Candidate Questionnaire
The Council of Canadians is a strictly non-partisan, not for profit organization with over 100,000 members and 70 chapters across Canada. The well-known author and activist Maude Barlow is our voluntary chairperson. Some of our major campaigns include the fight for not for profit health care, the protection of our water, fair trade, sustainable energy and environmental policies, and socially just initiatives at home and abroad.
Each election, we find ourselves inundated with sound bites from candidates and parties that give us a sense of their positions on various issues, but leave us wanting more details on the specifics of their policies. We do take a thorough look at the various web sites to view each party’s platform, however, in addition to this, the Council of Canadians – London Chapter has determined that asking each candidate who has registered in the 2008 London election to provide answers to a series of questions that reflect our core concerns as a chapter, would be beneficial to our members and your potential constituents. The questions we have determined have the most relevant connection to our specific interests are as follows…
1. Are you aware of the status of the Canadian government’s national policy on water? What is your position on the commodification of water and Canada’s stance on the human right to water?
2. Would you support renegotiating NAFTA? If so, what parts of the agreement would you like to see renegotiated and why?
3. Would you support changes in our health care system to allow more private-sector participation, or do you believe that our health care system should be run on a not-for-profit basis? Why? Can you outline what you would do to keep the private sector out of our national health care system?
4. What do you feel is the best role for Canada in the Afghanistan conflict? Or should Canada withdraw its troops?
5. What concrete steps would your federal party government take to reduce poverty in London, and across the country? How actively would you participate in this effort?
6. What would you commit to do to, at the federal government level that would help in the goal to assist the City of London to achieve status as a sustainable city?
7. Are you in favour of a National Energy Strategy? Could you outline your thoughts on this in summary?
8. Would you be prepared to support some form of electoral reform, such as the system suggested for the province of Ontario during the last election, at the federal government level? Would you support the establishment of a citizens committee to look into which system would be the most appropriate national proportional representation system for Canadians?
9. Given the very serious negative effects on our environment flowing out of the intensive agriculture industry (factory farming), would you be prepared to support a moratorium on any further permits or expansions?
10. And last but most importantly. We have seen many accounts, before and during this election campaign, in print, on the web and expressed verbally from many party representatives with respect to how to deal with the real and urgent problem of climate change and global warming. Will you, in the most clear and succinct way possible, the gist of the theory, how confident you are in the plan, and what you are personally doing to play a part in the solution to this ongoing problem? Also, would you be supportive of the concept of parliament legislating some form of “Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights”?
There are fourteen registered candidates in the 2008 London election, according to the Elections Canada web site. We have or will be sending out our questionnaire to all of the registered candidates. Our intention is to review the answers provided from the candidates with the members of our Political Action Committee. We also expect that we will make your responses on these important questions available to our members.
If you should choose to not respond, this will also be noted.
Please let us know through email that you have received this communication and your intentions with respect to participating. If we don’t hear from you very soon we will try to contact you by phone, and if this fails we will have to assume you have declined to participate.
Thanks for your cooperation, we wish you the best of luck in your campaign.
Council of Canadians
London Chapter
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Proportional representation is coming up at every ACM I’ve seen reported and likely for two reasons.
The Green Party has arrived. They might get more votes than the Bloc Quebecois and still not come close to electing anyone because of the way their votes are spread out across the country. In the meantime, the Bloc could win 50 seats because their votes are concentrated.
If the splits fall out right, the Conservatives could set a new record and win a “majority” government with less than 38% of the votes. A lot of people don’t like that idea, including some Conservatives.
Fair Vote Canada is holding a contest, with cash prizes, to guess how many voters will waste their votes in this election on candidates who don’t get elected, and end up “represented” by people they voted against. Post your guess here: http://www.OrphanVoters.ca/
As for me, there’s an ACM tonight in my community. I’ll be distributing a Fair Vote Canada flyer and bringing a FVC petition with me. When I get my turn at the microphone, I’ll be asking the candidates to sign that petition.