K.C. Jordan and Sophie Kuijper Dickson – LJI Reporters
On Tuesday, Apr. 15, THE EQUITY hosted a conversation with the five candidates running to represent the Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi riding on Parliament Hill to better understand what they believe they can do for the slice of the riding between Breckenridge and Rapides des Joachims.
THE EQUITY chose nine questions that reflected local priorities determined by responses to a public survey and by questions submitted to us through our website.
A broad summary of key points raised in this conversation is published below, for those looking for the highlights.
Q1: Beyond the easing of interprovincial trade barriers, what is the most important thing you or your party will do to support Pontiac residents through the economic volatility and potential recession that may be coming our way?
Sophie Chatel (Liberal Party) said her party will protect workers by enhancing EI programs, protect farmers by doubling revenue protection up to $6 million for those who lose revenues because of tariffs, and provide funding to expand Canada’s trade to new markets. She said interprovincial trade is key to this region, to unlocking its full economic potential. “What we will lose by Trump’s tariffs, we might gain by unlocking the potential of our economy,” Chatel said.
Todd Hoffman (People’s Party) said he believes the trade war will soon affect the business of the Pontiac. He spoke about a recent Chamber of Commerce event he attended in Fort Coulonge during which local business owners from diverse sectors put their heads together to brainstorm strategies for building the local economy.
“We were beginning to form synergies, synergies we never had before, how we can band together and help each other with new projects and new idea,” he said. “Definitely we have to look at this locally and all band together.”
Brian Nolan (Conservative Party) said the Conservative Party has a $3-billion plan for companies that will be affected by the tariffs. “As we all know, Trump is unpredictable so that’s why we have to create strong economy in the Pontiac,” he said, citing free trade within provinces and supports for agriculture and forestry industries as critical, as well as the creation of new industries in the Pontiac so locally produced goods can be transformed here, while also bringing more jobs.
Gilbert Whiteduck (New Democratic Party) said he believes the trade war will only add to economic challenges already experienced in this riding, but that defending Canada’s sovereignty is critical in this moment. “It’s one thing to say you’re going to stand up for it, but what are you going to do demonstrate that and to make sure [ . . . ] that you don’t trade off anything that we’ve acquired as a country over the years, that our veterans have fought for, our farmers have fought for, just to please a president that we don’t know what he is going to do from day to day.”
Claude Bertrand (Green Party) said he believes tariffs will affect the country’s ability to export the wood, and increase the cost of fuel, truck parts, and equipment, which will be tough on local businesses. “It will be important for government to move quickly and provide subsidies where they see businesses failing,” he said.
Q2: What will you do that goes beyond the slogans to offer real support for agriculture?
This question came from Bristol resident Tyler McCann, who is managing director at the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute.
Hoffman said he believes Canada’s supply management system is preventing farmers from growing their businesses, and is preventing young farmers from getting into the industry. He said the PPC would phase out the “food cartel supply management system” to enable dairy farmers to produce more. “We have to unleash our farmers,” he said.
Nolan said the Conservative Party would defend supply management to protect farmers, would invest in rural infrastructure, and would support sustainable practices through innovation “and not punishment like the carbon tax and fees and red tape [farmers] have to go through.”
Whiteduck said critical to the support he would offer the agricultural community would be sitting with and listening to farmers to develop policy positions he would then promote and defend in Parliament. “It’s not promises that make things happen,” Whiteduck said. “It’s working with people and having an understanding of what the real needs are from many venues.”
Bertrand said he would also protect the supply management. “It will become an issue in these negotiations with Trump, and Canada will probably have to pay dearly for it,” he cautioned. He also said he would advocate for reinstalling the old railway between Upper Pontiac and Gatineau to help transport locally produced goods.
Chatel said she would work to remove interprovincial trade barriers to open up a big market in Ottawa and support the processing and transformation of agricultural products in the Pontiac. “Farmers need to spend more time in the field than in writing and filling out paper work,” she added. “So the commitment of Mark Carney and the new agriculture minister is to cut the red tape, and as the Parliamentary secretary, I will hold them to that promise.”
Q3: What will your party do to fight climate change?
Candidates were encouraged to engage in conversation on each other’s proposed plans.
