Ontario Votes 2007: Interview with NDP candidate Glenn Crowe, Bramalea-Gore-Malton

October 4, 2007 Glenn Crowe is running for the NDP in the Ontario provincial election, in the Bramalea-Gore-Malton riding. Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Crowe did not reply to various questions asked.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Interview
'''Why have you chosen to involve yourself in the political process? Why did you choose to run in this constituency?'''
 * I believe that it's time working families got both a fair deal and increased representation in Queen’s Park. I live and grew up in the riding of Bramalea Gore Malton.

'''What do you feel are the three most important issues to voters in your riding? Are these the same top three issues that are most important to you? What would you do to address these issues?'''


 * I believe that the three most important issues are:


 * The $10/hr living wage
 * The availability of good paying jobs
 * Making life affordable


 * To address the issues:
 * Pass the living wage act NOW. If the MPP’s can vote themselves a 31% pay raise, why can’t we have a living wage today?
 * In exchange for job creation & preservation guarantees, provide manufacturing and resource companies with a stable hydro rate. Beef up existing employment standards to ensure that companies are discouraged from buying businesses just to close them down. When a closure can’t be avoided improve both the severance pay and increase the notice to reflect the job market of today.
 * We need to ensure that the provincial government uses it influence to make sure that consumers get a fair deal from their auto insurance companies, banks, payroll loans and oil companies. Since for working families these expenses can make the difference living in or out of poverty.

What should be the first order of business in the 39th Legislative Assembly?
 * Pass the living wage act, followed by auto insurance reform and increasing the services available to developmentally delayed adults.

Are the property taxes in your riding at a fair level for the amount of services received in the municipality?
 * I believe that property taxes are too high and unfairly target people on fixed incomes who can least afford the increases. One of the main reasons that they are high is due to provincial downloading. The NDP plans to upload a number of provincially mandated services starting with public transit and court security first in January 2008. Followed by Ontario Disability Support Program and the Ontario Drug Benefit Program by 2011. We would be on track to upload the download that was imposed on property tax payers by the Mike Harris conservative government by 2015. This would free up money that the cities can then use to either fund or enhance the services that they offer to their citizens.

How can the province lead the way in stimulating job creation?
 * Since hydro can be one of a company’s largest costs, our industrial hydro rate will give resource and manufacturing industries access to low cost hydro to ensure that our rates do not cause a company to move out of the province.

What are your views on the mixed member proportional representation (MMP) referendum?
 * I believe that the majority threshold has been set to high it should be 50% + 1 not 60%. Part of our platform on electoral reform would be the limiting of political contributions to individuals only. This would prevent large corporations from making huge donations and giving that political party an unfair advantage when it comes to getting their message out to the voters.

'''What role, if any, does "new media" play in your campaign, and the campaign of your party? (websites, blogs, Facebook, YouTube videos, etc) Do you view it as beneficial, or a challenge?'''
 * I believe that the “new media” provides an excellent source of information on both the candidate as well as the political party that they representing. For those who are internet savy a web site is the quickest method of getting this information. The challenge is to keep the information on the web site relevant as well as finding the time to update it. It’s a great benefit to someone who may not be able to meet the candidate face to face.