ACAP Humber Arm.s Executive Director, Sheldon Peddle, explains that with the environment a top priority for many voters his organization felt such a letter to local candidates was necessary. .The environment is receiving a lot of attention on the national stage. We can listen to the national leaders give speeches on the environment. We can read the national policies in the party.s platforms. ACAP Humber Arm felt, however, that it was important to hear our local candidates specifically address some of the environmental concerns we are currently facing..
The questions ACAP Humber Arm posed to the candidates were:
Question 1: What are your personal infrastructure priorities for this region? Where does sewage treatment for the City of Corner Brook rank?
Question 2: In 2006 the City of Corner Brook approved the Corner Brook Sewage Treatment Study, a blueprint for sewage treatment for this riding.s largest community. What will you do to advance the implementation of this plan if elected the Member of Parliament for Humber . St. Barbe . Baie Verte?
Question 3: What cost sharing arrangements is your party offering for infrastructure initiatives such as sewage treatment? In what form, i.e., low interest loans, grants, etc., would this financial support be offered?
Question 4: Amendments to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) have been proposed that, in essence, would require communities to offer, at a minimum, secondary wastewater treatment. What is your opinion of the proposed amendments, associated timeframes and penalties?
Question 5: The vast majority of communities in this riding are coastal. What will your party do to protect the residents and infrastructure of these communities from sea level rise and severe weather associated with climate change?
Question 6: An explosion of interest in coastal areas has presented many of our coastal communities with new development opportunities. In your opinion what effect will this have on our coastal communities? What role would you, as the local Member of Parliament, play?
ACAP Humber Arm had asked all candidates to respond in writing by noon, Thursday, October 9th. As of that deadline three of the four candidates had responded.
NDP candidate Mark Kennedy responded by email. Kennedy refused to answer the questions, citing his employment with the City of Corner Brook as a potential conflict of interest.
NL First candidate Wayne Bennett also responded by email. Bennett did not answer the specific questions posed by ACAP Humber Arm but spoke of his environmental concerns and acknowledged that his party is still working on their environmental policy.
Liberal candidate and incumbent, Gerry Byrne responded with a three page letter in which he specifically addressed all questions presented.
No response was received from Conservative candidate Lorne Robinson. The original letter was sent, via email, to both Robinson.s headquarters and home. All candidates were reminded of the deadline via an email on October 6th.
While Peddle will not comment on the content of the responses received from the candidates, ACAP Humber Arm has made those responses public. .When we presented the candidates with our series of questions we informed them that we would be sharing their responses with the public through the media. Voters can now better decide for themselves which candidate and/or party they believe best understands and is prepared to address the environmental challenges we face..
The letter & candidate responses are shown below:
Letter to the Candidates (PDF Format)
Liberal Candidate - Gerry Byrne Response (PDF Format)