1 week Ago By Theresa McManus
Tell us a bit about yourself. Do you live in New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville? If not, where do you live. (Editor’s note: The candidate combined these questions into one response.
) My name is Tara Shushtarian, and I am privileged to live in the Burnaby Mountain conservation area on the unceded, traditional lands of the coast Salish Peoples, the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Kwikwetlem nations. I came to Canada 23 years ago with my family, one husband, two children and a dog, fell in love with our surroundings and never moved. We revel in the forests, trails, creeks, and biodiversity our region has to offer.
Our area and the surrounding municipalities are what we have always been linked with, whether for business, entertainment, or leisure. I have worked and coordinated with many environmental and social justice organizations in Burnaby and the Tri-Cities. In New Westminster, being part of the New West Film Society, we have worked tirelessly for the New West Film Festival with support from the City of New Westminster and the New West Art Council.
What makes you the best candidate for New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville? In community service and interacting with a multitude of people, I have grasped issues relating to safety, affordability, and employment. For example, encampments endure unsanitary conditions that degrade their surroundings and effect neighbourhoods, businesses, and employees. How do we remedy this in a holistic way? Connecting with our student population, we find concerns about rising tuition fees, student housing, food security, employability, jobs with livable incomes and impending transit cuts.
What bold steps need to be taken? With increasing housing density and upgrades to infrastructure, will we let property taxes balloon out of control? Land is connected and it does not know municipal jurisdictional boundaries. Being on the Burnaby environmental committee, we as municipalities address similar issues of green space preservation, energy security and rising energy costs. What incentives for retrofitting, heat pumps and permitting bylaws? To all these questions, my solution is not only listening but finding answers.
What are the Top 3 issues in this federal election? 1. Cost of living and inflation Economic affordability remains a top priority for Canadian voters with rising inflation, stagnant wages, high housing costs and paucity of low income housing. With the loss of the carbon tax benefiting the most vulnerable, living paycheck to paycheck, has worsened the situation.
People are accessing the food banks and falling into poverty. There is no purchasing power for leisure or household items and that affects the quality of life. AI has also made some retail jobs redundant.
2. Canada-U.S.
relations and trade tensions Strained bi-lateral relations with the United States have become one of the central concerns. The Trump administration's imposition of 25 per cent tariffs on key Canadian exports, such as cars, steel, and aluminum and the reciprocal tariffs on U.S.
imports, has placed Canada's economy under significant pressure. This has led to economic repercussions including employment uncertainty and inflation. Potential loss of tourism revenue has also become a concern.
3. Climate action and energy policy Climate change and energy policy are pivotal issues in the election. There are conflicting energy policy directions.
The sure way to energy independence is a just transition into renewable energy. Not the “rip” and “ship” approach to natural resources but processing them domestically to create thousands of high quality jobs. This strategy aims to reduce dependence on imported energy while addressing environmental concerns.
Having a pan Canadian electric grid would be energy resilience. This approach balances economic growth with environmental sustainability. Many Canadians are deeply concerned about the ongoing threats of annexation and tariffs from U.
S. President Donald Trump. How would you and your party deal with this situation? We realize the importance of our largest trading partner in the U.
S., and endeavour to settle our differences diplomatically but firmly using the intelligent soft power that Canadians are so famous for. We have undertaken many trade negotiations with the U.
S. in the past and will continue to do so in the future. We must emphatically state our sovereignty and at the same time exert our economic independence.
We do this by: Strengthening our arctic and coastal security with more patrols and better equipment. Provide our armed forces with specific capabilities that they need for today’s threats. Build stronger cyber defences so that our national security systems are not compromised.
Create a National Civil Defence Corps to strengthen Canada’s sovereignty and resilience by not only patrolling our borders but tackling climate disasters when they occur. Continue with strategies that secure our resources domestically and create good jobs within Canada. Canadians get the royalties just like in Norway.
Issue Saving Canada Bonds that allow Canadians to invest in our resources and keep the wealth within our Country. Create avenues to trade with other like minded nations. Encourage Americans to enjoy the eco-tourism and exotic holiday destinations that Canada has to offer.
