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The Times Advocate, 2008-10-01, Page 9Wednesday, October 1, 2008 Times -Advocate 9 Lambton-Kent-Middlesex candidates have their say All candidates, minus one —An all -candidates meeting for the Lambton-Kent-Middlesex riding was held Saturday night at Grand Bend Public School. Pictured from left are Micheal Janssens (Christian Heritage Party), Bev Shipley (Conservatives), Jim Johnston (Green) and Jeff Wesley (Liberal). Joe Hill of the NDP did not attend the meeting. (photo/Scott Nixon) By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF GRAND BEND — Voters in Lambton- Kent-Middlesex (LKM) got to know their candidates in the Oct. 14 federal election a bit better Saturday night during an all - candidates meeting at Grand Bend Public School. Speaking and taking questions Saturday night were LKM candidates Micheal Janssens of the Christian Heritage Party (CHP), Jim Johnston of the Green Party, incumbent LKM Conservative MP Bev Shipley and Liberal Jeff Wesley. Joe Hill of the NDP did not attend the meeting. Each candidate had a chance to make opening statements before taking ques- tions from the audience. Wesley said it is "time to shake things up in Ottawa," adding this election, while unjustified, is about the future. Wesley said if elected the Liberals will double child benefits, make income tax cuts, invest in manufacturing, create a new doctor and nurse incentive fund for rural medical practices and introduce a new drug plan. He said the government needs to put people first. Johnston admitted the Green Party is still "unknown" to many Canadians and encouraged voters to visit the party website to read its platform and learn about its "fully -costed budget." Johnston said democracy is broken in Canada and Canadians need more accountability from its politicians. "This election is critically important in Canada," Johnston said. He said the climate crisis isn't going to change and we need to take immediate action. He said the daily drilling of oil is leaving behind "an empty shell" of a planet to our grandchildren. Incumbent Shipley said since taking government in 2006, the Conservatives have done what they set out to do — cut taxes, paid down the debt, invested in the military and made the streets safer. He said the Conservatives believe in lower taxes, allowing Canadians to invest their money how they want, while the Liberals believe hi higher taxes and pose a "risk to your future." Janssens, as a CHP candidate, said he has signed a candidate's pledge that he will remain answerable to God and added the country is based on religion. He said the CHP wants to create an economically stable, community -centred society and wants to ban abortion, which he said takes away innocent lives. Janssens also spoke out against gay marriage, saying, "There is no such thing as same-sex marriage," and said it's dangerous to society. During the public question period, Dave Clark of Ipperwash asked the can- didates to comment on energy, referring to high gas prices and green energy. Shipley said the Conservatives have stepped forward when it comes to renewable energy. He said Canada is an energy -producing nation and pointed to water, solar, wind and bio -fuel. He said his party has put forward a bio -fuel ini- tiative to help take away Canada's dependency on fossil fuels. Janssens also spoke in favour of renewable energy, although he said the Kyoto Accord was "a panic reaction to bad science." He said any money going towards the Kyoto agreement should be used to invest in renewable energy. Wesley said Canada will need a mix of various types of energy in the future. Explaining that a lot of jobs have been lost, he said the gov- ernment has to create jobs in green technolo- gy Johnston said the price of oil long-term is not going to come down and we need to invest in a green econ- omy and reduce our use of oil. Johnston spoke in favour of developing local products for local consumption. "Community is the source of the solu- tion," he said. Dave McClure of Lambton Shores noted that Canada had surpluses under the Liberal government. "What happened to the surplus?" he asked. Wesley said the Liberals had eight con- secutive balanced budgets and the last time the Conservatives had a balanced budget when they weren't living off a Liberal surplus was 1912. Wesley said the Chretien Liberals eliminated the Mulroney deficit. He added the party believes in having a $3 billion contingency plan; the Conservatives, on the other hand, don't have one. Johnston said economic responsibility is needed and the Green Party budget has a surplus to pay down the debt every year. Shipley said the Conservatives have paid down $40 billion in debt and, refer- ring to the Liberals' surpluses, he said it's easy to have a surplus when you're not looking after the country. He said the Liberals put the military into near extinction and downloaded responsibili- ties to the provinces. Janssens said paying down the debt is important and the CHP would increase debt repayments. He said the govern- ment needs to stop squandering taxpay- ers' money. John Bourdeau of Ipperwash Beach asked the candidates if their party would rectify the inequality in federal transfer payments to Ontario. Johnston said transfer payments are "a bit of a shell game," and said there is a lack of transparency in government transactions. He added the government has been less than honest when