One of the few topics that every election candidate chimed in on during last night’s all-candidates debate in Kamloops was the environment.
Green Party candidate Iain Currie major changes are needed within 10 years based on research from the Internation Panel on Climate Change
“We are proposing that we move away from fossil fuel extraction, we move away from basically making the problem worse. That we move away from fossil fuels and the oil sands, and we do that before 2030.
Liberal Party candidate Terry Lake says he came out of political retirement because of climate change – but says if you go too quickly, you will cause an economic shock wave.
“Right now everyone cares about the environment, that’s great. That gives us this momentum to actually do something about it. But when people are out of work and they’re worried about putting food on the table, the environment doesn’t come first anymore.”
People’s Party of Canada candidate Ken Finlayson challenged those responses, who says predictions by scientists have been wrong for decades.
“There are a lot of scientists, reputable scientists, who claim that man-made CO2 is not the cause of climate warming.”
Conservative candidate Cathy McLeod says her party will focus on technology and not taxes, and took aim at the federal carbon tax.
“We believe that the carbon tax is at a level that just hurts individuals. Especially in communities like Kamloops and Clearwater, where you don’t have the public transit you’d have in larger places like Vancouver. There is an enormous opportunity with technology.”
Communist Party candidate Peter Kerek says to tackle climate change – every level of government has to get away from the “power structures” that corporations hold.
“In the capitalist system, you can’t object to the desires of the powerful and achieve significant change. Right now we know that oil and extractive industries have a stranglehold on our government.”
Animal Protection Party candidate Kira Cheeseborough says Canada can move to a steady-state economy, and NDP candidate Cynthia Egli says her government would end fossil fuel subsidies.
Meanwhile, a few people approached by Radio NL after the debate say they’ve decided who to vote for following last night’s debate.
“I’m new to Kamloops and this is my first election here. I was really impressed by the diversity and the wide scope of questions that were asked here tonight,” said one person, who wished to remain nameless. “The format was excellent, well moderated and fantastic to see that this community has such a great selection of people to choose from.”
“Yes, that was great,” added another. “It’s always refreshing to hear all the different ways that people have ideas. I was undecided, but now I’m decided.”
Election Day is Monday, October 21, with advanced polls happening all through the Thanksgiving weekend.
