Sarah Pledge Dickson, LJI Journalist

One week out from THE EQUITY’s Conversation with the Candidates federal election event, and less than three weeks out from the election, we are sharing in-depth interviews with the five people vying for the Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi seat.

Each candidate was given the same word limit to answer our questions. The first three questions as well as the last question were put to every candidate, while the fourth, fifth and sixth questions were tailored to each candidate. Answers have been edited for clarity and length.

Q1: Why do you think you’re the best candidate to represent this specific corner of the riding, between Luskville and Rapides des Joachims, at the federal level?

It seems to me that one has to look at one’s background to make a good judgment. I have set myself goals in life, one of them was to learn English, and I did this by going to Calgary when I was 17 years old, and it was a big reward. I now consider myself almost perfectly bilingual. I lived my life that way, by setting goals and taking some risks, and some of them involved going in the military [as a pilot]. And then I was an instructor for several years, teaching how to fly, and I did a tour in Afghanistan; I flew helicopters, partly in a combat support role.

I think it’s a great thing to have lawyers as politicians, but we should have a mix of other career paths. Having someone who’s been an engineer I think is a great asset. An engineer looks at things with an analytical, logical perspective. I think that’s good in leadership. I’ll give you an example of someone who is not logical and analytical: our neighbour to the south [Donald Trump]. I think somebody who has experience in the military and as an engineer can think in a certain way and that’s what I’m doing.

Q2: Workers in the MRC Pontiac earn on average $36,300 a year (according 2022 data from the Government of Quebec). What do you believe is the best strategy to promote economic development and bring more jobs to this region?

It’s a terrible time to even consider having a tariff war with the United States when the economy is depressed and has been for many years in the Pontiac. When you move along the Gatineau River northwards or the Ottawa River westwards, it’s a completely different economy [compared to Chelsea or Wakefield]. It’s an economy built on wood harvesting, trucking and repair and maintenance towards those industries, and farming. Softwood, which should be exported to the U.S. and used locally, will be affected by the tariffs. There used to be a sawmill in Maniawki and I believe now it’s closed. Due to the increase in inflation, the loss of jobs is going to be significant in the areas targeted by the U.S. We will probably have to do something similar to what we did during covid times to help people, some kind of subsidy to help people manage to live.

The Green Party advocates for a living wage, that all Canadians should receive when they are below a certain threshold. That’s something that would benefit the people of the Pontiac.

Q3: Aside from economic development, what would be one concrete change you’d like to make for the Pontiac region of the riding that would significantly improve life here?

For those people who live in areas that are disconnected from the electricity grid or for whom the connections are not very good, the Green Party advocates for having small networks of solar and wind energy installed in those places that can’t be reached very easily. That’s something that would help places like Rapid Lake and Kitigan Zibi.

Let’s also talk a little bit about what Sophie [Chatel] did with Gatineau Park, I don’t want to ignore that. But Gatineau Park is still not protected the way it should be, as a major park, not in size, but in number of people who visit it. The people of the Pontiac can benefit from the park in terms of tourism or for their own personal use. We have to strive for obtaining iron clad protection of the territory from housing development.

It’s easy to have ideas but it’s another thing to actually consult with the citizens, the mayors and the population and ask them, ‘What do you need to make the economy go again?’ That’s something I would certainly do; consult extensively throughout the area, not just where the bulk of the population is but further north and further west. Those people have to have a voice as well.

Q4: In a previous interview, you mentioned your concern with plans to build a nuclear waste disposal facility at Chalk River. What are your concerns with this project and what do you believe you could do about these concerns as an MP for the region?

This was discussed in 2019 and was a hot issue at the time. I actually ran in 2019 in this riding as well. We’re mistaken in taking a cheap or relatively cheap approach to storing nuclear waste.

We’re choosing the convenience of putting it one kilometre from the Ottawa River and the slope of that site actually goes towards a small creek that goes towards the Ottawa River. A limited chance, well that’s not good enough. Let’s just move it away and there will be no chance. Just make it zero chance. We just have to say no. Any infiltration into the Ottawa River will destroy the confidence that people have in this river. I think it’s bad judgement and we have to say no. We know a lot more about dealing with radioactive materials than we did many years ago. You would think that we have learned that it’s not wise to place a site near Chalk River.

Q5: Your party is a strong advocate for electoral reform in favour of proportional representation. What do you see as the problems with our current first-past-the-post system, and what’s your pitch for why proportional representation would be better for policymaking in this country?

It’s been demonstrated that when a government uses first-past-the-post, it doesn’t matter how many parties you start with, people start voting strategically. I’m afraid this will happen again, and I can’t blame people for doing it when the top two parties are quite close to one another. That causes the smaller parties who have very valid policies and suggestions to fall off the wayside. They don’t have enough support from voters that will provide them with funds from the government. Eventually, you end up in a situation like the U.S. where you have two big parties which are not that much different in terms of policy, playing tag team every several years. You don’t have the same source of new ideas that smaller parties can represent. I’ll give you an example: in 2019, the Green party for five per cent of the popular vote, and yet we have one MP. Five per cent of the 343 ridings is about 17 MPs.

The Green Party’s position is to have a citizen’s assembly to gather ideas. There are other systems that can be borrowed, for instance proportional representation or ranked ballots. We could do it on a trial basis and ask people if they like it. Sophie Chatel voted against the citizen assembly because she’s Liberal and the Liberals are quite content keeping things as they are.

Q6: You said in a previous interview that the environment stops being a concern for politicians after the election campaign is over. How would you continue to make the environment your top priority for the Pontiac region, if elected?

It’s hard to say top priority all the time. If there was a war tomorrow, then the war becomes a top priority. When covid arrived, it became top priority. So I don’t want to use the word ‘top priority’ all the time, but [the environment] cannot be forgotten in any of the decisions that we’re taking. It has to be a consideration, for instance, in farming methods: glyphosate [a herbicide] should not be used anymore. We should be adopting agricultural methods that are environmentally sound and sustainable.

We want to encourage people to develop green ways for transport, such as moving towards electrification. The Green Party is for the high-speed trains that have been proposed, and we’re in favour of developing a network of smaller electrified train or bus systems to link all the municipalities towards the main artery of the high-speed train. We think ‘growth’ after election. Growth has to be an environmentally sustainable growth. Growth for the sake of growth is not a positive thing for any country.

Q7: What’s one of the most important things you were taught by your parents, or somebody else who had a big influence in your life, that you would bring to the job of MP?

To listen, the ability to try and find what the other person is saying, and to assume that the person has good intentions. Then, you have to let go of your own ideas and see whether those ideas are still the right idea, or whether you’ve just learned something from this other person. So, listen actively as opposed to just hearing. When I worked as a flight instructor in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, I also always heard that when you give criticism to somebody, you should give it in three components: you highlight what the person did well, you highlight what the person did not so well, and then you have to come up with ways to improve it. I try to do this in everything I do now, good points, bad points, ways to improve.