Nolan said there’s a lot of technology in place which can be used to reduce carbon emissions, but used the larger portion of his answer to criticize the Liberal government for taxing Canadians on carbon emissions when Canada only emits 1.8 per cent of all the carbon in the world. “So it made us poorer and the emissions didn’t reduce that much,” Nolan said. “So as you know, our party, we want to eliminate the carbon tax.”
In rebuttal, Chatel argued that the Conservative Party, unlike the Liberal Party, does not have no plan to fight climate change. “We need to act, we need to protect our environment, and we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions,” she said, “We cannot just do, ‘Oh well, Canada won’t do it, we’ll let other countries do that. This is not responsible. Everybody is in this fight.”
Bertrand challenged Chatel on this claim, arguing her party was in power for a long time, and did not meet a single target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “If we insist on extracting all of the oil and shipping it around the world, whether it’s burned in my backyard or whether it’s burned in China, it will still have the same impact on the environment.”
Hoffman said the PPC would do away with all “top-down” initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “We don’t want any more government interventions,” he said. “We believe we can handle this ourselves.” He said he believes instead, it’s up to individuals to make a difference at a local level, accusing other candidates of using single-use plastic zip-ties to put up their campaign signs. “These candidates are using plastic like there’s no end to it.”
Bertrand jumped in to suggest Hoffman was missing the point, which, as he sees it, is to change the way large industry operates. “I don’t believe myself very much in carbon capture, but we have to do something to reduce the carbon.”
In rebuttal to Hoffman, Chatel suggested her party was leading by example, first by introducing a bill to protect the Gatineau Park, and second by supporting with Kitigan Zibi First Nation in leading the development of an Outaouais-wide conservation plan.
Whiteduck agreed with Hoffman, that “each one of us has a responsibility in all of this.” He also said large industry “needs to be paying a hell of a lot more for what they’re doing, and that kind of money should be reinvested in green technology, supporting farmers, whatever that may be.
Q4: How are you at the federal level going to champion the needs of people in rural areas for healthcare and social services? How will each of you help us here?
This question came from Josey Bouchard, spokesperson for local healthcare advocacy group Pontiac Voice.
Whiteduck said he would like to see the Outaouais receive a special designation at the federal level and funding arrangements be made with Quebec so that funding would flow specifically to the Outaouais for its particular needs. “Because we need to get those resources, to get those doctors and nurses.”
Bertrand said that because healthcare is provincial jurisdiction, he would spend his efforts in negotiation with Quebec City. He said other healthcare policies the Green’s support include supporting public, not private, healthcare, providing free access to reproductive care, developing home care, as well as universal affordable daycare.”
Chatel said as chair of rural caucus and as chair of the Outaouais caucus, she spent the last two years putting constant pressure on the Quebec government, urging solutions, including increasing the salary and working conditions of Outaouais nurses and technicians, ensuring Quebec gives Outaouais its fair share of healthcare funding, and expediting the recognition of foreign trained physicians, nurses and technicians.
Hoffman said The PPC would introduce a mixed system of public and private service delivery, and would replace the Canada health transfer cash payment “to a point system of equal value that would give Quebec a more stable source of revenue for health care. Basically it’s the feds giving up the GST that’s generated from healthcare and giving it back to the province.”
Nolan said the Conservatives will maintain the current health care transfer to the provinces, and that he would do his best to work with the province to ensure services stay in this region. “It seems like the Outaouais is always forgotten on a lot of topics and this is unacceptable. “We do pay tax like all the other residents of Quebec,” he said.
Q5: What policies does your party have in place to support our local seniors?
This question was originally posed in French. Candidates answers have been translated from French, except Todd Hoffman’s which was given in English.
Bertrand said the Green Party supports a living wage for everybody who needs it, including seniors. He said the party also supports homecare for seniors that need it, including doctors, nurses. He also suggested a communal living facility where people of different ages can live together.
Chatel said the Liberal government has indexed pensions, and pointed to other measures including the new dental plan, raising old-age security for residents 65 years and older, returning the retirement age to 65, and its program to support aging at home as support already offered to seniors. “Mark Carney announced this week he will raise the guaranteed income supplement by five per cent for seniors who are living on low-income facing economic turbulence caused by Trump,” she said.
Hoffman said his party would not be making promises to all seniors over 75 years old that it would be increasing their benefits. “We believe that anybody over 75 is affluent, they won’t need that pension. That money can go to the ones that really really need it,” he said. “Also we believe in co-op initiatives. Basically the PPC is all for empowering people.”
