Georgina
October 08, 2008 07:16 PM
By: Sandra Bolan
York-Simcoe MP Peter Van Loan’s re-election platform is simple: “We’ve delivered results for this community and I just want to keep doing that.”
Mr. Van Loan and the Conservatives tout their GST and income tax cuts, the institution of the $100-a-month tax credit for families with children younger than six and the sports and fitness credit.
“We’ve delivered on most of the priorities we said we would deliver on,” Mr. Van Loan said.
Mr. Van Loan, who is the Conservative House leader and Minister of Democratic Reform, is seeking his third consecutive term in office.
“We’ll continue to help families make ends meet...If you want to see that brand new tax, you can vote Liberal. If you don’t want to see that tax, you can vote for us,” he said.
According to Mr. Van Loan, it is issues surrounding the government’s tough-on-crime stance, such as changing the Youth Criminal Justice Act and implementing tougher penalties for people convicted of identity theft and drug offences, that have met the most resistance from the Liberals and NDP, forcing this election.
“The opposition parties refused to have them studied,” Mr. Van Loan said. “That was part of the gridlock we were facing in the House of Commons and we’re looking for a mandate on that to proceed.”
When it comes to local farmers, Mr. Van Loan said the Conservatives “have provided more support for farmers in Canadian government history and I think the fruits of that labour are now showing.
“Farmers are probably, not withstanding the problems of excess moisture this year, are in a better position than in previous years.”
Some improvements improvements in agriculture, Mr. Van Loan said, include re-opening the United States market to Canadian beef following a few cases of mad cow disease, stepping up imported food safety and re-defining the ‘Product of Canada’ label.
The previous labelling standard enabled ‘Product of Canada’ to be placed on packages if the costs of transportation, packaging and marketing were more than the cost to import the product. Now, the product must be grown in Canada.
“We’ll continue to work on those kinds of issues,” Mr. Van Loan said.
Lake Simcoe will also remain top of mind for Mr. Van Loan, as the Conservatives have earmarked $30 million for lake improvements.
The first round of funding for lake projects was just less than $2 million, but when combined with partner contributions, Mr. Van Loan said that total went to $5 million.
“If we can do that all the way through, that will leverage $35 million in improvements,” he said.