it comes to what services are being downloaded to the provinces. "We need the facts," he said. Shipley said adjustments are needed in transfer payments. He said central Canada has been the industry and man- ufacturing centre of the country and has been hurt because of the economic downturn in the U.S. Janssens said transfer payments are important in keeping programs. He added health care in Ontario is "badly, badly broken" and infrastruc- ture has to be revamped, a pri- ority for the CHP. Wesley said Ontario isn't get- ting its fair share of transfer pay- ments and added Ontario workers have to work longer to qualify for Employment Insurance benefits and get fewer benefits than the rest of the country. Pointing to infrastructure, he said the Liberals have a $70 billion infrastruc- ture plan. Shipley said the Employment Insurance disparity has been around a long time. Wesley said the Conservatives have no plan to replace the lost manufacturing jobs. He said we need fiscal responsibili- ty during economic downturns and the government needs to protect its citizens. Johnston said the Greens will create green sector jobs that are local and sus- tainable. He said Canadians are getting tired of their federal parties blaming each other for everything and "we need to change the climate in Parliament." McClure also asked about income trusts, saying the Conservatives said they wouldn't impose taxes on them, but then did. "Should we be supporting a govern- ment that doesn't tell the truth?" McClure asked. Janssens said politicians who break promises shouldn't be re-elected. Explaining the CHP tax proposal, he said the party has a plan to eliminate income tax and replace it with a con- sumption tax. Wesley said the Conservatives said they wouldn't tax income trusts, then did and hurt people "tremendously." He Speaking and taking questions Saturday night were LKM candidates Micheal Janssens of the Christian Heritage Party (CHP), Jim Johnston of the Green Party, incumbent LKM Conservative MP Bev Shipley and Liberal Jeff Wesley. said the Liberals would roll back the taxes. Johnston said even under the Freedom of Information Act you still can't get an answer on how much money the gov- ernment was losing on income trusts. He said there is a lack of accountability and Canadians have the power to take back their government and send politi- cians "to the penalty box." Shipley said something had to be done about income trusts and pointed out the tax doesn't start until 2011. He said the Liberals also would have imposed the tax and said the Liberals have a carbon tax plan that will "tax everything you purchase." Carole Birchmore of the Ilderton area asked if global warming can be fought without raising personal taxes. Wesley said the Liberals' green shift program will be revenue neutral and will reduce income taxes up to 10 per cent with incentives for businesses. He said the program makes large polluters pay and provides savings to everyday Canadians. "Where's the Conservative plan and what's it cost?" Wesley asked. Johnston said a green shift is impor- tant and taxes 011 income should be reduced, while taxes on carbon should be increased, putting more money in people's pockets so they can spend selectively. Shipley said the Liberals did nothing for the environment when they were in power and the Conservatives have set achievable targets to reduce pollution but won't tax Canadians to do it. Janssens said "global warming is not happening," and said the planet has in fact been cooling. But he added we are here to take care of the planet, not to own it and money should be invested into renewable energies. Clark asked how long Canada should stay involved in Afghanistan. Wesley said Canada is committed until 2011. He said soldiers are dying every- day and there is much uncertainty. "We must support our soldiers," he said, adding Canada should go back to its traditional peacekeeping role. Johnston said Canada needs to phase down its military role in Afghanistan and help rebuild the infrastructure in that country. He pointed out that Prime Minister Stephen Harper wanted Canada to go to war in Iraq along with the U.S. "We should keep that in mind," he said. Shipley said we can't just pull out of Afghanistan and stability is needed there. He said Canada will stay there until 2011. He also pointed out the Conservatives have put a lot of money into the military and the Liberals had no debate on Afghanistan when they were in power. Janssens said we won the Second World War by sticking with it until the end. He said we need to win the war on terror "because the alternative is unthinkable to me ... we win or we lose." Norm Tufts of Lambton Shores asked why Lambton coal plants haven't installed Westinghouse plasma burners which are so effective in coal plants they emit air cleaner than air entering the facility. Johnston said we need to move away from carbon producers and move into clean energy. He said he suspects the effectiveness of the device Tufts was referring to was exaggerated. Janssens said he had never heard of the product, but agreed with Johnston that its effectiveness is exaggerated. He said cleaning up coal plants is a noble idea and the CHP would support it. Wesley said in the Liberal green shift plan there is money available for green technology. Tufts responded that the Westinghouse device is a proven device but there is "gross ignorance" about it. He said it's used all over Japan.