Q-and-A with Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa candidate Kevin Carlson

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This article was published 17/09/2021 (1662 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the residents of Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa go to the polls for the federal election on Sept. 20, they’ll have six candidates spanning the political spectrum to choose from.

Incumbent Conservative candidate Dan Mazier will look to keep his job while Green candidate Shirley Lambrecht, Liberal candidate Kevin Carlson, Maverick candidate Lori Falloon-Austin, NDP candidate Arthur Holroyd, and PPC candidate Donnan McKenna try to unseat him.

To help voters in the riding gain a better idea of each candidate and their party’s policies, the Sun sent them six questions, for which they provided written responses.

Answers were received from all candidates except for the NDP and have been edited for length, clarity and style. Please note that The Brandon Sun does not necessarily endorse or agree with the opinions expressed by participating candidates.

A Q-and-A with Brandon-Souris candidates was published Friday.

Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa’s federal Liberal candidate is Kevin Carlson. Though Carlson lives in The Pas, he grew up in Winnipegosis, approximately 60 kilometres northeast of Dauphin. Carlson, who is Métis, is the executive director of The Pas Friendship Centre.

1. Agricultural producers are being hit hard by dry conditions this year. What would you and your party do to assist struggling farmers?

A Liberal government has committed $100 million to AgriRecovery initiatives in Western Canada. The Manitoba government will provide the mechanism to distribute the funding to ranchers in the province through supports for purchasing hay and a plan for the ability to restock the herd in the event of a quick sell-off this fall. 

2. 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?

A re-elected Liberal government will work with provinces, territories, and farmers — including Indigenous and young farmers — to update business risk management agriculture programs to fully integrate climate risk management, environmental practices and climate readiness.

 

• Develop an investment tax credit of up to 30 per cent for a range of clean technologies including low-carbon and net-zero technologies with input from external experts on what technologies should be covered.
• Build on existing advisory services for emerging clean technology firms to guide them, from formation to export, on the opportunities and challenges before them.
• Provide support and incentives for domestic procurement of Canadian clean technology. By partnering with other levels of government and existing large companies, we can help emerging Canadian clean technology firms secure customers here in Canada.
• Triple funding for clean tech on farms, including for renewable energy, precision agriculture and energy efficiency.
• Partner with post-secondary institutions and Indigenous organizations to accelerate the creation and growth of Indigenous clean technology businesses.

 

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

A re-elected Liberal government will provide funding towards the construction of a permanent home for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. We will also provide sustained financial support for the centre for core operations in fulfilling the mandate issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with dedicated support for the work on missing children and unmarked graves; commit an additional $1.4 billion for a distinctions-based mental health and wellness strategy with First Nations, Inuit, and the Métis Nation, expanding on our recent commitment of $597.6 million, for a total investment of $2 billion over five years. We understand that this work will take time and will need to be guided by communities, survivors, and their families.

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

I believe vaccine mandates should be delivered by a government that follows the direction and advice of scientists and doctors/nurses. A federal government should work with the province to ensure the plans of seamless integration of provincially driven vaccine cards occurs. In other words, a card processed in Manitoba should be recognizable and accepted in B.C., just as a card produced in Quebec should be easily accepted here.

5. 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?

The response should be handled by the RCMP and/or local police, and those individuals should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

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?

A Liberal government will toughen our 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 have it rendered fully and permanently inoperable at government expense. Our government will crack down on high-capacity magazines and require that long gun magazines capable of holding more than five rounds be permanently altered so that they can never hold more than five rounds.

» The Brandon Sun