Geet Grewal, Liberal Party of Canada candidate for Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon. Grewal only answered three of the eight questions asked.
1) What will you do specifically for rural communities? The geography of Mission-Matsqui Fraser Canyon is a unique and vast one. I recently knocked doors and met with residents and business leaders in Cache Creek, Ashcroft, and surrounding areas as part of my campaigning. I can say that as your MP I would ensure I amplify the issues and voices of our rural residents just as passionately as those living in the more urban centres.
Specifically, to move forward for Canada’s rural communities, a re-elected Liberal government will increase connectivity for rural Canada by requiring Canada’s large national carriers with existing contracts to roll out wireless and high-speed internet in rural and northern Canada by 2025. This is in addition to the connectivity infrastructure that has already begun through the creation and implementation of the federal Universal Broadband Fund to connect rural communities to high-speed internet.
Secondly, we are committed to increasing rural access to health care for small communities across Canada through a nation-wide hiring of 7,500 family doctors, nurses, and nurse practitioners and encouraging the establishment of new, rural practices, including in Ashcroft, Cache Creek, and surrounding towns.
Finally, we want to help rural economies grow by ensuring there is a regional focus to economic development and greater resources for businesses looking to scale up. So, we will establish the regional development agency FedNor, a standalone agency, by 2023.
2) How do you plan to prepare our rural communities for future wildfires, flooding, and other natural disasters? The extreme heatwave and wildfires that British Columbians experienced this summer underscore the urgency of fighting, and adapting to, climate change. This includes preparing for more regular extreme weather events that cause wildfires and droughts. Our Liberal party has committed to provide additional support, including increased fire personnel and emergency preparedness measures.
We will invest $50 million to help train at least 1,000 community-based firefighters in targeted wildfire risk management strategies across Canada.
A re-elected Liberal government is also committed to providing firefighters with the equipment they need to stay safe and fight wildfires. We have announced we will invest $450 million ahead of the next fire season to allow provinces and territories to invest in the equipment needed to fight wildfires and keep firefighters safe, like Canadian-made firefighter aircraft.
6) What commitments will you make when it comes to addressing climate change, both locally and nation-wide? While climate change is the greatest long-term threat of our time, it’s also our greatest opportunity to create a cleaner, greener future with good jobs for decades to come. That’s why the Liberal government has done more to fight climate change and grow the economy than any other government in Canadian history, including by ensuring it is no longer free to pollute anywhere in the country.
We cannot let the Conservatives rollback climate action. A re-elected Liberal government will provide up to $5,000 toward zero emission vehicle purchases for over half-a-million Canadians.
We will cut pollution to make our air cleaner by building a net-zero electricity grid by 2035, and drive down emissions from oil and gas to meet our shared goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
We will help industries adopt clean technologies to cut pollution and support all workers to ensure no one is left behind.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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