since taking office in 2006, we have increased the provincial transfer payment by 33 per cent, to a record $27 billion. Unlike the previous Liberal government, we won’t balance the budget by cutting health care. We have also: • Established the Patient Wait Times Guarantee Trust. • Established the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer in 2006 and renewed it in 2011. • Introduced and passed a law to protect families from dangerousproducts on store shelves (Canada’sConsumer Product Safety Act). • Launched the National Mental Health Commission. • Launched the Chemicals Management Plan and made Canada the first country in the world to ban Bisphenol A. • Passed legislation to protect children and youth from tobacco marketing. • Created the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit. If re-elected we will implement a plan to attract new doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners to rural and remote areas of Canada that continue to experience a shortage. We will do this by forgiving a portion of federal student loans for those who agree to practise in under-served rural or remote areas. We firmly believe that Canadians living in the rural Canada should have access to quality medical care close to home, just like people living in large urban centres. We also realize the importance of healthy lifestyle. Our government will double the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit and introduce an Adult Tax Credit to encourage a lifetime of healthy active living. CB: The Liberal government is fully committed to continue with the current agreed supplements to the provinces beyond 2014 and will be at the table to negotiate a sound funding arrangement that will relieve pressure on Canadian families, improve health outcomes, improve quality in the healthcare system and contain long term costs. We will foster a partnership with the provinces that will promote a drug plan for every Canadian and support bulk purchasing initiatives to lower the cost of prescription drugs. GR: The NDP is the party of health care. It was Tommy Douglas who fought to make sure health care was focused on your health, not private profit. As a father, husband and son, I worry about Stephen Harper’s commitment to keeping health care universal and public. He continues to use the term “alternative service delivery”. Those sound like political weasel words to me. When we or our loved ones have to use health care services, we want every dollar focused on our health care needs, not on scrimping to increase the profits of some large corporation like what happens in the Candidates offer economic recovery solutions A plethora of politicians Federal election candidates descended upon the Community Centre in Holmesville to question, answer and debate the issues during the all-candidates meeting hosted by the Huron County Federation of Agriculture on April 19. Shown are, from left, President of the Huron County Federation of Agriculture and debate moderator Marinus Bakker; Green Party candidate Eric Shelley; New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Grant Robertson; independent candidate Dennis Valenta; Liberal candidate Charlie Bagnato and incumbent Conservative candidate Ben Lobb. (Denny Scott photo) the Lawn Master 527-1750 Complete Landscape Design & Construction www.lawnmasterlandscaping.com Spring cleanups, Mulching, Garden beds, Lawn care Continued on page 12