Q-and-A with Brandon-Souris candidate Whitney Hodgins

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/09/2021 (1661 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.

The NDP candidate for Brandon-Souris is Whitney Hodgins, a local advocate for people with disabilities who speaks openly about living with autism. This is her first foray into federal politics, but she did spend time as a vice-president for the Brandon University Students’ Union. 

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?

For me as a candidate, economic recovery is a priority and it’s a priority for the rest of the NDP candidates as well running in this election. I know a lot of businesses, especially small businesses, have been hit hard by the lockdowns issued by the Manitoba government and elsewhere. Our platform not only wants to focus on an economic recovery, we want it to encapsulate everyone’s needs in a meaningful way. We are committed to creating a million new jobs over the next few years. We want to also build a greener economy where we are providing a meaningful solution to climate change through consultation and teamwork with all levels of government, including Indigenous governments.

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

I believe that until such a time as we get a handle on the pandemic, immunization cards need to remain in place. However, if there was anything that I could change and fight for is we need to have alternative measures for people who for health reasons can’t be vaccinated. This will be a very small minority of folks who are unable to be vaccinated. But we would need to work with medical professionals and provincial governments to possibly create that alternative. Because as a disability advocate and a person living with a disability, it’s been extremely difficult for the disability community. And increasingly that’s what they say is a possible thing we can do is having an alternative for them.

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? 

As a candidate who has been threatened personally on the campaign trail, I believe there need to be stricter measures put in place to protect candidates. Elections Canada has very little power in their investigations to actually act on some of the things that take place. I believe we need to be doing more for those who put their name on the ballot. We are human beings just like everyone else, and there is no place for threats and acts of violence to be directed towards us.

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

We as a party are committed to implementing all of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action, the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, as well as working with Indigenous communities in a collaborative way to bring Indigenous communities out of poverty. We also are committed to investing in having all major cities have hate crime investigation units as well as create a national working group to counter online hate. The NDP will always stand up against all forms of racism and hate.

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 first thing we need to do is we need to create an aid program for farmers through consultation that addresses the needs of all farmers struggling due to climate change. Under the Liberal government, they had addressed the issue right before the writ dropped as an emergency measure. But with no guarantee that that support will be there next year, we need to ensure there is the creation of a long-term aid program. When addressing climate change, we are committed to reaching zero net emissions by 2030. We are committed to retrofitting homes with green renewable energy. In addition, we are working to invest in clean renewable energy sources that are here in Canada. We also are committed to consulting with all levels of government, including Indigenous communities.

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?

The NDP is committed to keeping assault weapons and handguns off the streets by addressing gun smuggling and organized crime. We want to tackle gang activity by making sure communities have access to anti-gang project funding to deter at-risk youth to join gangs.

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?

When I look at Brandon-Souris, I see great potential when we look at addressing health care. For a number of years, the provincial government has made significant cuts to health care and education alike. One of the things the NDP is committed to doing is investing in long-term care facilities that are publicly owned, not privately owned. I know that we are actually due to have another long-term care facility. Having another long-term care facility would reduce the practitioner-to-client ratio that exists in our current long-term care facilities. It would increase the amount of one-on-one time that clients have with staff, and it would greatly improve health care for our seniors. We are also wanting to have prescription drug coverage for Canadians regardless of income, job status, age or health status. These two things will create a ripple effect that would lead to better health care for all citizens.

» The Brandon Sun