Candidate Questions: Catharine Kendall – Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies

How would you address the challenges facing some Aboriginal communities across our region?

The challenges facing First Nations communities in the PG-PR-NR riding are vast and diverse, as diverse as their individual cultures and the environments they reside within. I will not prescribe a set of solutions here within this reply but rather leave the dialogue open for those First Nations communities to offer their individual concerns to me directly. I will however share that my work in Blueberry River decades ago that saw an entire community affected and later moved less than 1km due to sour gas well leaks was an eye opener. The hair samples taken from a community health study were never assessed. The chemist that I worked for always hoped for real change, real answers, real results by taking hair samples and analyzing them for chemical contamination. This work took me to many Aboriginal communities and the federal government’s (Health Canada’s) decision was always the same with “We are doing enough.” even though there was so much more tangible work to do. We must listen to First Nations issues, act responsibly and with integrity. We must follow through with reconciliation steps as each community requires, requests, suggests and begs of the federal government. We must act on every concern to initiate the healing process of colonization and the impacts of decades.

What’s your stance on the development of pipelines?

Pipelines that move oil and gas across and through northeastern BC will be phased out.

– Cancel all new pipeline projects (beginning with Trans Mountain)
– Cancel all new oil exploration projects, including in the offshore
– End leasing of federal lands for fossil fuel production and retire existing licenses
– Ban hydraulic fracturing (fracking)
– End all subsidies to the fossil fuel sector
– Phase out existing oil and gas operations, so that they continue on a declining
basis with bitumen production phased out between 2030 and 2035
– Require federal public investment funds (including the Canada Pension Plan
– Investment Board) to divest from fossil fuels
– Ensure companies are held accountable for paying for the costs of cleaning up
and restoring land, instead of passing these to the public Green infrastructure and environmental justice will be the only way to retrace the steps beyond the impending climate catastrophes that awaits us with our present political trajectory.

How high a priority is affordable childcare for your party? What’s your party’s pitch?

As a single, rural parent with 6 children, I understand the need for quality, affordable childcare. I advocate for a universal, affordable, early learning and childcare system that provides support for parents, enhances early learning to benefit children and provides early educator jobs that sustains local communities, urban and rural.

What’s your party’s stance on vaccinations? Should they be mandatory?

Every person in Canada who is eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19 should do so for their own protection and for the protection of their community members. Canadians need to be
literate in transmissible disease prevention and at this time they are not, they are becoming polarized on the topic (vaxxer vs anti-vaxxer) moving the issue into a human rights debate. Creating mandatory legislation for vaccinations does not work as well as it states it will. Individuals with medical conditions, religious or cultural convictions and those that live rurally and remotely will require flexibility. Canadians must become literate in transmissible disease prevention.

What would you do to help seniors?
There are significant disparities between urban and rural health delivery for seniors and people with diverse abilities. Restore quality, energy efficient housing for seniors, including those with special needs and low-income families, by providing financing to non-profit
housing organizations, cooperatives, and social housing to build and restore quality and affordable housing.
Guaranteed Livable Income would offer the greatest security to the most vulnerable Canadians: especially seniors.
The Green Party of Canada believes that every person living in a long-term care facility in Canada deserves to be provided with excellent care, regardless of their financial situation, and to have the necessary conditions for a high-quality and dignified life.

How would you address the opioid crisis?
The opioid crisis is a health care issue, not a criminal issue, and by addressing it as
such we can begin to address the underlying causes and stop this national tragedy from
getting even worse. This is why we have called for the decriminalization of small amounts of illicit drugs and the creation of a national safe supply program.
Invest in mental health secured funding to all provinces to provide the services required within each community. Meet individuals where they are at. Understand that mental unwellness and the opioid crisis go hand in hand.

Where in the riding do you live? Why? What are your favourite places to spend time in?

I live east of Prince George, rurally. I enjoy rural life, farming, raising fresh, healthy food (milk, cheese, meat, eggs, garden produce) to feed my family. My favourite places to spend time are outside, in the forest in my backyard foraging for berries in the summer with my children or sledding down snow covered hills in the winter.

Who’s your favourite singer/band?

Neil Young – Mother Earth

by CKPG News

Candidate Questions: Catharine Kendall – Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies

What's Trending