Candidate profile -- Accountability essential for Sopuck

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This article was published 10/10/2015 (1101 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEEPAWA — Standing at the podium, Robert Sopuck tells stories about his past to a room of approximately 30 Neepawa Rotarians.

The Conservative incumbent for Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa focuses on his history as a conservationist, telling stories about the time he caught his first fish or the time he took his wife Caroline out moose-calling for their first date.

The campaign stop is designed as a meet-and-greet with the club, which has already seen the majority of the other four candidates stop by. When Sopuck is finished, he takes questions from the audience before sitting down to discuss the issues affecting his riding and the nation as a whole.

The fisheries biologist is passionate when asked if he believes the government is muzzling scientists.

"There are all kinds of scientists with tenure in universities and they’re not being muzzled by anybody," Sopuck said.

As for civil servants, he said regardless of which government is in power, they can’t publicly oppose policy while remaining in the same role.

They can’t have it both ways, he said — access to decision-makers and the ability to send papers and suggestions up the chain, while also publicly commenting on policy.

"It is unconscionable for a civil servant to publicly question government policy and here’s why," Sopuck said. "I’m accountable for government policy and I’m accountable for what I say and people can vote for or against me based on what I say ... If a civil servant wants to speak out, he or she should put their name on a ballot like I did and get out and speak out."

Sopuck won the last election in a landslide, picking up more than 63 per cent of the vote.

This election has a different feel, however, as he is running against two former MPs for the riding, including the man he replaced.

Inky Mark, who held the seat from 1997 to 2010, is running as an Independent, while Laverne Lewycky, who won the seat in 1980, is carrying the NDP banner again. Green candidate Kate Storey and Liberal Ray Piché are also vying for the seat.

The Conservative government has been hammered on its record on climate change. Sopuck said the criticism is nothing more than a "talking point" from the parties on the left.

"Climate change exists," Sopuck said. "Pumping this much CO2 into the atmosphere will have an effect."

However, "I utterly reject the environmental views of our critics because they never back it up with facts."

He’s quick to point out Canada’s percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions has decreased from 2.1 per cent in 2005 to 1.6 per cent in 2011.

But those numbers don’t tell the full story as the amount of global greenhouse gas has increased substantially over the same time as the economies of China and India grew.

From 2007 to 2009, Canada’s megatonnes (Mt) of greenhouse gas fell from 761 Mt to 699 Mt as the global recession slowed the economy. Since 2009, Canada’s emissions have slowly climbed to the point where in 2013, the country produced 726 Mt of greenhouse gas, according to Environment Canada.

"We are a natural resource-based economy. The 575,000 families who are supported by the oilsands are extremely important, and the callousness by which the Elizabeth Mays and Tom Mulcairs just cast them aside, I find appalling," Sopuck said. "They’re basically advocating for the destruction of our economy."

Sopuck’s riding is one of the largest in the country. With 14 First Nations within the boundaries, one in four people is aboriginal. It’s also one of the poorest ridings, with an average income near $16,000, according to the 2011 census.

In the 1970s, Dauphin was the site of an experimental project called Mincome, based on the premise of providing every adult with a basic income.

While a final report was never issued, a Manitoba economist studied the project and determined a guaranteed annual income decreased visits to the emergency room from car accidents and domestic abuse.

Sopuck didn’t close the door on the idea.

"I am very intrigued by the idea of a guaranteed annual income," he said, adding that it would take a careful examination of the numbers. "It just might work."

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