Candidate: Parm Bains
Riding: Richmond East-Steveston
Party: Liberal Party of Canada
Where do you live (city and neighbourhood): Richmond, Shellmont
Contact information: 3560 Moncton St., Richmond, B.C., [email protected], 604-370-1190
Why are you running for federal office?
As a lifelong Richmond resident, I remain committed to building economic strength and a healthy community for everyone to enjoy and grow in. I want to see it remain a safe place where people can raise a family, start a business and retire. At a time when we are facing one the most serious challenges to our economy and sovereignty in generations, I will focus on unlocking the economic potential Richmond has as a gateway city and logistical hub for future generations.
What is your professional background?
Before I was elected as MP, I served as a public and media relations officer within the Government of British Columbia in the past and later as a Kwantlen Polytechnic University, School of Business lecturer. I amassed over 20 years of experience in corporate communications, including public and stakeholder engagement, public policy development and government and media relations.
If elected, how will you ensure you are available to your constituents?
Since 2021, I processed over 36,000 constituent responses and 3,800 casework files through my office as an MP. Being accessible is essential to my approach in serving Richmond residents. It is the only way I was able to be an effective voice for them in Parliament and deliver over $640 million in local investments. I’m active with Richmond civic, charitable, sporting and cultural organizations. My office contact information and hours are posted for those who are seeking support or wish to schedule meetings. Whether it’s a campaign or not, I continue to knock doors to listen to our community’s priorities.
What are your top three campaign promises?
- Find savings within government and procurement expenditures to reduce taxes for our workforce, while maintaining and sustaining services Canadians deserve.
- Grow our economy by reducing red tape, modernize regulations to increase competition to high prices on consumer goods and service fees.
- Help break down internal trade barriers and take advantage of trade relationships we have with over 50 nations to build generational economic strength for Richmond.
How will you and your party approach the changing relationship with the United States?
In February, I went to Washington to meet with Pacific Northwest Economic Region House Representatives to establish relationships and provide examples of how counterproductive tariffs will stall our economies. While discussions with like minded elected leaders continue, we have already acted to break down internal trade by removing labour mobility and trucking regulation barriers within Canada. We will focus on expanding previous infrastructure investments to grow internal trade across provinces and territories and beyond to the 50+ nations we have trade relationships with. We will respond to the U.S. tariffs with trade actions of our own to protect Canadian jobs.
With threatened annexation by the U.S. president, do you and your party support an increase in defence spending?
Yes. Canada must meet our obligations to spend two per cent of our gross domestic product on military spending by 2030 at the latest. We are already strengthening our military partnership with nations like Britain and France, as well as procuring advanced radar technology from Australia to protect the Arctic. We will prioritize investments in vital capabilities like new submarines, additional heavy icebreakers, and first-in-class drone capabilities quickly to meet our two-per-cent target by 2030. These investments expand beyond the current National Shipbuilding Strategy and procurement of fighter jets, maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, and space-based satellite infrastructure.
How will you support Richmond businesses and citizens in the face of uncertain economic times?
Canadians can no longer rely on the U.S. like we once could, so we will need to rely more on each other. That’s why we will create one Canadian economy, not 13, by breaking down decades-old internal trade barriers by July 1, 2025. An economy where all businesses can sell their products where they please, and where anyone can work where they desire.
Additionally, we will get projects approved quickly with the “one window” approval process, streamlining approvals for large-scale, national-interest infrastructure projects, and ports, including the Port of Vancouver.
Given the housing crisis, what should be done to get homes built faster?
Multiple measures need to be taken to build homes faster. We will accelerate private capital, cut red tape and lower the development cost of building homes. Some commitments include:
Build Canada Homes will build affordable homes at scale, including on public lands. This will help communities facing affordability challenges, and help builders address rising costs of land and construction by cutting municipal development charges by 50 per cent for multi-unit residential homes.
Prioritize Canadian technologies and resources such as mass timber and softwood lumber, as well as create more apprenticeship opportunities to grow our skilled workforce.
How will your party support renters?
In addition to the measures I listed in the previous question about building homes faster, incentivizing the rapid increase of rental housing supply will ease the pressure on rental housing.
Additionally, we will facilitate conversion of existing structures into affordable units by reducing tax liability for private owners of multi-purpose rentals when they sell to a non-profit if they reinvest in building more purpose-built rental housing.
How will you and your party improve income support for seniors and people with disabilities?
A re-elected Liberal government will protect retirement savings by reducing the minimum amount that must be withdrawn from a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) by 25 per cent for one year. This will allow Canadian seniors more flexibility in choosing when to draw from their retirement savings. We will also increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement by five per cent for one year, providing up to $652 more to low-income seniors, tax-free.
We will also enhance income support for people with disabilities through the Disability Benefit Act, where a direct monthly payment will be given to low-income Canadians with disabilities.
Canada's overdose epidemic is a national crisis. What will you and your party do to combat this crisis?
We will continue to invest in mental wellness and treatment and enhance enforcement tools to prevent drugs from entering our borders and stop the production of illegal drug labs.
I will continue my advocacy for a sustained continual national campaign to combat illicit substance use.
With previous investments into our border protection and shared intelligence with allied nations, we saw record numbers of drug seizures. We will build on this and recruit 1,000 more RCMP and train 1,000 new CBSA officers to crack down on drugs, as well as hire more attorneys to help prosecute drug production, trafficking, and importation.
How will your party improve the health-care system and support provinces to bring in more family doctors?
If re-elected, the Liberal party will provide access to more Canadians by investing in the accreditation of trained doctors to speed up the credential recognition process in provinces, so more people get the care they need.
Record investments into the Canada-B.C. health agreement already support priorities such as expanding access to family health services, mental health and addiction services, and modernizing health systems and digital tools like telehealth and virtual healthcare.
📣 Got an opinion on this story or any others in Richmond? Send us a letter or email your thoughts or story tips to [email protected].
📲 To stay updated on Richmond news, sign up for our daily headline newsletter.
💬 Words missing in article? Your adblocker might be preventing hyperlinked text from appearing.
