Housing, sovereignty and the environment were all among the topics discussed at the Mission-Matsqui-Abbotsford all-candidates forum on Tuesday (April 8).
Incumbent Conservative Party candidate Brad Vis, New Democratic Party candidate Jules Côté, Liberal candidate Jeff Howe, Green Party candidate John Kidder and People’s Party of Canada candidate Kevin Sinclair were all in attendance at the Best Western Plus Mission City Lodge for the debate.
Hopefuls were provided three minutes each for opening and closing remarks, with one minute to answer questions both pre-prepared by the Mission Regional Chamber of Commerce and submitted live by the public.
Each candidate was also entitled to two rebuttals during the discussion.
Vis, first elected to parliament in 2019, said the three issues he has heard about most from voters are affordability, Donald Trump, and the intersection of homelessness, opioids and crime.
“We need the inner energy infrastructure. We need the critical minds to build Canada up,” Vis said during his opening remarks. “Without the revenue from oil, gas and critical minerals, we simply may just become a vassal state of the United States, and I do not want to see that happen.”
Côté is currently a political science student at University of Fraser Valley and a member of the National Farmers Union. She said a “dangerous concentration of wealth and power” inspired her to run.
“While Canadians are being gouged for groceries and squeezed out of the housing market, our jobs, our sovereignty and our democracy are threatened by the US on the daily,” Côté said.
Kidder, the husband of Green Party co-leader Elizabeth May, said he didn’t think there’s “actually any doubt” that Vis will win the riding and pitched the Greens as a “second vote”.
“I won't be elected. But I do hope to get … enough understanding of the ideas we’re presenting and enough sympathy for them that you will cast a vote that will otherwise be truly wasted,” Kidder said.
Howe, a lawyer with a focus on Aboriginal law and human rights law, said he was compelled to run because of the “existential threat” Canada is facing to its sovereignty and way of life.
“I feel compelled to stand up and be part of the team that helps everyone through this. It's inspiring to see Canadians uniting, not in fear but in resolve to defend what matters and shape what comes next,” he said.
Sinclair said he is running because of concerns about the “destructive path” Canada is on.
“We offer real solutions to the very real issues our disastrous government policies create,” he said.
Candidates were also asked about specific policies or initiatives to increase the supply of affordable housing.
Côté said the NDP is looking to ban corporations from buying homes.
“In order to create the infrastructure that we need to densify and build more homes, we're going to fund infrastructure projects like the water and sewage systems that we need in cities like Mission and Abbotsford,” Côté said.
Kidder advocated for government involvement in building homes.
“To get the number of units built that we have to get built to house all of the Canadians who are unhoused is going to take a full … effort supported by the private sector, but the government has to lead it and push it and make it happen,” Kidder said.
Howe noted the Liberals’ plan to build 250,000 new homes countrywide and remove federal rental tax for new home construction. He said he’ll help unlock federal lands in the riding for housing.
“I'll make sure that housing is built with Mission needs, not just the most profitable housing,” he said.
Sinclair attributed the housing crisis to immigration and inflationary monetary policy.
“We would cut spending and lower taxes and get our economy going in the right direction and halt immigration until we can get this under control. That’s it,” Sinclair said.
Vis said the Conservative plan would see low interest loans go to developers building projects quickly, speeding up processes, eliminate GST on new homes, and implement densification policies. He also said he’s working on unlocking federal lands for housing.
“Infrastructure dollars to communities should be tied to the number of homes they've built,” he said. “Under a Conservative government, we will incent municipalities to increase the number of homes built by 15 per cent each year.”
Climate change policies and approaches to oil, gas and energy were also discussed.
Vis said the Conservatives will reform the environmental review process to get projects ready to go that invest in critical minerals.
“The Conservative Party believes that we can solve some of the climate-related challenges that we face through technology. I also believe that Canada has a role to play globally and the number one thing we can do to reduce emissions is to export LNG and offset dirty coal through clean Canadian natural gas,” Vis said.
Côté advocated for a renewable energy grid and noted the need for a national solar corporation and wind corporation.
“I want to do away with the carbon tax entirely,and replace it with a cap and trade system which will allow us to cooperate with Quebec as well as California. It will allow us to increase trade specifically for the materials required to transition to a renewable economy,” Côté said.
Kidder said there’s a need to stop supporting the “massively profitable” oil business and instead invest the money in a national grid.
“Let’s … electrify everything, get ourselves out of the fossil fuel business. It is a pernicious place to be, It’s damaging all of our children's future, damaging the planet for the benefit of a few wealthy corporations. It is nonsensical,” Kidder said.
Howe says he supports alternate energy sources, such as hydroelectric, wind and solar. He noted Liberal promises to invest in clean tech and water security and emphasized the need for Indigenous-led conservation
“I think we can all agree that we need to green our economy and it's probably non-controversial that that is happening and it is work in process. That being said, we're not going to get off of fossil fuels and oil tomorrow,” he said.
Sinclair said the PPC would take the opposite approach to most of the other parties. When candidates were asked what they would do to reduce carbon emissions with the consumer carbon tax reduced to zero, Sinclair said “nothing.”
“We would build pipelines and like Donald Trump says, ‘Drill baby, drill’. Because that's the economic engine that pays everybody's rent and jobs and houses,” he said.
Sinclair said the Green philosophy is crippling the Canadian economy.
“We haven’t put it in place anywhere, how the hell can you say that?” Kidder replied.
Other questions included the federal approach to healthcare, transit and infrastructure, support for small businesses, reconciliation, collaboration with provinces, and inclusivity.
The full debate is available to stream on the Mission Regional Chamber of Commerce YouTube channel here.
