Due to the large volume of questions provided for the candidates at both debates, DBOT committed to sending the questions that were not asked due to time limitations to each of the candidates. The candidates had the choice to provide responses and if they did provide responses we committed to posting those responses.
To date we have received responses from:
Ed Crewson, Liberal. Please click here to read his responses.
The questions sent to the candidates following the debates are:
Economy and Budget-Related Questions
- For Ed Crewson: The Conservative incumbents continue to run on a platform of economic stability despite driving a recession by failing to diversify our economy and invest in the new future of energy. How will the Liberals knock down entrenched economic assumptions about the Conservatives and lead Canada onto a economic path that is both promising and progressive?
- Does your party plan to use deficit financing and how will you handle rising interest rates on the 1.2 trillion cumulative debt we already have?
- How was your national debt created and what party was the biggest contributor?
- How can the federal government help grow the economy, protecting the environment (especially Co2) and not put a financial burden on our children & grand-children
- All the opposition leaders maintained the government was in deficit last year and that the books were cooked to make it look otherwise and that spending was cut. So, were we in deficit last year?
Coalition-Related Questions
- For Lib and NDP: Even though the majority of Canadians hope for a change away from the Conservative government, as they did in the last Federal election, a vote split between NDPs and Liberals will likely mean another term for Mr. Harper. Are your two parties willing to form a coalition to give the people of Canada the government they want and deserve?
Environment-related Questions
- Water…our MOST precious resource needs strong policies to protect it. With California droughts; western heat waves and many many corporate bottling plants, our Great Lakes and it’s whole catch basin i.e. most of southern Ontario, needs to be protected and secure. What would each of you do to guarantee the Great Lakes security?
- Ontario Power Generation is proposing to build an underground dump for low and intermediate nuclear waste less than a kilometer from the shore of Lake Huron near Kincardine. Some of this waste is 100,000 times more toxic than uranium in its natural state. Ontario Power Generation experts have testified that at some point radioactive waste could leak from the dump. Lake Huron represents 21% of the world’s fresh water. The site iThere are 175 towns, cities and municipalities in Canada and the US including Toronto and Chicago that have passed a resolution opposing this dump or any repository anywhere near the Great Lakes Basin. This group represents 22.6 million citizens. 40 million people get their drinking water from Lake Huron. The next Federal Minister of the Environment is scheduled to make a decision regarding the project on Dec. 2nd 2015. What is your position on this issue? Would you work to stop this projects on First Nations land and they oppose this plan as well. There are 175 towns, cities and municipalities in Canada and the US including Toronto and Chicago that have passed a resolution opposing this dump or any repository anywhere near the Great Lakes Basin. This group represents 22.6 million citizens. 40 million people get their drinking water from Lake Huron. The next Federal Minister of the Environment is scheduled to make a decision regarding the project on Dec. 2nd 2015. What is your position on this issue? Would you work to stop this project?
- So what about climate change? What is your party advocating? Why haven’t the conservatives done anything over the last 4 years? It is scandalous.
- What are the candidates opinion of our environmental standing in the world?
- The Conservatives took Canada out of Kyoto, cut environmental safe-guards at every opportunity, gutted and muzzled the national research council, and made Canada the mockery at all international meetings on climate change and pollution. If your party is elected, what are your specific plans to change Canada’s image and what will you propose at the up-coming environmental climate change meeting in Paris?
Gun Control
- The United States just had another tragic mass murder of college students by a gun crazed individual. President Obama is trying to implement some form of fun control. Unfortunately due to the close proximity of our borders, this gun culture is slowly creeping into Canada. If your party is elected, what specific plans does your party have to strengthen our gun controls and insure that the US sickness does not migrate into Canada?
Alcohol/Drug-related Questions
- With all the traffic accidents on highways – most related to alcohol, and now a certain party wants it in grocery stores, also to legalize drugs. Are we going ahead of back? What’s next? Think of the three children & grandfather just recently killed
- What about legalizing marijuana?
Land Use
- How would you revise Aerodome land use legislation so that provincial (and lower) can have more say in the impact of the “non-Aerodome” use of the property? Ie Landfill
Recreation Question
- What are your plans to improve recreational opportunities?
Abortion/Suicide-related Questions
- For Ed Crewson: Trudeau has said that your party will not accept new candidates who are not pro-choice on abortion. Notwithstanding, would you support legislation that would assist in preventing gender selective abortions performed among some ethnic groups in Canada
- With the supreme court asking Parliament to pass a new law on assisted suicide/euthanasia by early 2016, what is your party’s position on what the new law should be? Do you feel that assisted suicide should be made illegal or if not, under what circumstances would it be permitted.
- Why is the Liberal Party supporting Planned Parenthood? That is murder no one can say it is not.
Terrorism & Immigration-related questions
- For Ed Crewson & David Tilson: Canada is a country of immigrants… with the exception of course of native Canadians!….Please comment on how you balance the competing needs of the current crisis in Syria and the need for a good and fair process? How can Canada demonstrate our “liberal” and “conservative” values?
- What are your views on the terrorism threat to Canada and do you support Bill C-51?
- For Mr. Tilson: Please define what your party means by “old stock Canadians” and is your party developing different classes of citizenship?
