Elections
Do you believe the Federal Government needs to do more to support cities? If so, what needs to change? If not, why not?
Responses to the question: "Do you believe the Federal Government needs to do more to support cities? If so, what needs to change? If not, why not?"
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11 Candidate Responses (top)
| Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Nancy MacBain | Yes | Yes, the federal government should do more to support cities. Years of federal and provincial downloading have placed a heavy burden on cities. The Harper government has no long term plan to meet today's growing challenges.
The NDP has a practical affordable plan to help cities. We'll dedicate resources to build green infrastructure with targeted funds for urban transit, clean water, research and development. We will also implement a national infrastructure strategy and allocate another cent of the existing gas tax to public transit funding for municipalities. |
| Peter Ormond | Yes | Of course! Look around Hamilton - we have so much potential. Instead of airport expansion, develop light rail and strengthen the HSR within the city. Instead of new highways to service the airport, re-establish Hamilton's link with the Canada's coast-to-coast railway - a system that was completed in 1885! Focus on local food, diverse communities, and deployment of renewable energy systems.
The Greens will offer a municipal RRSP that invests in local sustainable projects only. We will also offer pools of funds - for community-building projects only. No more mega-project freebies. The Greens will encourage community-specific projects that can be replicated throughout Canada: rain-barrel neighbourhoods, solar communities, traffic-free zones, bike, transport, integrated retirement communities, and other exciting projects. If we want different results, we can't continue to vote for the same old. Make that statement and vote Green. Whatever the reason - follow through at the political level. |
| Hamilton Centre | ||
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Michael James Baldasaro | Yes | Yes, I believe the federal government needs to do more to support our cities.
First of all, the federal government has to start carrying their load in the justice system. They chain our cities with handcuffs and leg irons and with their expensive regulations and rules, quite often unconstitutional. And then, they fail to finance the work. If the federal arm of the government is going to demand we perform certain services in our community they must fund them. |
| Hamilton East-Stoney Creek | ||
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Bob Green Innes | Yes | Please see my previous answer as to how the Canadian Action Party proposes to enable more beneficial public programs by restoring the Bank of Canada to its rightful place and eliminating the gradual enslavement of the Canadian people to the banks through ever larger public debts and interest payments. If we want to support cities financially, we should be able to.
Generally however, I am utterly opposed to having the federal gummerment meddle in the financial affairs of every city, town and village. This is only a way to skim money at all political levels while disconnecting the taxpayer from the equation. It encourages overspending and politically motivated handouts - there is no direct taxpayer pushback since oh well, the feds are paying. It's a beggar thy neighbour situation. We are already indebted horribly, which is going to turn out badly once bond buyers begin to wonder if they will ever be paid back. As I said earlier, the way to get what we want for Hamilton is by focusing on allowing people in Hamilton to create wealth, which really means creating exportable products or services. To this end, the Federal Government should be lowering taxes and transfers, allowing cities to raise more of their own taxes and removing red tape in order to release the energies of Canada's cities and citizens. Another issue I'd like to bring to voters' attention is how short selling in stock markets is destructive of pensions, RRSPs and businesses and non transparent/ dishonest for investors. Please have a look at the information at this website and consider signing the linked petition to abolish the practice. |
| David Hart Dyke | Yes | Both the federal and provincial governments need to do far more to support cities.
