Q-and-A with Brandon-Souris candidate Linda Branconnier

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This article was published 16/09/2021 (1662 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On election day this coming Monday, there are four candidates vying to earn votes from the residents of Brandon-Souris to become the riding’s next member of Parliament.

This includes incumbent Larry Maguire, running for the Conservative Party of Canada, Linda Branconnier of the Liberal Party of Canada, Whitney Hodgins for the New Democratic Party, and Tylor Baer of the People’s Party of Canada.

To help voters get a better idea of what the candidates and their parties stand for, we sent out seven questions on important issues to each candidate and asked them to submit written answers.

All candidates participated except for Baer, who did not respond.

Answers have been edited for length, clarity and style.

In Saturday’s paper, the Sun will run answers to similar questions from candidates in Westman’s other riding, Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa.

In the upcoming Sept. 20 federal election, Linda Branconnier is running for the Liberal Party of Canada in Brandon-Souris.

1. How would you and your party support the hard-hit businesses of Brandon-Souris as the country attempts to recover economically from COVID-19?

The fight against COVID-19 is not over, but the Liberal Party has been there to support workers and businesses since the pandemic began. One year ago, we launched a campaign to create over one million jobs, and even as we fought back against the second and third wave of COVID-19, we are on track, with almost 900,000 jobs regained. To date, Canada has recovered 92 per cent of jobs lost during the pandemic (compared to 75 per cent in the United States). We created the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) to provide direct support for eligible workers who lost income due to COVID-19, the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) which helped businesses keep more than five million Canadians at work, the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) to support businesses with their rent payments, and the Canada Recovery Hiring Program will be extended to provide supports to businesses hiring more workers and getting Canadians back on the job. We will continue to support Canadians and their businesses as we build back better from COVID-19.

2. How do you think the idea of vaccine mandates and immunization cards should be handled?

Vaccination is the best defence against COVID-19, and the best way out of this pandemic. In order to protect people at work, ensure businesses can operate safely and make sure kids can stay safely in school, we must do what we can to keep public spaces safe. Vaccination cards give people the confidence of knowing that others around them are fully vaccinated. Data also shows that this leads to increased vaccination rates and gives people confidence that it is safe to go to restaurants, to shop and to be out in their communities.

3. There have been instances of political candidates getting threatened or having things thrown at them on the campaign trail. What do you believe should be done in response to these incidents?

It is completely unacceptable to threaten candidates and to assault them. This has no place in our democracy and in our country. We understand that there are different beliefs, different ideologies, different ideas on how to best move our country forward. We should be able to discuss and debate these ideas in a civilized and respectful manner. There are laws to deal with those that make the decision to threaten and assault those they disagree with, and those responsible for such unacceptable acts should be charged.

4. What will you and your party do to meaningfully address reconciliation and racism?

We have been committed to working with Indigenous Peoples to build a nation-to-nation, government-to-government relationship that is based on respect, partnership and the affirmation and recognition of rights. Significant progress has been made with First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation, but we must continue this work. A re-elected Liberal government will continue to support Indigenous-led processes for the rebuilding and reconstituting nations, advance self-determination and work in partnership on the implementation of treaties, land claims, and self-government agreements. We must address the legacy of colonialism and residential schools. We have and will continue to support and provide funding to Indigenous communities in their work to uncover burial grounds, for commemoration ceremonies, honouring memorials and re-burial in their home communities. We will also implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), continue to support First Nations-led processes to transition away from the Indian Act, accelerate the resolution of land claims, and further support and fund the revitalization of Indigenous laws, legal systems and traditions to name just a few.

5. Canada has seen a lot of extreme weather this year, causing drought, flooding, wildfires and massive storms. What would you and your party do to tackle climate change and its effects on Canadians?

The extreme heat wave and wildfires across Canada this summer have underscored the urgency of fighting and adapting to climate change. Canadians need leadership that is prepared to face the reality of climate change and to take strong action to prepare for future extreme weather events and keep Canadians safe and healthy. We introduced Canada’s first-ever national climate plan in 2016, becoming the first government to set a climate target and lay out a path to meet it. Under our plan, emissions in 2030 will be 36 per cent lower than 2005 levels, unlike the previous Conservative government’s plan that was on a path for a 12 per cent emissions increase by 2030. We will continue to support Canadians by investing in the green economy, public transportation, electric vehicles, eliminating single-use plastics and ensuring that there is a price on pollution. A lot has been done, but we must continue this work. Our planet’s future depends on it.

6. Gun control has been a hot topic during the campaign. What are your and your party’s stances on how the government regulates firearms?

Our communities should be safe and peaceful places to live and to raise our children, but we have seen incidents of gun violence increasing in our country. There is no reason why a Canadian needs to own military-style assault weapons like the AR-15 or Rugar Mini-14 (that was used in the École Polytechnique massacre). Responsible, law-abiding hunters do not need, nor would they use, an AR-15 to take down a deer. We need to take a strong stand to make sure all Canadians feel safe, which is why we banned 1,500 assault firearms like these from Canada. A re-elected Liberal government will toughen the laws on banned assault weapons by making it mandatory for owners to either sell the firearm back to the government for destruction and fair compensation or having it rendered fully and permanently inoperable at government expense and cracking down on high-capacity magazines to limit capacity. Our government will continue the work of protecting Canadians, and unlike the Conservatives, we will not co-operate with the gun lobby to repeal the ban on these assault weapons.

7. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare deficiencies in Canada and Manitoba’s health-care systems. What would you and your party do to fix the gaps and improve patient care?

From day one of the pandemic, we made significant investments to ensure Canadians have the health care they need. Eight out of every 10 dollars spent in response to COVID-19 came from the Liberal government. From investing in pandemic surge capacity, public health care, moving forward on pharmacare or procuring vaccines for every single Canadian, we have had Canadians’ backs. We will continue to invest in improving the quality and availability of long-term care beds, eliminating wait lists, hiring more family doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners, expanding virtual health services, mental health services, better substance abuse treatment programs and continuing to stand up for our Universal Public Health Care System. Unlike the Conservatives, we will also protect a woman’s right to choose and will establish regulations under the Canada Health Act governing accessibility for sexual and reproductive health services so there is no question, that no matter where someone lives, that they have access to publicly available sexual health services.

» The Brandon Sun