Nolan said the Conservatives would ensure that the first $34,000 earned by people over 65 would be tax free, and would push the RRSP withdrawal date back from 71 to 73. “We also know that where seniors live is very important, and it’s important they can live at home for as long as they can,” he said. “We are there to ensure seniors can stay as long as possible in their homes.”
Whiteduck said it’s important to remember that while many seniors are retired from the workforce, they are still contributing members of society and need to be cared for. He said one thing he would advocate for is increasing old age security payment amounts, because the cost of living is going up so quickly.
Q6: What is your party’s stance on Quebec’s controversial Bill 96, which was passed using the notwithstanding clause to override Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and what will you do to support the rights of the minority English-speaking communities in this riding?
This question came from Alina Holmes on behalf of the Regional Association of West Quebecers.
Chatel said while she supports the goal of Bill 96, to protect the French language in Quebec, she does not agree with its means. “Protecting the French language should never come at the cost or the expense of fundamental rights and freedoms of our minority groups,” she said, noting the use of the preemptive notwithstanding clause by Quebec premier Francois Legault sets a dangerous precedent. “I support the intervention in the Supreme Court to defend our Charter of Rights.”
Hoffman said, in part because of having been personally affected by this issue as a business owner, he is very passionate about resisting this bill. He said he believes the other parties only give lip service to supporting the minority anglophone community. “Mr. Poilievre says he’ll not challenge Quebec on Bill 96. The NDP leader, in my opinion, seems to support Bill 96. And in my opinion and the opinion of others, Sophie’s support for Bill C-13 [ . . . ] gives Quebec the ability to use the notwithstanding clause to discriminate against citizens.”
Nolan said he would protect English-speaking people, and believes minority anglophone communities should have access to essential services in their native tongue. “I know Mr. Poilievre, on Bill 96, he’s got a stand on this. But as a member of his team, I will be fighting for you, and I’ll be there to defend all the anglophones in our riding,” he said. “We have to respect both people, plus the Indigenous people as well.”
Whiteduck pushed the conversation beyond a simple consideration of French and English rights to include consideration of the role of Indigenous languages in Canada. “To strengthen this country is to strengthen First Nation languages that have been here forever. When I fight and speak about those things, I will also fight for English rights and English language being used so people can get appropriate services.”
Bertrand said he believes it is important to recognize the right of Quebec to decide its political and constitutional future. “Does this exclude any flexibility to accommodate other people? No it does not. Accommodations can be made on a per-case basis, but it comes down to the survival of the language,” he said.
Q7: Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel (in which Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took over 250 hostages) Israel’s military operation in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of over 50,0000 Palestinians, 17,000 of which were children. A UN report has found Israel’s war tactics to be consistent with genocide. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on accusations of crimes against humanity. In this context, do you believe Canada is doing enough to stand up for Palestinian human rights and to uphold international law? And what, if anything, would you push for Canada to do differently?
This question came from Shawville resident Emma Judd.
Hoffman said he agrees with what he believes is the Canadian government’s balanced and tempered position. He said it is a multi-generational, multi-national, multi-religious, multi-ideological conflict that very few can truly appreciate, and to which very few have a mutually agreed solution. “The answer to the question here in Canada is that the PPC will stay out of foreign conflicts,” he concluded.
Nolan said the Conservative Party is against Hamas. “It’s a terrorist group. What they’ve done was unacceptable,” he said, adding that the conflict in question is long-standing and difficult to resolve, and that the Canadian government should not get involved. He said it is a fight that Canada cannot resolve and said we are in no position to take a stand on it.
Whiteduck said Canada has not done enough to address the conflict and, contrary to Nolan’s position, believes Canada does need to take a stand. He thinks Canada should end involvement in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory, impose a two-way arms embargo with Israel, work to prevent anti-semitic and anti-Palestinian racism that has happened at home, recognize the state of Palestine, and properly fund humanitarian aid. “How can we continue to just sit here and watch what’s going on, with the deaths and the bombing of hospitals?” he asked.
Bertrand said the 1,200 Israelis killed are a result of the build-up over 70 years of the conflict. He said what is happening now cannot be separated from what has happened throughout the entire history of the conflict. “We must not take those atrocities as separate from what happened before and what happened after. “I think it’s a genocide, just by proportionality of the number of deaths.”
