by Sylene Argent
Newly formed People’s Party of Canada (PPC) Leader, Maxime Bernier, visited the region on Monday to meet with a local business, area supporters, the party’s local federal election candidates – including Bill Capes, and attend a public rally at the Ciociaro Club.
Part of the regional tour – which was part of his nation-wide election excursion - included a visit to Proto Manufacturing in Oldcastle, a high-tech company, which develops and builds cutting-edge non-destructive testing equipment companies around the world use.
Rob Drake, Sale Manager at Proto, hosted the tour of the local company, with a global footprint, that has specialized in x-ray-based equipment for testing material.
Bernier said he enjoys meeting with small businesses like Proto because he believes the PPC has the right platform to create wealth and jobs in the country. He said he saw a business that is at the high-end of technology while touring the facility. He said it is people like the entrepreneur who creates jobs and contributes to business growth.
“We must encourage that…and we have policies to do that,” he said.
He noted the PPC platform includes a 10 percent tax rate for businesses and would abolish corporate welfare, which he suspects would save $5Billion, and abolish the capital gains tax.
He believes these policies are aligned for more private investment in Canada.
If elected, Bernier plans to have the budget balanced in two-years, and after that point, the PPC would lower taxes for Canadians also. He said everything in the party’s platform is designed to achieve a balanced budget in two-years. He added that when there is no discussion on a subject, like pensions, it is because it will remain the status quo.
The PPC would then implement a system that would have two tax brackets for personal income tax. The personal exemption would be raised to $15,000, so those individuals would not pay a federal income tax. Those earning more than $15,000 would pay 15 percent and those earning over $100,000 would pay 25 percent. He believes this will give a big tax break to Canadians.
Having free trade, Bernier said, is important as a high percent of Canadian goods are exported to the US. “So, we need to make sure we have an environment that will bring more investment,” he said.
The PPC, Bernier noted, would phase-out supply management over five years. He explained only 10 percent of farmers are under the policy Pierre Elliott Trudeau brought in more than 45-years ago. Other farmers are under the free market where they can produce for the Canadian market, or they can export.
The dairy commission, he said, fixes the price for milk and Canadians are paying twice the price. If that is to be abolished, that quota has to be paid. The Conference Board, he added, said that would be around $4B. The first year, the government would buy the quota. These farmers would then have five years to improve their productivity.
And, after five years, the borders would be open to milk, poultry, and eggs. Canadians will have the freedom to choose what product they would like to buy. If an American producer wants to sell product to Canada, Canadian sanitary legislations would have to be followed so Canadian producers will be able to compete on the same playfield, Bernier said. He believes Canadian farmers will be able to export their products to other markets.
In terms of healthcare, Bernier said the plan would be to give the provinces $40B in subsidies. He said all the GST the federal government receives will be given to provinces as they are the expert to manage healthcare services. This way, Canadians will know who to blame for long wait times, he said.
As a new party – around 11-months-old – one of the biggest challenges has been getting known, Bernier said. He talked about going door-to-door in Calgary and he estimated half of those he connected with did not know the party exists, that is why is it important to be at the national leaders’ debates. The debate will be important in letting people know about the new party. He is looking forward to joining in that opportunity next week.
He said PPC has over 300 candidates and 41,000 members nation-wide to date.
“We are making history. We are the fastest growing political party in Canadian history, and I am proud of that. I am proud of our candidates across the country, our membership, our volunteers,” he said.