Our system of government was set up when Canada was primarily a country of small rural communities. That is no longer the case, yet a system structured to serve the country under that paradigm still exists. The result is that cities are forced to take on more and more responsibilities, yet their only access to the means to fulfil them is property tax and the largesse of the "higher" levels of government. Hamilton's downward economic spiral started when the Harris government downloaded provincial responsibilities onto the municipality. Promises that funds to cover this change would be forthcoming proved to be a cruel and misleading fantasy. Meanwhile, the federal government has found it convenient to pretend that making things right would be intruding into areas of provincial responsibility. So what needs to change? The federal government needs to stimulate economic growth by providing incentives for small and medium-sized businesses to "get greener". It should invest in transportation and communications infrastructure that would help connect major population centres. I say "invest", because such measures have a ripple effect that spreads right through the whole city's economy. Well-employed citizens are a source of all kinds of tax dollars. As it improves Canada's transportation infrastructure (especially rail), the federal government should tear down tariff walls between provinces that make north-south trade easier than east-west trade. It should commit to a coherent strategy to ensure that cities have the tools to keep Canada strong as we move away from a resource-based economy that relies on plundering our national heritage and selling it off at bargain-basement prices. |
| Gord Hill | Yes | Yes. Investment vehicles such as income trusts giving fair dividends to supply on going infrastructure projects that are a benefit to both the Cities as well as the Canadian Investor. CHMC to insure only 25 year mortgages so that our youth is not caught unable to pay mortgages they can't afford when it comes to renewal time. The Federal Government must facilitate the planning and industrial strategy for all cities helping decide the best direction and markets that that city is best suited for, based on the positioning and history of the city in relation to the resources that surround it. I have had the opportunity to meet a number of the executives in Hamilton, they are hard working and innovative men and women who deserve to be helped in everyway possible. We have a very small population and a very rich country we can determine how and where we want to process our resources and as, many of the people are in other fields, manufacturing would only need so many to move forward, Lets Get Going! |
| Greg Pattinson | Yes | Power is far to centralised in Ottawa. In order to have an efficient system of government power must be decentralized to the lowest level possible. In most cases that is the individual citizens of Canada. Cities are second. Only if it is not possible for a government function to operate at the local level should power be vested in the provinces or the federal government. |
| Wayne Marston | Yes | Yes, the federal government has a significant role to play in supporting cities. An NDP government will implement a national infrastructure strategy and a permanent transfer of a share of the federal gas tax to municipalities so that cities have the resources they need to pay for critical infrastructure like roads, sewers and waste water treatment facilities. |
| Hamilton Mountain | ||
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Marie Bountrogianni | Yes | Cities are the engines of the national economy. There is an increasing amount of evidence from university departments of economics, commerce, and business to prove that fact. Rural communities make important contributions too: economic development for rural and northern Canada is a necessity.
At the same time, the government certainly needs to do more to help cities and maximize their economic potential. Improved, high-speed transportation between cities would be a great way to improve the business climate - but there has been a disappointing lack of action on this front from the federal government. By contrast, transportation and a renewed commitment to cities would be important concerns for a Liberal government. |
| Stephen E. Brotherston | Yes | Greens support the creation of 6 municipal superfunds totalling $2.4 billion annually to help cities with brownfield remediation, water & waste treatment, recreational facilities, mass transit, cycling & pedestrian promotion, and community housing.
Our cities are under-funded and need federal support. |
| Niagara West-Glanbrook | ||
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Stephen Bieda | Yes | Federal investment in infrastructure projects including electrified light high speed rail, electric vehicle charging stations and support for GO Station expansion into areas like Winona Crossing at Fifty Road would go a long way towards reducing commute times, reducing GHGs and creating jobs. |
Response Summary (top)
| Brief Response | Count | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 11 | 100.0% |
| No | 0 | 0.0% |
| Maybe | 0 | 0.0% |
20 Candidates Have Not Responded (top)
| Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale | ||
|---|---|---|
| Anthony Giles | ||
| Dave Braden | ||
| David Sweet | ||
| Jamile Ghaddar | ||
| Hamilton Centre | ||
| Annie Tennier | ||
| David Christopherson | ||
| James W. Byron | ||
| Lisa Nussey | ||
| Hamilton East-Stoney Creek | ||
| Bob Mann | ||
| Brad Clark | ||
| Michelle Stockwell | ||
| Wendell Fields | ||
| Hamilton Mountain | ||
| Chris Charlton | ||
| Henryk Adamiec | ||
| Jim Enos | ||
| Terry Anderson | ||
| Niagara West-Glanbrook | ||
| Bryan Jongbloed | ||
| David Heatley | ||
| Dean Allison | ||
| Sid Frere | ||