Chatel said “the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and following complete devastation of Gaza is heartbreaking.” She said she is a strong advocate for a ceasefire, for sustainable peace, and for rebuilding Gaza, noting she would like to see Canada play a key part in the Gaza reconstruction plan proposed by Egypt that would see the territory rebuilt for and by Palestinians.
Q8: I work for various organizations that support low-income people. For some time now, the demand for access to food at the food bank has been on the rise, homelessness has been on the rise, and our shelters are full for lack of affordable housing or housing at all. Economic development is important, but in concrete terms, what would your party do now to help low-income people?
This question was originally posed in French by Kim Laroche, director general of local food bank Bouffe Pontiac. Candidates answers have been translated from French, except Todd Hoffman’s which was given in English.
Nolan said the Conservatives would reduce taxes for low-income people by 15 per cent and build affordable homes. In a follow up, Nolan said he saw affordable housing in Messines, Que., with subsidized electricity and gas and called for more units like those to be built.
Whiteduck said it would be important to build affordable housing and provide more support for food banks in the short term. “As we wait for solutions, people need to feed themselves, and we’ll need programs to support that.” In a follow up, Whiteduck asked why schools don’t already have food programs. “We’re arriving at the election and there are plenty of promises,” Whiteduck said. “At a certain point, enough is enough.”
Bertrand said the Greens will offer a living wage, with no tax on income under $40,000. “The cost of housing has to be affordable, that means the cost of housing has to be less than one third the total monthly income,” Bertrand said, pointing to prefab houses built with Pontiac wood as one possible solution.
Chatel said “managing our economy so we can create good, well-paying jobs, and building affordable housing is one of the ways to make life more affordable for Canadians and people here in our riding.” She pointed to concrete measures she believes her party has taken, including adjustments to unemployment insurance, the dental program, and supports for low-income children.
Hoffman said that by removing “red tape” for farmers, more food could be produced at lower prices for low-income people. He said that milk could be sold at a subsidized rate or donated to food banks or single mothers.“Food banks should be having more food and we can produce it,” he said.
Q9: What will your party do to bring more jobs to the Pontiac?
Whiteduck said he believes the federal government should support municipalities in building critical tourism infrastructure, such as overnight accommodation, to attract tourists. He also said allowing federal employees to work from home would be its own form of economic development “because people end up spending their funding at the local grocery store, [and] with their local farmer.”
Bertrand said improving Pontiac’s infrastructure, including roads and a rail line, would be important, as well as kickstarting businesses by bringing funds from the outside. “We should mandate the CMHC to build. I envision housing within municipalities. No urban sprawl should come out of this program.”
Chatel said she sees opportunities in agriculture and agri-food, and forestry industries, and also highlighted housing construction, the development of clean energy, and outdoor tourism as areas for potential economic growth. She agreed investing in infrastructure would also be critical, as well as expanding cellular coverage across the region.
Hoffman called for reducing red tape, which he believes is stifling local businesses, and empowering Pontiac residents to become entrepreneurs so they can begin hiring local people and eventually grow into the Ontario market, which he hopes will be possible if trade barriers are lifted.
Nolan said he doesn’t think tourism will offer enough economic development for the region, and said the local transformation of natural resources would be critical. He agreed with Chatel that building homes is important, and suggested training local youth to do the building.
After each candidate briefly laid out their vision for building back Pontiac’s economy, THE EQUITY invited each of them to discuss what of what had been proposed would be critical to a non-partisan economic strategy for the region.
Chatel and Nolan agreed offering trades training to local youth so they can be hired to build more homes in the region, using locally sourced wood, could be a winning initiative in the Pontiac.
Nolan added to this, emphasizing it is critical that highways be widened to bring in new industry. Bertrand suggested defunding “big oil” as a way to finance new housing projects, what he called “attractive, functional, and ecoresponsible homes” using Pontiac wood.
Hoffman questioned the utility of building more homes if there were not also local jobs, and also emphasized the need to widen Highway 148.
Whiteduck said he saw roads, tourism, and housing all as important pieces to the puzzle that is rebuilding Pontiac’s economy, but cautioned an effort of this scale would take time. He also emphasized the need to balance economic development with protecting the environment and not depleting natural resources like wood.
The candidates continued their conversation about their visions and priorities for the Pontiac region for over five minutes, touching on everything from plans for nuclear waste disposal at Chalk River to what is needed to support municipalities in building more housing, and the urgent need to lift interprovincial trade barriers, before delivering closing statements.
