Why I'm voting PPC

[Lady tehMa]

A question was asked of me, and so I answered it. It was suggested to me that this particular post should be elsewhere, so here it is.

At the moment, the only politician I favour is Maxime Bernier.

Curious. That would not be consistent with your centrist/right-leaning. Can you tell us why you would favour him?

Hoo boy, this may take a bit, I saw it before I left for work but didn't have time to work on it.

Their platform https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/platform

1) Balancing the budget in 2 years - I'm very fiscally conservative and this whole Lib/Trudeau "spray money at everything" is something I feel is debilitating our country.

2) Here's their economic policy, I don't disagree with it https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/economy_encouraging_investment_and_productivity_growth

3) Aboriginal issues - I particularly like how they want to replace the Indian act

A People’s Party government will explore options to replace the paternalistic Indian Act, which keeps aboriginals in a state of dependency and allows the federal government to control most aspects of their lives, with a new legal framework that guarantees equal rights and responsibilities to aboriginal people as Canadians, and promotes the self-reliance of communities.

And the bit about encouraging the bands to allow individual ownership - too much power is in the hands of the bands and not their people. I'd personally like to see them go a step further and make it mandatory for bands - in partnership with the government - provide clean drinking water to each community. But they have to have a stake in it too.

4) Veterans - they've gotten the shaft from every other party, the Liberal party in particular. My dad served, my grandparents on both sides served, as did my great-grandparents. My son plans to. I would like to see them treated better. Not "You're asking for more than we can give right now". If someone loses a limb in service to our country, we need to take care of them. If they get PTSD, we need to take care of them. Simple humanitarianism, not discarding them because they are of no use anymore. Helping them reintegrate into society with a job/trade.

5) Canadian Identity - multiculturalism isn't a bad thing per se, but lately, it is becoming tribalism and promoting divides in our people. I'd like to see a focus on building the Canadian identity and integration into our ways and values while respecting heritage as just that - heritage. I have a number of cultures in my background - one from a country that no longer exists as they were when my grandfather emigrated.

6) Refugees - we need to allow them to come to Canada, but we need to choose the persecuted groups. We need to bring them in, in smaller groups so that they will integrate better, so we can place them better. Also so we can manage the funding for them more efficiently. I'd personally like to see them brought into smaller communities. Is there a refugee doctor? Put them in a small community that needs one. Task those communities with welcoming and assisting them. But we need to spread them out and not concentrate them in the larger centres.

7) Immigration -
https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/immigration_reducing_overall_levels_and_prioritizing_skilled_immigrants
I agree with the points in here. Immigrants (and refugees) inevitably put a strain on our social systems so we need to bring in people who will strengthen those by contributing. We should be allowed to pick and choose who comes based on skillset and what they can offer us. I am a grandchild & great-grandchild of immigrants. One set of my great grandparents homesteaded on a farm in the Fernie area. They built their own home and created a working farm from scratch. They raised their children there and sent them to school. English became their primary language (it wasn't spoken where they came from). They integrated, they became part of the community and gave back. We have a lot of little communities in Canada that are struggling, that need new people. Maybe some immigrants with ideas could revitalize these communities - they have a lot to offer.

8) Pipelines - I feel our current government has really castrated this industry. I think we do need to take care of the environment, but only people raised in cities think the small communities can function without fossil fuels.

9) Censorship - https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/freedom_of_expression_protecting_canadians_from_censorship_and_discrimination
Freedom of Speech is critical. I think everyone should be respectful, but some people won't be. Even if I think someone is an idiot, I think they should be allowed to speak their mind. But the direction society is taking this is scary, with it's Orwellian "wrongthink" and the way people are trying to control it. I want people to be able to say what is on their minds - how else will I know how to interact with them (or avoid them, as the case may be). Scheer is down for censorship and that is one reason I will NOT vote for him.

10) Foreign Policy https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/foreign_policy_focusing_on_the_security_and_prosperity_of_canadians
Too many of our leaders are trying to keep up with countries who have more population and money to spend on things. This "keeping up with the Joneses" is driving us deeper into debt while we hamstring our social programs. My hopes would be to take the money pouring out of our country and redirect it to spend on our country. Put it into our education, our healthcare, our infrastructure. Fund scholarships for more doctors and nurses (who would make a commitment to serve where needed for a set time period). Fund clean water for OUR communities. Fund mental health care initiatives and institutions, fund housing for the homeless. There is so much need at home . . .

