In an effort to provide student focused coverage of the upcoming provincial election, we launched a contest asking students to tell us what issues mattered to them in Manitoba. Here, candidates for the Fort Richmond riding respond to questions posed by students at the University of Manitoba:

1. Rob Holter-Ferguson:
What is your stance on the privatization of Manitoba Public Insurance? How would this affect car insurance rates?

NDP candidate Kerri Irvin-Ross: The NDP is committed to keeping our utilities strong and publicly owned for the benefit of all Manitobans. Low Autopac and Hydro rates are important parts of Manitoba’s affordability advantage. That’s why as part of this election campaign we have guaranteed that Manitoba families will pay the lowest combined bills in the country for electricity, home heating, and auto insurance.  

Liberal candidate Dustin Hiles: With situations like that, I am not in favour of privatizing things that are essential to the public domain and also to the health and safety of residents. I don’t agree with privatizing public insurance.

Green Party Candidate Caitlyn McIntyre: [ . . . ] [Our party] is committed to a public insurer. At the same time you would also like to see MPI take on bicycle safety and insurance, and something to make the road safer for cyclists and also to make sure that motorists understand how to share the road appropriately with cyclists. 

2. Justin Goritz:
What is your plan for possible flooding again next spring throughout the province, and is there going to be another floodway expansion?

Irvin-Ross:
The NDP is committed to significant permanent flood mitigation investments in the areas hard-hit by the 2011 flood to ensure they are better protected for the future, including funding to permanently move or raise homes and cottages around Lake Manitoba, bring Brandon to one in 300 year flood protection, and enhance the Assiniboine River dikes between Portage and Headingley.

In addition, we are committed to a significant investment in an emergency channel from Lake St. Martin to urgently reduce water levels on Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin prior to spring 2012 [ . . . ].

Hiles:
Jon Gerrard has talked about this; the [NDP] government was extremely unprepared. [ . . . ] It was a huge failure of the Manitoba government.

A Manitoba Liberal government would expand the floodway and provide resources to help families affected by this. [ … ] We will be prepared, and we will put funding towards making sure that what happened this summer doesn’t happen again.

McIntyre:
I don’t believe that the party is committed to a floodway expansion. I know that we are committed to alternative land-use practises such as wetland and restoration. [ . . . ] Our party has been deeply committed to this measure both at the federal and the provincial level for many many years [ . . . ].

Working with farmers and working with other land owners to ensure that there is wetland reclamation and protection [is] the easiest way to protect against flooding, and [another] flooding measure is also working adequately with other agencies like environment Canada [ . . . ] to correctly predict the floodway or the flood patterns [ . . . ].

3. Eric Ritsun:
What possible solutions do you propose to halt or lessen damage to our water?

Irvin-Ross:
This spring, a five-year study of Lake Winnipeg showed that much more aggressive action to reduce phosphorous levels is needed. Doing nothing is not an option. In response, we launched an aggressive action plan aimed at reducing phosphorous levels by 50 per cent. The plan focuses on three key areas: keeping hog manure out of the lake by banning unsustainable hog industry expansion; modernizing sewage treatment including requiring the City of Winnipeg to replace its North End plan with state-of-the-art technology and further action to protect Manitoba’s wetlands.

Hiles:
The Manitoba Liberal party has already had a strong stance on preserving the natural resources of Manitoba. Lake Winnipeg is something we have to work on now. It’s one of the most polluted lakes in North America.

Jon Gerard has made a commitment, and the party will continue on that commitment if we form government, to clean up Lake Winnipeg and to enhance and save the natural beauty of this province.

McIntyre:
Well you’re talking to the right party. [ . . . ] Right across our policy you will find different measures to protect our wildlife, our water [ … ] .
We want to switch to a localized agriculture sector and depend less heavily on an export intensive live stock and crop operations, [which] is going to be paramount in protecting our waterways, and also [ . . . ] our waste water treatment in urban areas is lacking [ . . . ].
We would switch to a more point stored based composting system to ensure that our municipal forces of water pollution is minimized [ . . . ]. 

4. Ashley Christle:
What are the plans for roads and repairing them, and how will you make the intersection at the new IKEA safer for the drivers due to the traffic boom that will follow after its construction?

Irvin-Ross:
Like many Manitobans, we are excited about the prospects of IKEA coming to Winnipeg. [ . . . ] We are committed to helping move this project forward. To that end we will provide up to $8 million in capital funding to the city to help widen Kenaston Boulevard and Sterling Lyon Parkway in order to support new development and bring IKEA to Winnipeg.

Hiles:
We have to work with the federal government because roads and highways do go under municipal and federal government jurisdiction, so we have to work together to solve these problems.
The condition of roads is a significant issue, so we will spend money on infrastructure to repair roads, to repair buildings, including campus buildings, but it has to come from the reallocation of spending. [ . . . ].

McIntyre:
I think one of the biggest policy planks [ . . . ] for the Green Party is our free transit policy. We want to see as many cars as possible off the road, and we think that [ . . . ] by making transit fare free and accessible is not only going to boost our local economy, but it’s also going to ensure that there is less wear and tear on the roads. We would like to see this obviously [ . . . ] paired with an increase in service [ . . . ], so that’s first and foremost [ . . . ].

5. Eric Stevenson:
How would you address issues of air quality in Manitoba? I have asthma, and when farmers burn their stubble it really affects my breathing.

Irvin-Ross:
In 2008 we brought together stakeholders from groups including the Manitoba Lung Association, Concerned Parents of Children with Asthma and the Keystone Agriculture Producers to review stubble-burning policy. On their advice, we have moved away from complaint-driven enforcement and have instead moved to an aggressive proactive enforcement system, including aerial surveillance.
Near the city of Winnipeg we’ve also put in place a controlled permit zone so that stubble burning permits are issued on a farmer-by-farmer basis. This allows for more control over burning, which will take into account issues such as weather conditions.

Hiles:
I know that in some places farmers burn their fields to get rid of infestations, [ . . . ] but it’s not just that that affects breathing in Manitoba [ … ].
As an MLA, and as part of a party that cares about the environment, I’m committed to addressing issues that affect air quality, especially pollution. [ … ]The green shift that Stéphane Dion came up with was brilliant. [ . . . ] You tax, and you give corporations an incentive to clean up the atmosphere and the air quality.

McIntyre:
[ … ] I like the idea of a [pesticide] registry because it gets people empowered and lets them know if they’re going to be harmed, but I think the best thing is the pesticide ban.
Those are a huge source of allergens for people who suffer from chemical sensitivities, and also not to mention that getting more cars off the road would help people with other sensitivities too to be exposed to less exhaust.

Progressive Conservative candidate, Shaun McCaffrey, had not responded to The Manitoban’s request for an interview by press time.