Friday, August 7, 2015

Strength In Democracy Candidate McCreath responds to more questions


The following questions came into Jennifer McCreath:

What is your party's position on:

Terrorism?
Support for Israel?
Ukraine?
Government support for Business?
Alternative methods of health care delivery?
Support for the Oil Sands?

Here is Jennifer's response:

What makes our Party unique is that we have very little in the way of cross-the-board stances or positions. We are a coalition of quasi-independent citizens who will have the freedom to take stances on issues based on the opinions and priorities of each local riding.

The party does have a strong emphasis on regional inclusion, and I strongly agree with the importance of making sure Businesses in rural or regional areas, have fair and equal treatment from Government, as those in big cities.

As for the other issues you list, I can certainly share with you my personal perspective, but would seek to poll the electorate with citizen engagement exercises before formulating a stance that I would take to Ottawa on behalf of the Avalon.

Terrorism - I think Canada needs to find a balance between proactively taking steps to protect ourselves vs unnecessarily invading the privacy or its citizens. I feel that Bill C-51 takes things too far as it allows Government quick and easy access to personal information, without having to clearly justify why they need it.

I would also like to see Canada take a stronger role in working with other G7 countries to take steps to prevent terrorism occurring, based on surveillance and assessment work going on outside of Canada.

Israel - the ongoing war situation in Israel is definitely unfortunate. I don't feel it is Canada's role or right to pick sides or get actively involved in the war, although I'd like to see Canada get more involved with their traditional role of being world leaders in peacekeeping activities.

Alternative Health Care delivery - first of all, I'd like to see Canada take a more active role in overseeing and putting some more teeth in the Canada Health Act. Far too often, I see inconsistencies with how each province decides what health care to provide, what procedures will be funded, and how long a waiting list is deemed appropriate. I'd like to see a consistent standard that is audited by federal officials, to ensure that no province is falling below the acceptable standard, or any of the five principles of the Act.

I definitely think provinces need to open their minds and expand their willingness to engage in partnerships with non-government organizations, (either non-profit or even for-profit), in some cases, where it makes sense. If provincial governments are unable to meet an acceptable standard of care in-house, then I'd like to see steps taken to ensure that partnerships with others would be considered, when and where it makes sense to do so.

Oil Sands - Canada has already made significant investments into these projects and it would appear to me that we need to continue to support this industry. At the same time, I think Canada needs to find a careful balance between oil sands production, and environmental damage. To be honest, this is one industry that I need to learn more about, in terms of specifics.

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