Ethics Questions
- If you were to become aware that the government was not telling the Canadians the truth about anything or if the government is covering up something. What would you do? Would you tell Canadians or also cover it up?
- Do you believe that criticising opponents, through negative comments and attack ads makes you better equipped to govern?
Elections Questions
- There seems to be less respect for the voter these days. There is less & less opportunity for people to ask questions of the candidates. Please comment.
- What does it cost Elections Canada per day to handle the election?
- For David Tilson: how did dropping the writ so early save tax payers money as quoted in the local papers?
- How does one vote if you don’t have a driver’s licence and have been a Canadian citizen for 75 years?
- Why do you believe there is such a low youth turnout in general and tonight and what can be done about it?
CBC-related Question
- What is your position(not necessarily your Party’s) on the CBC re. funding, programming, national import
Senior’s & People with Disabilities issues
- What do you plan to do about financial supports for seniors to maintain a decent quality of life?
- Will your parties raise the welfare and ODSP payments in the basic needs and shelter areas? (as the cost of living has increased)
Tax-related Questions
- What is your definition(not necessarily your Party’s) of a Payroll Tax – how do you address pension schemes and employment insurance in this context.
- After 25 years on Shelburne Council taxes are still the second highest in the county. You have had growth both residential & industrial and still high taxes. Why?
- Taxation has emerged as an issue in this election. Please explain your party’s position on income tax, the GST and corporate taxes.
The Middle Class
- Explain the financial impact of your platform on:
- families with income under $80K
- families with income $80 – $250K
- families with income above $250K
- The wage gap in Canada and the United States continues to widen every year. The middle class has all but disappeared south of the border and is in a rapid state of decline in Canada. What are your parties plans to reverse this trend?
Veteran’s affairs
- The media is telling us that services to veterans, and the veterans affairs budget have been cut. What has been cut and how much was spending reduced?
Canada’s Position in the world
- Stephen Harper likes to boast “This is the best country in the world” yet during his government’s time in office by many metrics Canada’s standing has significantly dropped. Can each Candidate explain why Canada is, indeed, the ‘Best Country in the World’
- What can you and your party do to repair our international reputation?
Dufferin-Caledon
- The following question is to gauge the candidates’ desire and effort to represent the people of Dufferin-Caledon:
- How many doors have you knocked on;
- How many phone calls have you made;
- How many meetings have you attended;
- and how many speeches did you make?
Please explain what, if elected, you will do directly to help Dufferin Caldeon?
Job-related questions:
- How do the candidates propose to bring jobs into the Dufferin/Caledon/Orangeville area? How will this dovetail with job creation overall in Canada?
- What will your party do to help create jobs?
Scientists
- There are reports that federal scientists are prohibited from talking to the media. What is your position?
- What are your priorities for the environment and science?
Healthcare Questions:
- Since 80% of chronic diseases can be prevented through lifestyle changes, please comment on the need to put money into prevention in order to reduce the sky rocketing health-care costs
- Why has the PM refused to re-negotiate the Health agreement with the provinces?
Infrastructure:
- What is your parties plan for developing infrastructure in Canada?
Access to Services
- Does the Constitution protect the citizen’s right to reasonable and appropriate access to services and responses to questions? Eg business access phone numbers; representatives; access to debate representation at election time be compulsory for all candidates.
Collective Bargaining
- Mr Harper’s government has been recently interfering with the right of the collective bargaining of employees of private company by introducing legislations that forces them to return to work and to deny them the right to strike. I would like to know where do you stand on this subject?
Airline Travel
- I would like to know how seriously do you take passenger’s safety when they are travelling on Canadian airlines? The current ratio is 1 flight attendant per 40 passengers but the government is siding with big corporations and big profits by changing the rules to 1 crew member per 50 passengers, doing this without regard to human lives or consultation with public.
Oil Industry
- Our country’s economy is tightly linked to the oil industry’s ups & downs. Do you and your party envision a way to wean us off oil & look at long term future “greener” alternatives to seriously invest in?
Same-Sex Marriage
- Where do each of you stand now on the subject of same-sex marriage and where would each of you stand on that subject after the election, should you win a seat in your county.
Other
- If elected would you undertake to take prompt action to bring true representative democracy to Canada by replacing “First Past the Post” by proportional representation which most people will see as making their vote count
- Pan-Am Games extra money – what do you think of where it went?
- For Mr. Tilson – There is the appearance of politically directed audits of charities and environmental groups that don’t agree with your government. In an open society, this is worrisome. It appears that your government has bridged that gap between the executive branch of government, in this case Revenue Canada, and the legislative branch which now seems no longer to be Parliament but rather unelected and unaccountable party functionaries in the Prime Minister’s Office. I fear that you will go to the next step and bridge the separation between you party and the executive. In this bill C-51 era of secret and unaccountable police spying and secret, private PMO deliberations should we be concerned that an email or an online book order could be used to grade citizens for purposes of a harassment audit or denial of government employment or police oversight? What measures, if any, have you put in place to prevent this from happening? How would we ever find out if we were affected because we bought a book or attended a rally that didn’t match well with your government’s ideology? How do you propose to end the chill this legislation puts on open debate?
Youth
- Do you think it is possible to change the atmosphere in the House of Commons to exemplify honor and respect as role models for the younger generation?