Lastly, remind Americans, who support them when disaster strikes, be it 9/11 or any other calamity. When we are economically and militarily resilient, the U.S.
will consider it beneficial to have us as an ally to protect the Great North rather than antagonizing their closest friend. What would your party do to address housing affordability for residents in New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville? It is often said that a basic human need becomes a human right. The Green Party believes housing is a human right.
Current government programs define "affordable" housing based on inflated market prices, making it unaffordable for many. The Greens will go back into the business of building homes, co-ops and non-market housing launching the biggest large-scale public housing program since the 1970s. Redefine affordability, ensuring housing costs don’t exceed 30% of a household’s income, including rentals.
Implement covenants to keep public housing affordable and eliminate unfair tax benefits for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Build many more purpose built rental units near transit hubs. Increase the ratio of non-market rentals in a market rental building.
However, in the interim period tangible policies across three government levels can be implemented. Affordable rentals and rental caps of 2-3% as stipulated by the RTB, (residential tenancy branch). Encourage tenants and landlords to liaison with rental advocacy groups.
Hold workshops so amicable and fair solutions can be reached so that landlords are encouraged to have a housing stock supply. Protection for older tenants not to be priced out of their homes when new management increases rentals for profit. Protection against renoviction applying the tenancy act.
Encourage stratas of buildings and townhomes to have a certain percentage of units available for rentals. Provide incentives for older homeowners to have rentable secondary suites for young families. Last but not least, ensure CHMC is truly responsible for the well being of the housing system.
With the ongoing tariff concerns, what would you and your government do to protect Canadian jobs and ease the financial burden on consumers? The Green party would endeavour to establish a Federal Strategic Reserve of raw resources, including aluminum, steel, lumber, rare earth, potash, and other key resources to safeguard jobs, retain our critical industrial capacity, and supply key federal and provincial housing, infrastructure. Also guarantee strong financial support for Canadian-owned small and medium businesses that may be impacted by tariff in the form of tax breaks or low interest loans. Invest in Canada Post to further recruit delivery capacity, build retail e-commerce capacity to provide faster, cheaper delivery options for Canadian-made products and from Canadian-owned businesses that meet certain requirements, and replace Amazon’s Canadian market share.
Build on the Quebec expertise and know-how to create and build a strong East-West electricity grid to connect the country and redirect excess production to parts of Canada that could benefit from affordable access to electricity for manufacturing purposes. Increase our industrial production capacity through significant federal investments in IT-system productions, Canadian alternatives to Apple and Microsoft products. Cost effective and with a low carbon footprint, construct modular and prefab house-building plants and battery production.
Redirect all federal subsidies and tax incentives to Canadian-owned corporations so that they are competitive and have a level playing field with the multinational corporations. Given that 70% of the “Canadian” oil and gas industry is owned by foreigners, most of them U.S.
-based, explore the possibility of nationalizing our oil and gas industry and finally moving towards financing and manufacturing of our renewable energy industry. The New West Record, Burnaby NOW , and Tri-City News will soon be closing. How will you and your party work to strengthen or change the Online News Act to ensure Canadians in communities of all sizes continue to have access to independent, trustworthy local information? We have all been devastated by the news of the impending closure of our news outlets that are the eyes and ears of our community.
From a robust local media, news poverty will be our fate. The Online Harms Act was enacted to protect local and small media from the big media corporations and mega digital platforms. It was grotesquely manipulated.
Measures to be implemented to ensure better safeguards. Transparency: Platforms must provide clear reasons for takedowns and publish reports. Appeals: Create fair and fast appeal systems with independent oversight.
Clear definitions: Narrow down harmful content definitions to avoid over-censorship and protect free speech. Platform-specific rules: Apply tailored regulations based on platform size and risk. Independent oversight: Ensure oversight bodies are independent, non-political, and diverse.
Education: Promote public education on online safety and digital literacy. Global coordination: Align Canadian laws with international standards to ensure consistency. Where can voters contact you? Email: https://www.
greenparty.ca/en/candidate/tara-shushtarian , [email protected] Facebook: Tara Shushtarian X: TaraShushtarian Instagram: tarashushtarian Editor's note: The Record/Burnaby NOW/Tri-City News sent this questionnaire to all candidates in New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville. Candidates were given an April 14 submission deadline.
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