An Interview with Stephen Mazurek, Liberal Candidate
February 22, 2010
Property values in Westport are higher than in Smiths Falls. What’s going on in North Leeds?
North Leeds is a wonderful place to live. It is an absolutely beautiful part of the riding. I know people from all over Ontario love the wonderful waterfront, fantastic shops and great dining in Westport. It’s no wonder many people, especially seniors and young families, are choosing to move to this community. I suspect this increased demand is what has driven up the property values in that area.
Smiths Falls has been through a challenging couple of years; there is no doubt about that. We need to bring good-paying jobs back to that community and I believe we have the right economic plan and the right tax package to do it.
Mr. Harper and Mr. McGuinty have jointly created the 13% Harmonized Sales Tax. Would you explain a bit about what the HST will mean to voters in Leeds-Grenville?
The HST is just one element of the Liberal government’s comprehensive tax package that, taken together, will create 600,000 new jobs, increase business investment and leave more money in people’s pockets.
We are beginning to see signs of economic recovery, so governments have a choice. They can either choose to act, helping businesses create new jobs — or choose to do nothing, stand back and hope for the best. I am proud to say the Liberal government has chosen to act.
Moving to a single, value-added tax like the HST allows businesses, large and small, to be reimbursed for the PST they pay on the items they buy every day to run their business. Decreased costs for business will mean lower prices for consumers. In fact, a study by TD Bank showed that 95% of business cost savings will be passed on to the consumer within 3 years.
While businesses start hiring as their tax burden shrinks, people in Leeds-Grenville will also benefit from the $10.6 billion in permanent, personal tax relief which accompanies the HST legislation. We have already lowered the personal income tax rate on January 1st, cutting income taxes for 93% of Ontario taxpayers. Ontario now has the lowest income tax rate in all of Canada on the first $37,000 of income.
And while it is true that some prices on some items will go up, it is nowhere near what’s being suggested by some of my opponents. In fact, 83% of the things we buy will have no additional tax after July 1st.
Things exempt from cost increases because of the HST include basic groceries, prescriptions, clothing, children’s clothing and footwear, books, home cable and telephone service, cell phone charges, municipal water bills, your morning coffee and newspaper, restaurant meals, furniture and appliances, movie tickets, mortgage interest charges, prepared food under $4 and automobiles, to name just a few.
And finally, the people of Leeds-Grenville will also benefit from permanent, targeted tax cuts offsetting the increases on the remaining 17% of purchases.
Starting this July, and an integral part of the HST legislation, the new, permanent Ontario Sales Tax Credit will provide up to $260 for every low and middle-income Ontarian, paid out quarterly like the current GST credit. We are also doubling the Seniors’ Property Tax Credit to $500, helping seniors stay in their homes longer. And finally we also created a new, permanent Ontario Property Tax Credit that provides up to $950 for residents of homes, whether they rent or own.
We need a strong economy to support the high quality public services like hospitals and schools that we’ve all worked so hard to build. The government’s plan adds up to more jobs, greater prosperity and a brighter future for Leeds-Grenville.
In a recent article Mr. Runciman ripped Mr. McGuinty for his green plan, claiming that Hydro will have to pay out astronomical amounts to homeowners with solar panels. He claimed McGuinty’s numbers are “the stuff of fantasy”. Can you provide a more balanced look at the Green Initiative?
I think we can all agree that the days of cheap energy are over. Whether because of the economic or environmental impacts, we must turn to new sources of energy, harnessing the natural gifts of the planet – the sun, the wind, and our crops.
It is always amusing to listen to the Tories discuss things like climate change and energy production. Runciman is now part of a government that seems to deny that climate change is even a fact, and was part of a government, under Harris, that fought to keep coal plants open. This attitude was wrong then and is even worse now.
The Liberal government knows how critical this issue is, and has responded. We have already reduced Ontario’s use of dirty coal by one-third and will reduce it by another third next year. This will clean the air we breathe and improve our quality of life.
We also recently announced that we are protecting an area in Northern Ontario larger than Prince Edward Island from logging, which in addition to the Green Belt and our 50 Million Trees Program, will go a long way to turning back the clock on environmental destruction.
Putting the environmental reasons aside, I believe Leeds-Grenville is uniquely positioned to harness our natural elements to create the highly-skilled jobs we want right here at home.
While solar and wind power are seen by some as a pipe dream, the reality is the green energy revolution is happening right now and it is happening all around us. I was pleased to visit Upper Canada Generation Limited with the Premier just last week. That is a great example of a company that is creating the kinds of jobs we want by using leading-edge technology to turn the natural bounty of this riding into usable energy.
We must remember that leading-edge technologies often have upfront costs. I remember how much more computers cost 10 years ago compared to what they cost today. Wind turbines, solar panels and ethanol processing plants are no different. I think it’s important that we look at the overall cost, both environmental and economic, rather than just the specific rate for generation of a new energy source. While an initial feed-in tariff is needed to encourage investment in these right kinds of technology, I am confident that over time we will see wind turbines and solar panels dotting our landscape and benefitting both the environment and our pocket books.
On federal politics: an interview with Marjory Loveys
August 14, 2009
Marjory Loveys worked for years in the Prime Minister’s Office. I leaped at the chance to talk to a woman who understands federal politics. Marjory is running for the Leeds and Grenville Liberal nomination.
