CHRIS FRAZER — COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA
Q: What would your party do to improve rural economic development?
A: This constituency is suffering from the transition away from traditional economic activities, based on the fisheries, forestry and mining, as well as agriculture. But there is no significant initiatives to manage that transition in the interests of the majority, who are working class and farming people. Some continue to benefit, but these tend to be those who are already wealthy.
The key issue is jobs, income, education, health and social services, as well as affordable housing. So here are some proposals to address this: immediately shut down Northern Pulp and begin to transition the workers into other jobs with no loss of pay or benefits; use Northern Pulp revenues to pay reparations to affected communities, including Pictou Landing, and to create work in the clean-up.
More long-term measures include restoring and increasing funding for education, health care, and social welfare programs — we need more doctors, nurses, and other health-care workers, more teachers and support staff, more social workers. Cap rents and build social housing and impose rent controls; nationalize Nova Scotia Power and plow revenues back into a stable power grid and make the power affordable for consumers; raise the minimum wage to $20. Double the corporate tax rate and eliminate income tax for anyone earning less than $40,000. Develop a publicly owned transportation infrastructure, including passenger rail service and a publicly owned passenger bus service that is affordable and accessible. Protect and rebuild the fisheries as well as small farms by supporting local agricultural production and distribution, and by protecting stable prices.
By taking steps to protect the incomes of working people, the extra revenues generated will bring security and stability to our standard of living, as well as stimulating spending at local merchants and businesses. Q : Access to high-speed internet has been brought up as a topic of concern in rural areas. What would your party do to address those concerns?
A: Big telecom companies are gouging rural populations without mercy. We all know the problem: lousy and unreliable service and ridiculously high rates to pay. Telecom companies rake in enormous profits but refuse to invest in infrastructure upgrades that will provide quality service. This is not an unsolvable problem; the problem is a complete lack of interest on the part of telecoms.
Rural communities are marginal to the profits of big telecom, so they act as if we do not matter. Increasingly, access
to phone service and internet is a necessity, not a luxury. So, the needs of people must come first. If private telecoms won’t provide affordable and reliable service; then put them out of the game and establish a Crown corporation that will invest in the needs of people. A publicly owned and publicly controlled telecommunications corporation would change the game and give people more control over their own lives. Q : What would your party do to improve mental health care and resources for people in Central Nova?
A: Our communities are sliding into a deeper mental health crisis. While some of this does have causes rooted in genetics, much, and perhaps most of it, is connected to trauma of various kinds. It is a response to a world veering out of control. It is well known that environmental circumstances — families, relationships, employment, income insecurity, housing insecurity, harassment and bullying, and even fear of ecological disaster — lead to or worsen mental health crises. It is increasingly difficult to cope in world where the next day can bring disaster, or where disaster already exists, without a clear way out.
In the long run providing guaranteed necessities — healthy and affordable food, proper and affordable housing, clean water, good education, access to health care and decent paying jobs — will eliminate or relieve a significant portion of depression and other mental health illnesses. But in the short-term, we desperately need investment in health-care facilities of every kind, including mental health providers who can provide therapies that will release people from the traps of substance abuse and self harm, and to protect people from emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Treatment for mental health issues should a part of Medicare, so that patients do not need to pay for treatment and prescriptions out of pocket. Q : What would you do to assist the provincial government in its efforts to recruit and retain doctors?
A: This problem is connected to a wide crisis in health care, that has largely been manufactured by governments who favour a transition away from public health care to an increasingly privatized system.
The first step is to reaffirm an unwavering commitment to a properly funded public healthcare system. There must be no financial burden on the public whatsoever. This cannot be solved by closing the purse.
In the short-term, we need public investment in the existing hospitals, and we need to build new hospitals and clinics. This will also require improved compensation for doctors, and especially new doctors, who are carrying debtloads that often force them to leave the province for better paying positions. In the longrun, abolishing tuition and implementing a loan-free grant system for all students will address the problem of debt for new doctors, and will improve the prospects for training and recruiting new doctors. This will also encourage the recruitment of candidates for medical schools and, ultimately, more doctors. Finally, it will help to have a government that would actually enforce the Canada Health to prevent privatization. Q : What can be done to help keep young Nova Scotians working and living in Central Nova?
A: First: Create jobs with living wages with a minimum wage of $20 an hour. This is another reason why we need to accelerate the transition from traditional industries, and to undertake infrastructure renewal and expansion (roads, telecommunications, power grids, green energy, passenger rail and expanded passenger bus service, expanded health care and education). This will create good-paying, long-term jobs that will give young people a reason to stay in Nova Scotia. It also will end the gig economy, by providing a shorter work week, with no loss of pay.
Second: Abolish tuition fees and replace student loans with grants, so that more young people can study here, rather than going away, and will develop the foundation for professional careers. Expand training in the trades, so that these young skilled workers can build affordable and co-op housing, build and expand infrastructure. Bring back rent controls, so that young people can afford decent housing. Finally, make rural Nova Scotia a safer place to live, by rooting out racism, homophobia, transphobia and sexism and misogyny.