Rod Brindamour, Green

Treating poverty will fight crime

After more than five years of helping out with the campaigns of other Green Party candidates, Rod Brindamour has decided to throw his own hat into the ring.

“The big word is change,” he said. “It is a fresh start and finding innovative solutions.”

The 60-year-old IT professional has lived in the Ranch Park area of Coquitlam for the past six years and said it’s not an issue that his home is in the riding next to the one he wants to represent as MP: Coquitlam-Westwood-Port Coquitlam.

Brindamour, who was born in Vancouver and grew up in Hope, spent eight years during the 1970s researching orangutan behaviour and forest ecology in Indonesian Borneo, where he developed an appreciation for the relationship between quality of life and the health of the environment.

After returning to B.C., he studied computer science at SFU and went on to work with an accounting firm, which transferred him to Australia and later to the Middle East and Texas, and finally back to Canada in 2002.

The runner, swimmer and cyclist — Brindamour commutes to downtown Vancouver on bike — decided to join the Green Party six years ago because the politicians he had once voted for weren’t fulfilling his expectations of them, notably on the environment.

“If we do not have a habitable place then what is the value of the rest of what we acquire or aspire to,” he said.

Three issues he thinks are in need of addressing this election are:

HEALTH CARE

More attention should be paid to the health care system and standards need to be outlined and met. The system is in need of reform — and a cash injection — to ensure the availability of doctors, nurses and equipment. Prevention is also key and, thus, a larger emphasis needs to be placed on healthy living.

CLIMATE CHANGE

While the small-scale evidence of climate change can be felt in Canada, other countries are facing catastrophic results, leaving farmers unable to make a living. Brindamour said it’s critical to help other nations while working to slow climate change altogether by using a cap-and-trade and a carbon tax. Better transportation solutions are also needed to get people out of their automobiles.

CRIME

To reduce crime, poverty needs to eradicated. Referencing his experiences of living in Texas, which has the death penalty, Brindamour said stiffer sentences won’t act as a deterrent.

• Learn more about Rod Brindamour and the Green Party by visiting www.greenparty.ca/en/campaign/59021.

newsroom@tricitynews.com

Ron McKinnon, Liberal:

Money to help students learn

Ron McKinnon is lucky enough to have travelled the world for work but, each time he touches back down in B.C., he is grateful.

His 28-year career as a document management specialist has taken him throughout the U.S. and to exotic locales such as Japan, Malaysia and Australia and says the experiences give him a solid appreciation of Canadian life.

“It’s good to see how others do it but it’s really good to come home,” said McKinnon, the Liberal candidate.

McKinnon and his family have lived in the Tri-Cities for 15 years, first in northeast Coquitlam and, for the last three years, in northeast PoCo. Both his children, one a Grade 11 student at Riverside secondary and the other a Grade 7 student at Kwayhquitlum middle, both take French immersion classes.

McKinnon says he’s no different than most PoCo residents “with a mortgage, a dog, a cat and a mini-van” but he has reached a point in his life when he feels compelled to be at the decision-making table.

“I’m very interested in the kinds of things dealt with at the federal level — the national economy, civil rights, early childhood education, the environment,” he said. “I think I can do great things getting the economy moving and keep it moving.”

The issues McKinnon feels are most pressing are:

EDUCATION

Helping children from all walks of life, especially those who are disadvantaged, to reach their full potential through early childhood learning creates exponential, long-term benefits, McKinnon said, both in terms of economic productivity and lower crime rates. Improving the student loan program for post-secondary education by making more money available and extending the repayment timeline, are also part of his platform.

THE ENVIRONMENT

“We have to remove ourselves from our massive dependency on fossil fuels,” McKinnon said, and create an economy based on renewable energy. By investing in green energy research, taxing pollution and providing income tax cuts the Liberals plan to help the environment and funnel tax dollars back into city infrastructure projects.

HOMELESSNESS

McKinnon knows that more and more Canadians are just one or two paycheques from being homeless. He said he would lobby for more affordable and subsidized housing, cut income taxes and improve child benefits. If elected, the Liberals have committed to reducing poverty in Canada by 30% and among children by 50% within five years.

• Visit www.ron-mckinnon.liberal.ca for more information.

spayne@tricitynews.com

James Moore, Conservative:

Transportation push in Tri-City

Only 32 years old, Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam Conservative candidate James Moore is a veteran of three federal election campaigns.

But that doesn’t mean he can afford to take it easy. Although his large campaign headquarters seems calm, and he can bring his affable Bernese mountain dog, Jed, to work, Moore is still very much focused on the job ahead.

According to Moore, Canada is at a critical time in its economic history and he can do more in government than he can on the sidelines.

“One of the reasons we have avoided some of the economic problems they have in the States is because we have run surplus budgets. We’re in the strongest economic position of any G7 country,” Moore said.

