Pubdate: Sat, 22 Mar 2014
Source: Brant News (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 Metroland
Contact:  http://www.brantnews.com/brantcounty/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5498
Author: Victoria Gray

MULCAIR FACES QUESTION PERIOD IN BRANT

 From pension plans to marijuana and most everything in between,
federal NDP leader Tom Mulcair fielded an array of questions from a
packed Sanderson Centre audience in Brantford on Tuesday.

Between all the promises on different subjects, Mulcair made sure to
leave the impression that changes in Ottawa would happen swiftly if
Canada elected an NDP government in the next federal vote.

"Many of these changes will be made in the first month (we are in
office)," Mulcair said.

The leader of the Official Opposition was in Brantford for a town hall
meeting that drew a crowd of 150 people to hear Mulcair's thoughts and
pepper him with questions.

Hosted by the Brant NDP, Mulcair used the stage to reinforce several
NDP platforms that are being developed ahead of the next election,
scheduled for October 2015.

He guaranteed those in attendance that ATM fees would be reduced,
credit card interest rates would go down, the price of gas would drop,
genetically modified organism labeling would be enforced for food
items and Canada would sign back on to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.

"The Conservatives believe they can just get rid of all that
government stuff and good things will trickle down like a gentle rain
from heaven," Mulcair said. "The working class has been trickled on
for so long and we're tired of it and nobody's standing up for you,
but we will stand up for you."

Mulcair said many young people don't vote or get involved in politics
because they don't see the point and they don't see positive change.
He said they want honest politicians who can produce results.

"We're having the largest economic, social and environmental debt in
history dropped in our backpacks and whose going to stand up for that?
The answer is only the NDP will stand up for that," he said.

When it was time to take questions from those in attendance, Mulcair
was pressed on a wide range of subjects.

Ella Haley, who operates the environmental group Sustainable Brant,
asked Mulcair what he could do to protect farmland.

Mulcair said land issues fall under provincial jurisdiction, but that
federal environmental assessments have become a joke under the
Conservative government and need to be strengthened.

Mulcair was asked several times how the NDP plans to deal with youth
unemployment and tuition costs. He said an NDP government would
implement programs and tax breaks for employers who create jobs and
would invest in education.

Kevin Donaldson asked Mulcair about marijuana laws.

Mulcair said the NDP has supported a policy of decriminalization for
more than 40 years.

"We've got to be careful though and get the right people involved
because, let's be honest, what I smoked when I was young was more like
oregano compared to what's on the market now," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt