Brendan Hyatt, Conservative
Thunder Bay - Rainy River
The forestry, mining, and energy sectors are crucial for our economy. If elected, how do you propose working with Indigenous communities and those concerned with environmental destabilization?
You know, what we have to do is we have to work on building our economy. And I think that means working with all sectors, First Nations business sector and people in the region. And we have to do that sustainably. You know, there is a duty. We have a duty to consult with our First Nations partners, but we also have a duty to protect our environment. But that doesn't mean that we should stop. I think you know what we need to greenlight some of the projects that can actually stimulate our economy. In the Ring of Fire, you know, repeal some of the Liberal tax laws like the carbon tax. Fully repeal it, as opposed to putting it on hold and quickly approving other things like pipelines and reducing income tax for all people. But Pierre [Poilievre] has also said that, you know what? First Nations people should have the right to collect tax on their own lands, whether it's Treaty 3 or Robinson Superior or here in our region. I think those are good things that give First Nations autonomy to actually build wealth within their system so that they can fully integrate and be successful in our economy as well. So I think that that's an important piece of it.
Housing, clean drinking water, healthcare access, and treaty rights are significant concerns for Indigenous communities in NWO; how would you address these if elected?
Well, first of all, I mean, every Canadian deserves clean drinking water. Let's be clear. I mean, we're a first world country and we have citizens living in third world conditions. It's unacceptable in this country. You know, our previous administration had 10 years to get drinking wells and water systems in our northern reserves and other reserves and they should not be on a boil water advisory. So I think that we invest in our First Nations and it means an investment in our country. We build the wells and help with training and in facilities and build capacity within our First Nations, with regards to that.
As far as healthcare, you know what? Everyone also deserves access to healthcare. What that looks like, I mean, it could be various things, but the bottom line with healthcare right now is we don't have enough doctors, we don't have enough nurses, we don't have enough personal support workers. So what we need to do is we need to actually enhance programs in our colleges and universities and work with the provincial side of the education to actually build that capacity. And we need to build that capacity on reserves. We need to encourage people, our youth on reserves to actually work in those careers so they can help and sustain their own communities. That's the only way we're going to do it. You know, people who are familiar and know the language and culture. Because that goes back to respect of our First Nations and their economies.
The treaties were signed and we have a commitment to treaty rights. But treaties were also designed so that we could all walk forward together so everyone would be successful. So I think we, again that goes back to trust and partnership and working with all communities, First Nations and non-First Nations to recognize that, you know what, if we all roll the boat together in the same direction, then we can all be successful. And that should be the Canadian way.
Many NWO residents state they’re facing hardships due to the rising costs of housing, groceries, and fuel; how would you address these if elected?
Well, let's talk about fuel. There's been a carbon tax on fuel for a long time and it was scheduled to go up on April 1st. And I realized that we put a pause on that, but we didn't stop it, we didn't get rid of it, we just put a pause on it. And I'm talking about the Liberals. We know that Mark Carney and the Liberals have a green agenda and there's nothing wrong with actually protecting our environment, but it's how you go about it.
So let's talk about building homes. We have one of the best resources in Canada here in the boreal forest in our riding to actually produce the resources. And that means building businesses that are going to actually produce softwood lumber to build the homes. You know, we could get into hardwood flooring, we could do all those things. But at the end of the day, the Conservatives are the party that's going to actually reduce all federal tax on new homes up to 1.3 million for everyone, not just first time home buyers. And I think that's a key component.
And you're right, cost of living. I mean I go to the grocery store, I know, my wife in the shop, $2 for an orange. Who would have ever thought that that would be the case in Canada? But we also need to have a homegrown strategy with regards to that. I know in Southern Ontario, I see greenhouses everywhere that are producing food all year round. You know, if we want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect our environment, we need a northern strategy as well. So you know what, it might cost some fuel to heat those things and build them in the winter, but at the end of the day, what's the difference? Are we going to ship our vegetables from overseas in South America in the winter, or are we going to have a homegrown strategy that builds on the north, builds business opportunities, and produces food that is affordable for everyone?
Because you're right, the cost of living, I hear it all the time. Our youth can't afford to get into the housing market. They can't afford to buy cars. They can't afford to, you know, I mean, we talk about that all the time. So, you know, we also are going to cut the income tax levels from 15% to 12.75%. You know, the average family will save $1,800 a year, which will help with that cost of living. So those are some of the things that we're going to do. But I mean, at the end of the day, too, when we're talking about building the homes, you know, we have to actually have a real plan with regards to people coming to our country. 1.3 million people coming to this country every year is not sustainable. We can't keep up with that and have housing for them. So really, I mean, at the end of the day, if we're going to look at that, we need skilled trades, we need to go to the high schools and work with those folks when they're coming out of high school. And, you know, get the Red Seal carpenters, get the Red Seal electricians, get the Red Seal folks that are out there in plumbing to actually be there, because without those people, we can’t have plans.
But if you don't have the builders to put the plan in place, it doesn't work. So we need to do that. And we could use that plan and target specifically immigrants to the actual places that we need. Like, like health care workers, like tradespeople. So those are important things.
The Fraser Institute recently released a study which states that Thunder Bay has Ontario’s highest rate of property and violent crime; if elected, how do you propose lowering this rate?
There's a few things that need to happen. Well, we need to actually work with our law enforcement. So both my brothers are police officers. One's retired, one is with the OPP. You know, we need to take a hard stance on crime. I mean, we need to actually have sentences for criminals. I mean, you see in the news all the time where, you know, there's a criminal that's done something, whether it's a violent crime or auto theft or housebreak, because we see it all over Canada. And that continues to rise, including in Thunder Bay. But those same criminals are out on the streets the very next day because we have jail and bail. We don't have jail and stay there. And we need to actually have maximum minimum sentences for hard criminals and whatnot. It's just not going to work if we just release them back onto the streets. So we need to take that.
The other thing we need to do is we need to protect our borders. With regards to that I mean, some of the criminal elements, especially when we're talking about the use of gun violence and whatnot, most of those illegal guns are not in Canada. They're coming across our borders into our country and we need to actually do that. And the way we do that is to secure our borders, work with Canada Border Services Agency, and I think work with our military. We need to get back to, you know, our commitments to NATO. And 2% should be the minimum that we're using. And you know what it's called? You know, it's called synergy, really. If we actually meet our targets with NATO, we have more people in our military. We can actually deploy our military to help with regards to some of these things. To protect our families, to protect our children, protect our streets, and bring back safety in all streets.
According to the latest information from the Office of the Chief Coroner, the Thunder Bay district has the highest opioid-related death rate in the province; on a federal level, how do you propose lowering this rate?
I already talked about securing our borders, but it's not just our borders. It's homegrown developers of fentanyl that are part of the problem. I want to tell you a little story before I go on about that. So you may have read my biography and know that I was a director of education. I was talking to one of my family members about probably six months ago and he had a picture in his pocket and he actually took the picture out and he showed it to me and there were seven people in the picture. And I just said, “well, what, what's what, what's with the picture?” And he said, “well, Brendan, I'm the only one that's still alive in this picture. And all of his friends had died from fentanyl overdoses.” We are killing a generation of people in our country and it is unacceptable.”
Again, that goes back to hard on crime. You know, if you sell fentanyl and it leads to a death, there should be harsh penalties for that. You know, I've had former students pass away from fentanyl deaths and how do you look a parent in the eye and say, “you know what, we're sorry, but when we actually release those people who are doing that back onto the streets to do it, and we don't shut down those fentanyl labs and we don't stop them from coming across our borders, you know what?” We need to give the police the tools, we need to give the RCMP, the OPP, and other policing in Canada the tools to actually make a dent in this. Because if we just catch and release all the time, the fentanyl drugs are not going to go down.
But it also requires us to get back to education. You know, when I was a teacher, we had a program with the Ontario Provincial Police called DARE Drug Awareness. We don't do those programs with our youth anymore. They need to be aware of the actual side effects of drug use and they need to be learning early and they need it to be regular because one time is all it takes.
The other thing that we need to make sure is we have things in places in support for mental health and addictions. It's important. We don't have enough. I mean, we send people for treatment for fentanyl and other drugs, but what we do is we send them for treatment, then what do we do after they come back into that same environment? If we don't have supports for them, then they go right back into that lifestyle. We need the front end supports and we need the back end supports to actually support that, to get people off drugs, to get them the help they need, and to stop the drug dealers from actually using and abusing these people, that's what we need to do.
If elected, how do you plan on alleviating any of the negative effects residents and business owners are experiencing with tariffs?
Well, listen, you know what, the tariffs I think hurt everyone. I mean, it's clear. I mean, if we enact a tariff on someone, that's really a tax on the people. So it's important that we work with our allies and our trading partners. But I think that Canada actually has an excellent opportunity right now to actually bring industry back online in Canada to build our pipelines, to build our factories, and actually produce at home. And the other thing is, right now the United States of America has about 400 million people and they're our biggest trading partner. And I still think we need to invest and build with the United States of America. But there's 8 billion people on this planet and we need to work with the EU, with the UK, with Africa, with Asia, and Europe, and we need to divest and actually sell our resources all around the world. When China comes calling for LNG, or when Japan comes calling for our liquid nitrogen gas, or Germany comes calling for our oils, we need to build it and sell it. I think that, you know what, Canada should be the most prosperous country in the world. So we need to unleash businesses, cut the red tape, and have a real at home strategy to actually bring back wealth and prosperity to our country.