With his current post of Secretary of State for the 2010 Olympics, the Asia Pacific Gateway and Official Languages, Moore says he’s uniquely positioned to further the interests of B.C. residents.

Although he remains one of the youngest, if not the youngest MP in Ottawa, Moore has a long history with the Conservative party and its predecessors.

Today, Moore says his last term has been the most satisfying.

As a member of the government, he has been able to push many Tri-City issues onto the government agenda, such as $750,000 to improve East Road into Anmore, $90 million for the Pitt River bridge, $65 million for the North Fraser Perimeter Road project, and $67 million for the Evergreen Line plus a commitment for another $417 million.

“I’ve been really quite surprised the difference you can make, being in government versus opposition,” Moore said, noting that one of the things he enjoys about being an MP, besides the cut and thrust of debates on public policy, is driving around the community and seeing things he had a hand in creating.

But Moore said it’s too soon to take his eyes off the ball. His constituents have other concerns — crime, the economy and commuting headaches — because transportation infrastructure has lagged behind development despite the progress that has been made.

“People are as interested in the future as they are in what your record is. They want to know what’s the government of Steven Harper going to do in the years ahead and what will your role be and what will you do for Tri-City residents.”

THE ECONOMY

Moore said tax cuts have insulated the Canadian economy so it can withstand the current turmoil, pointing to income tax cuts, a reduction of the GST to 5% from 7%, and a raising of the threshold for small business taxes to $400,000 from $300,000, with plans to raise it again.

“The vast majority of businesses in the Tri-Cities are small businesses,” he pointed out.

Families concerned about cost of living increases are also benefiting from a $1,200 universal annual child care payment for each child under the age of six.

CRIME

Moore said the government’s Tackling Violent Crime legislation, which came to effect in July, and an election promise to publicize the names of offenders over the age of 14 who commit violent crimes should make people safer.

TRANSPORTATION

As for transportation, Moore said he’ll stand on his record. “”We’re spending more money and committed more money to transportation infrastructure projects in the Tri-Cities under our government than any government in Canadian history.”

• Visit www.jamesmoore.org for more information.

dstrandberg@tricitynews.com

Zoe Royer, NDP:

Make the big polluters pay

Zoë Royer has lived in Canada for 40 of her 42 years and has always kept a close eye on politics.

But it wasn’t until she officially received her citizenship in March of this year that she realized she wanted to put her name forward as a candidate in an election.

“The judge spoke about the rights and responsibilities of being a Canadian, and that means a lot to me,” said Royer. “I really got presented with the fact that politics has one of the biggest impacts on our lives.”

It did not take long for Royer to get involved. Today, she is the NDP candidate for Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam in a battle to unseat Tory incumbent James Moore in the Oct. 14 national election.

Royer immigrated to Canada from Glasgow, Scotland in 1968 when she was two years old.

She lived in Alberta before moving to Vancouver Island and then settling in Port Moody with her husband in 2004. She works as an administrator with Imperio Group Dental Health Specialists.

She has two daughters and said thanks to the fact her husband has two adult children from a previous relationship, she is also a grandmother of three.

Her main issues are:

THE ENVIRONMENT

While Royer’s party has always boasted its support for blue collar workers, green collar workers are the first thing she brings up. “We need to make the big polluters pay,” she said. “We need to set absolute targets and force it by law.”

The money taken from big polluters would be used to re-invest in green collar jobs — those who work in the environmental sector of the economy.

Like most in the NDP, Royer believes that retooling the economy to make it more environmentally friendly will financially help rather than hurt ordinary Canadians.

THE ECONOMY

While the stock market is navigating through some tumultuous waters, Royer said it is the local impacts that are most concerning to her. She points out that there are more than 200 homeless people in the Tri-City area and that those numbers are consistent across the country.

“Many of us are one or two paycheques away from homelessness,” she said. “We need to change course.”

The NDP, she said, is discussing a national housing program that would help alleviate some of the housing issues many regions, including the Tri-Cities, are facing. She also points to what she calls a prosperity gap. Many of the people in her riding, she said, are having a harder time paying their bills, as costs rise and wages stay stagnant, or in some cases, shrink.

“This land is of great abundance,” she said. “But unfortunately the Harper Conservatives see it as winner take all, and it doesn’t benefit all Canadians.”

AFGHANISTAN

Close to 100 Canadian soldiers have died in the war in Afghanistan and Royer and her party believe it is time to bring home the troops. She said Canada should be working more in a rebuilding role, as peacekeepers, rather than fighting.

“We are calling for the immediate, safe withdrawal of our troops,” Royer said. “The best way we can support our troops is by maintaining our legacy of peacekeeping.”

• Visit http://zoeroyer.ndp.ca/en for more information.

gmckenna@tricitynews.com