11) Globar Warming and the Environment. https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/global_warming_and_environment_rejecting_alarmism_and_focusing_on_concrete_improvements This is a big one - and a long explanation.
I personally don't believe things are as dire as some of the scientists say. It isn't universally agreed. Some scientists disagree with what is being presented to the world's governments.
I grew up being told our air would be unbreathable by the 90's. That the hole in the ozone layer would mean no one would be able to go outside anymore by the 2000's. That by this time we would also be in a mini-ice age. The alarmism all the time has become like the boy who cried wolf. I don't place much stock in it. I see what happens to kids like Greta Thunberg, stressed and panicked about things because they've been told they're going to die. I was like that once, and I'm not now because I've lived longer than the predictions and seen so much of it fail. Obama, he who spoke at great length about how global warming will cause the rising of the oceans and destroy the lives of coastal dwellers - just bought a waterfront estate. Seems like he doesn't really believe and yet he was one of the louder voices.
Do we need to take care of our environment? Yes. Does our climate change? Also yes. There was a mini ice age from roughly 1300 to 1850. We didn't cause that, did we? Why are so many archaeological sites being found underwater? Drought in Spain reveals a stone henge. https://www.sciencealert.com/intense-drought-in-europe-has-revealed-an-ancient-spanish-stonehenge A fish weir in 400 feet of water https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/13800-year-old-haida-site-found-underwater-canada-002485. Our earth is not static. So the panicked alarmism offends me. The idea that we must go cold-turkey on fossil fuels also offends me. Who will it hurt? Not the rich. Not the city dwellers. Just everyone else. Sure, let's develop our green industry and transition, but do it in a way that does not penalize the poor and the people in distant and small communities. So that is why I'm going along with this section because I do not follow the alarmist path.

12) Making dairy/poultry/eggs more affordable. Yes, please!
https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/sup ... affordable

13) Getting rid of interprovincial trade barriers
Why do we even have them? https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/int ... e_barriers

14) Health Care
https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/health_care_giving_provinces_the_incentives_to_deal_with_wait_times_and_rising_costs
This seems like a good idea to me

15) Guns
https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/firearms_respecting_legal_firearms_owners_and_targeting_criminals
It's the criminals who are the problem. Not the hunters and target shooters. I think all people need to learn more about firearms so they'll stop being so afraid of them.

16) Equalization
https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/equalization_fairness_for_all_provinces
I don't know about you, but I'm 100% on board with this.

And there you have it.
We need to take care of our people and I'm tired of being milked for so many taxes. It's not easy to make ends meet anymore, my husband has a second job on the side now. Our kids are at home because they haven't been able to move out. But at least we have food on the table.

Some of the questions I'd like to ask leaders - have you ever used a food bank? Has anyone you known ever used one? Have you ever lived on an income UNDER $80,000 a year (for the family)?

I am leaning towards the PPC because they are addressing things that the forgotten population cares about.

[Drip_Torch]

Thanks for that Lady tehMa. I happened to catch a bit of our all candidates meeting (okay, well all of it) and I heard the PPC candidate say the party wasn't a "whipped party" - meaning MP's would be able to vote the way they choose.

Do you happen to know if that is true?

[1791]

Im torn between ppc and cpc. My heart is with the people. However i feel it could keep JT in power. Not sure what to do. Guess vote late that way i can cover my bets. If it is close vote cpc. If it is over. Vote for Bernier and a future for Canadian families

[Lady tehMa]

Thanks for that Lady tehMa. I happened to catch a bit of our all candidates meeting (okay, well all of it) and I heard the PPC candidate say the party wasn't a "whipped party" - meaning MP's would be able to vote the way they choose.

Do you happen to know if that is true?

As far as I know, it is.

I've met/spoken with both our local candidate John Barr (he was at the PPC office on Gordon) and Maxime Bernier (when he was in town in May). They are people who are tired of the political BS and games.

[Lady tehMa]

Im torn between ppc and cpc. My heart is with the people. However i feel it could keep JT in power. Not sure what to do. Guess vote late that way i can cover my bets. If it is close vote cpc. If it is over. Vote for Bernier and a future for Canadian families

I understand that. I'm at the point where I can't vote for something I don't believe in, anymore. I have been cynical about politics for a while and this is the first time in a very long while I've felt invested. Enough to go put some signs up.

[Drip_Torch]

As far as I know, it is.

I've met/spoken with both our local candidate John Barr (he was at the PPC office on Gordon) and Maxime Bernier (when he was in town in May). They are people who are tired of the political BS and games.

Tired of political BS and games - check.

I saw Sean Taylor.

During the intro's he sounded a bit too populist for my liking and I tuned out for a while, but I'll admit I had a bit of a dismissive bias going in. Then as they got into the questions he impressed me with a few of the answers. He said more than a couple of things that I didn't expect to hear from a right of center candidate. Finally, around the opioid crisis questions he explained that they were not a whipped party and that he would have to approach things with his experience as a health care professional. That's when I really started paying attention.

He did say a few refreshingly progressive things.

Too bad about the Mark Friesen tweets. It really does make it hard for me to take them seriously, but I do hope they manage to influence a renewal of sorts.

[Drip_Torch]

I'm at the point where I can't vote for something I don't believe in, anymore. I have been cynical about politics for a while and this is the first time in a very long while I've felt invested. Enough to go put some signs up.

Voting for the lesser of two evils simply empowers the two evils. They're not going to change, they're not going to get better, they're not going to do better. My vote won't count, but it will be counted and I'm going to vote for something (be it a candidate, leader, or party) that isn't just the other side of the exact same coin.

[1791]

Progressive. No thanks. To me progressive means progressively worse

[RustyCrayon]

My significant other and I will be voting for the PPC as well.

[crookedmember]

I encourage all of those on the right to vote PPC.

At least Bernier is a Canadian with more than a high school education and he has business/legal experience, which Scheer does not.