Ahead of the April 28 federal election, simplymastery sent a list of questions to each of the candidates seeking the Member of Parliament seat in Cariboo-Prince George.
Each candidate was asked the same questions, there are seven candidates total in the riding. These are the answers received by New Democratic Party Candidate Angie Bonazzo. Due to a delay in receiving these answers, simplymastery was unable to run them in print.
What qualities or experiences make you the best candidate for voters in Cariboo-Prince George to cast their ballots?
My biggest quality is that I am tremendously hard-working and dedicated. If I commit to a job, you can guarantee that I will give myself 100 per cent to that job. I will hear the issues, and I will deliver on those issues to the best of my ability within the party to deliver on those promises to those issues. I have a unique ability to connect with different populations and different people, so I know that I can hear the message that people are trying to tell me, and I will take that and I will commit that I will do something in my power to make it right.
What, in your view, is the biggest issue facing voters in Cariboo-Prince George? How will you address it?
Well, this is a very big riding, so the biggest issue isn't just one issue that's facing the whole of the riding. The section of Prince George is different from the section of 100 Mile and the section of Williams Lake. So I would say jobs and affordability is the prevailing issue throughout the entire riding. People worry mostly about their jobs. With the mill closures, there's a lot of nervousness about being able to maintain a job, a good-paying job, to provide for families. So that is the biggest issue facing the whole of the riding, but I recognize that different areas have different issues facing them, be it mill closures, be it abattoirs - but the biggest issue around that is jobs and affordability.
Does your party believe that human-caused climate change is real? And if so, what concrete plans does your party have to tackle it?
100 per cent climate change is human-caused. Our party is on the books for promising to tax big polluters, that's oil and gas, and to sink that money from that taxation into green initiatives so that solar panels, wind farms and hydroelectric power.
Given the riding size and centralization of Cariboo-Prince George, how will you ensure that all of your constituents are represented?
By connecting with every community. So in terms of being a member of parliament, I will connect with every community possible, get myself on the invite list and be present at community meetings, schools, rotary clubs, to have a finger on the pulse of what's going on in this riding - and it's a big riding. This is the size of Europe, this riding, but there is, in four years, a lot that can be done - a lot can be heard. And if I can't travel in the dead of winter, there's always Zoom to connect with people. Use the technology that's available.
How is your party planning to deal with the trade threats coming from the United States and/or the President's talk of annexing Canada?
Annexing Canada is not a real threat, according to the NDP. The threats from south of the border have galvanized our country to have more solidarity and connection with one another. So this is a good thing that's come out of it. Our party has committed dollar to dollar tariff trade war. I don't know if this is a productive thing, but this is what our party has committed to - dollar for dollar, a tit for tat, tariff war that they will take on America with.
