John Redekopp, Green — Winnipeg North
Erin DeBooy | for CBC News | Posted: October 6, 2015 3:11 PM | Last Updated: October 6, 2015
'I would be a dedicated MP who listens to constituents and can speak for them in Parliament'
Why do you want this job?
I think Winnipeg North could use some change and Parliament overall could use some change. If elected, I would be a dedicated MP who listens to constituents and can speak for them in Parliament. The Green Party has a policy of not whipping [a parliamentary term for enforcing the party line] their employees, so as an MP of Winnipeg North I could be free to speak for the community.
What's the biggest issue for the country and in your riding?
For the country, or the planet for that matter, climate change is something that needs to be seriously addressed, and it's not being addressed that well right now.
In the riding, poverty would be the number 1 issue. There are issues particularly within the North End such as public safety and poverty, and the Green Party has a platform of introducing a guaranteed income for individuals paid for through carbon fee dividends.
What would you do with the Senate?
The Senate definitely needs reform and the scandals of recent years have brought attention to that reform. I do like the Green Party's idea the best, of converting the Senate into a proportionally represented body.
Winnipeg was described as the most racist city in Canada. What would you do to combat racism?
I completely agree. I see for myself how much division there is in the city. I come to the North End to support the community and the community building they're doing here because I truly believe in it. I also have friends in other parts of the city that can have prejudices of people in the North End and people of other races. I think there is a lot to be worked on, both in our suburbs and in our inner city, bridging the gaps and removing those stigmas and stereotypes that people can have of each other.
I would encourage people in the suburbs to come to the North End and see it first-hand. There is room for improvement here, but overall it is a decent neighbourhood. There are decent people living here, but so much more could be done to improve it, and that starts with having everyone understanding each other's communities and working together to improve each other's communities.
What role should the federal government play in dealing with climate change?
Canada needs to be a leader. We need to enact legislation and public policy that really shows we are caring about the environment in a way that other countries can model. One thing that the Green Party truly believes in is that the environment is the economy and the way we treat the environment leads to the way the economy performs.
If we are just extracting natural resources as much and as fast as possible, we are not going to have long-term gain, we are going to have a volatile economy, we are going to have layoffs, and we aren't going to have that sustainability. So what we are looking at is an ecological platform that takes into consideration the economy, job security, and one that sustains our environment for the indefinite future.
If there was one government policy you think is done better in another country, what is it?
Canada is the only country that agreed to the Kyoto accord and has been pulled out of the Kyoto accord by our current government. I'd say all the countries that are still in the Kyoto agreement and trying to achieve those standards are leaving Canada behind in those standards of protecting the environment.
Under what circumstances is deficit spending a good choice?
I'm never a fan of deficit spending. The key word is sustainability. When it comes to government sustainability, balancing the budget every single time is the key. When you look at the province of Manitoba, the government has been incurring a deficit ever since the NDP has come into power, and it's just gone up so much we don't know what our futures are going to be here. We need to start both balancing the budget, both at provincial and federal levels, in order to start sustaining things that will be better for future generations not to be burdened with the debt we caused in this generation.
What do you believe is the single most effective way to fight crime?
I think it is community building first and foremost. When communities start going downhill it could be because residents feel they have a lack of purpose in life or that maybe resorting to crime sounds fun because they don't have anything to do. It's been shown that the schoolchildren most likely to get involved in gangs are the ones where extracurricular activities are lacking and they don't have any goals.
Showing a community and having some sort of an inspiration can help fight crime. Also showing we care about our community, if there's a broken window we'll fix it as soon as possible, because we don't want to see any scars in our community because of crime.
What should be done about homegrown terrorism?
The federal government could act as a leader, show that we do care about individuals overseas and don't want them to have to resort to this animosity in terrorism. I think that providing assistance to people across those countries can show that we care and that we don't need to have a division between our nations. If people here can see that we care about the people in other countries, then they won't have to resort to doing things to our nation to send that message.
If there was a gay pride parade in your riding, would you go? Why or why not?
I would. I actually haven't attended a gay pride parade before, but I would definitely go. I'm glad that we are living in a day and age where people can take pride in their sexual orientation and have that freedom and the freedom of expression.
Have either you or your family had a frustrating experience with the health-care system, and what would you do to fix the problem?
I have had frustrating experiences with the health-care system. If you go to an emergency room, you just don't know what kind of service you'll be getting. It can be a crapshoot based on the number of staff they have at the hospital and the number of patients that happen to be there at the time. The government has taken a lot of action to eliminate hallway medicine, but it's still out there and being practiced.
When it comes to health care, I believe the number 1 thing we need to do is look at the preventative side of it, whether it is a national universal pharmacare program or just looking into naturopath or nutrition. People need to take care of their health, and the government can promote that.
What would you do to get more people to vote?
Voting is incredibly important. When I look at the numbers and see that only a slim majority of eligible voters cast their vote, it makes me as a candidate feel like a failure. What did I not do to make people more enthusiastic about casting that ballot? I think a lot of that can come down to youth and getting them to vote that first time, because if they don't vote that first time, it becomes less and less likely they will participate.
It's about giving people a reason and showing them that their vote makes a difference. If they are cynical and believe that it doesn't, well there's a lot of truth behind that. We need to reform our democracy and make sure when people cast their ballot that they know their vote is making a difference.
What's a better use of federal dollars: fixing roads or building rapid transit infrastructure?
In Winnipeg we do have an issue with deteriorating roads. One thing we could start off with would be offering fare-free public transit for individuals. The cost for fare-free transit has shown to give overall improvement to our economy, because if you have fewer cars on the road you will have fewer accidents, fewer MPI claims, the roads deteriorate at a slower rate.
Eventually Winnipeg is going to have to get into some really serious road infrastructure planning and when that happens, you are going to have street workers blocking roads and traffic getting backed up, so getting fewer cars on the road is goal number one. Developing rapid transit goes along with that goal.
Would you support legalizing a small amount of marijuana? And have you ever tried it?
Colorado has been a success story when you look at how much revenue they have collected from marijuana sales, so I definitely would support a small usage of marijuana. It can generate revenue for the government and just allow a little more liberty and freedom to make personal choices, so long as those choices are not excessive.
As for myself, it's been longer than I can remember since I tried it.