Why is it important that the Liberal Party of Canada form the next government?
It’s worth looking at the current government and defining for ourselves what makes people so uncomfortable with Stephen Harper. For me there are two things: 1. he is mean and divisive, and I fear that over time Canada will become like him, meaner and more divided; 2. he seems to have very little ambition for Canada. I don’t see any big ideas coming from Stephen Harper; I don’t see big plans for progress for Canada. I don’t see him excited about new industries, new technologies, or major reforms of any kind. He likes the oil sands, law and order, and ethanol. That’s about it.
Yes, but he’s an oilman, from Calgary.
He’s no oilman. I worked with guys from the oil patch and they were builders. They wore iron rings and they built things. Stephen Harper is not a builder. He has plenty of ambition for himself, but not for Canada.
What’s Michael Ignatieff doing talking up the oil sands?
It’s a big industry and a big resource, and it has to learn to operate sustainably. In Calgary there are lots of iron rings and a can-do attitude. In terms of climate change if we had fewer economists and lawyers and more engineers, we could accomplish a whole lot. It’s like anything else. You don’t do it until you’re pushed, and the trick for government is that we will push them in a way that works for them.
Engineers are taught to solve problems, and that’s what politics needs: people to solve problems. That’s what I did for ten years in Mr. Chretien’s office: listen to all sides. Find an approach that is supportive, not destructive, that works for everybody.
One blogger suggested that Michael Ignatieff should stop trying to appear a statesman and speak to Canadians the way he would talk to members of a book club. Are there enough readers in Canada to make Michael Ignatieff our next Prime Minister?
I look at Mr. Ignateiff as someone who is learning very quickly in one of the toughest jobs in the country. He has a strong philosophical framework for the job. He has actually thought about the role of government. He is liberal in the finest sense of the word.
Mr. Harper is like Mike Harris: he doesn’t believe in the organization he is leading. He is there to weaken it, not to make it work well. He has instructed his MPs to make Commons committee work totally partisan and dysfunctional. If Conservative Party of Canada MPs don’t like where the committee is going, they often get up and leave.
Stephen Harper is caught up in an ideology of not believing in government. He does not believe in government as a force for good. By contrast Michael Ignatieff believes in a government which functions well and is doing the right thing.
George W. Bush’s ideology demanded that he cut taxes, deregulate, and wage war. He left the United States bankrupt. To what extent has this Republican trend influenced the Conservative Party of Canada?
One of the great myths is that Liberals are spendthrifts and Conservatives are good fiscal managers.
The Chretien Liberals inherited a huge deficit from Brian Mulroney. By the end of the Chretien years we had surpluses that were being used to pay down the nation’s mortgage. Stephen Harper increased spending and cut taxes to the point where the surplus was gone before the recession began. With no rainy day funds, the entire stimulus package was funded by going into debt. No prudent family would run their finances this way. We have seen this pattern in Saskatchewan, and in the United States in Republican years. The right wing ran up the debts and the left wing paid them off.
What local and national challenges will the next government face?
The big challenge for Canada over the next few years will be to recover from the recession. What I would push very hard for is more help for small business because they are spending lots of money on stimulus. If you are a car company it’s great, if you build infrastructure it is great, but the vast majority of enterprises in Leeds and Grenville are small businesses, and Ottawa hasn’t beefed up support for small business.
Your next hurdle is to gain the nomination. Why should members of the Leeds and Grenville Liberal association choose you as their candidate?
I know how government works and I know what it feels like to be in a small business and feel that you’re not being heard. I grew up in a village in Oxford County and I have seen a lack of understanding of rural and small communities in the federal government.
Mr. Ignatieff has made a commitment to use a rural lens on his policies. This is his way of recognizing that one size does not fit all and he is committing that all of his policies will work for small towns as well as for cities. I’m particularly interested in day care programs, for example. They will need to be designed quite differently in rural communities than in downtown Toronto.
Breaking up the logjam of Canadian politics
July 29, 2009
Jeffrey Simpson’s column in today’s Globe speaks of the four blocks in Canadian federal politics, and how they consign Canadians to minority governments for the forseeable future. The Conservatives hold the west and rural Ontario. The Liberals hold urban centres in Ontario, English-speaking Quebec, and the maritimes. The NDP pulls 15%. The Bloc controls Quebec. Simpson does not mention the Green Party in his analysis.
When speaking to veteran political observer and Leeds and Grenville Liberal nomination candidate Marjory Loveys this week I formed the impression that she is well aware of this logjam, but an interesting impression emerged from the discussion:
The philosophical differences between the NDP and the Liberals are certainly no wider than those of the Reform party and the Progressive Conservatives. When’s the last time the NDP tried to nationalize a bank? Oh wait: the Republicans did that. And Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party of Canada has practically nationalized the auto industry. Uh… so what’s keeping the Liberals and the NDP from forming a coalition of the left to balance the CPC? And the Green Party doesn’t fit anywhere on the political spectrum. It’s a trend, a fashionable place to park a protest vote. If the Liberal/NDP get a platform together and involve the Green trendites, a majority may well be within reach.
Don’t count the Left wing out just yet.
the Walnut Diary 