Seven of nine Richmond candidates running in two ridings for the 2025 federal election shared their political stance with the community on Thursday evening at an all-candidates meeting.
The event was organized by the Richmond Centre for Disability, the Richmond Poverty Reduction Coalition and the Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver at Minoru Centre for Active Living. It was moderated by Richmond News' acting editor Maria Rantanen.
An attendance of around 150 people came to listen to candidates' solutions to social issues like health care, child care, affordable housing, income security and more.
Conservative members Chak Au and Zach Segal, running for Richmond Centre-Marpole and Steveston Richmond-East, respectively, did not attend the event.
David Wang with People's Party Canada, Martin Li with NDP and Michael Sisler with Green Party Candidates, all running for Richmond Centre-Marpole, as well as Keefer Pelech with the NDP and Green Party's Steven Ji, running in Steveston Richmond-East, were at the event.
These candidates are running against Liberal incumbents Parm Bains in Steveston Richmond-East and Wilson Miao in Richmond Centre-Marpole, who are both looking for re-election.
The event began with a brief introduction from each candidate, stating their experience and community work.
Health care, housing and food affordability
A common agreement between all the candidates present on Thursday evening was the interconnectedness of many, if not all, social justice issues, including affordability, housing, healthcare and income insecurity.
Pelech and Bains both acknowledged that people are struggling with housing and food security, and many programs that help residents, specifically Pharmacare and dental care programs, need to remain in place.
"These programs are vital and make Canada who we are," said Pelech.
"As we see threats coming from the States, we need to defend these things."
Meanwhile, there are building and housing plans in the works by the Liberal government, according to both Bains and Miao, who promise more affordable housing with accessible transit if re-elected.
"We are promising we will make sure first-time home buyers will be waived the GST on new purchases under $1 million," said Miao.
The Liberal party, he added, plans to build 500,000 homes each year across Canada.
Bains said programs, such as for childcare, are "not handouts."
"They're not handouts, they are programs Canadians need," he said, adding that these are "solutions to issues" across Canada.
"We are looking at creating programs ... and we have to find savings within the government," he said.
The NDP's Li added he wants to hold gocery chains accountable for price gouging to tackle food insecurity in Richmond.
"Food accessibility isn't just about costs, it's about people being able to access them," he said.
"We need to support community food programs and protect farmlands."
Income inequality proposals
The cost of living and rising costs were among the top of the list concerns posed to the candidates.
Most candidates shared promises of increasing wages as well as reducing taxes.
PPC candidate Wang commented "wealthy people will find ways to hide money" when taxes keep increasing, to which his proposed solution is to "overly tax" those in the higher income bracket.
Sisler and Pelech both agreed that raising taxes on the wealthy and lowering them for lower-income groups would help close "loopholes."
Wang added that Canadian MPs, like many Canadian workers, should get pay raises "only if you do the work."
"MPs should take pay cuts. They need to show results to get a raise," said Wang.
However, Green candidate Ji disagreed with Wang saying raising salaries for MPs would be an incentive for them to work harder and avoid taking bribes.
"We are incentivizing corruption. If we pay them enough, they don't need to consider that," said Ji, adding that good work will follow.
Environmental concerns
Getting rid of the carbon rebate is a promise Sisler is making if elected.
He described the carbon-tax rebate as being "too complicated" and is looking to replace it with "cheaper green energy" in addition to lowering bills and raising the living wage for the community.
However, he further said that if a carbon tax is to be implemented, it should be kept at the corporate level.
NDP's Pelech agreed that removing the carbon tax is a "good idea" as it is affecting those who mostly don't contribute to it; rather, there's a need to invest more in clean jobs.
Sisler commented that while many issues require a lot of work, "we can't blame one government for everything." He cited external pressures, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues.
"We need to unify, including with the current government right now," he said.
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