People's Party of Canada Cariboo-Prince George candidate Rudy Sans kicked off his campaign in the South Cariboo last week.
Sans hosted a meet-your-candidate event at the 108 Mile Community Centre with around a dozen members of the public coming out to quiz Sans on his policies and collect signs for distribution. He said he chose to visit the South Cariboo because he has friends and family in the area, noting his wife is from 100 Mile House.
"100 Mile House is now part of the Cariboo-Prince George district (riding). They changed the boundaries for this year's election and in the process added five new districts across the province going from 338 to 343," Sans said. "Cariboo-Prince George got extended to 100 Mile House and the surrounding area. I've been going up to the 100 Mile House area for 35 years, I have family there, friends and I absolutely love it there."
While the turnout for Sans' event was modest, he told the simplymastery several of his supporters were unable to attend due to prior commitments and the late notice. Sans added he had two local volunteers who showed up and grabbed signs and documentation for those who couldn't make it.
He noted that he feels it is good for constituents to get the chance to meet with candidates like him so they can get to know him and get a sense of what he stands for. It also allowed Sans to get a sense of what the issues facing the riding are, with him noting that affordability was a big topic of discussion.
"I would say affordability was front and centre. I addressed that through the root causes of it where our dollar is weak, because unfortunately, we just keep printing money. Through that and inflation, it renders the purchasing power of our dollar very weak," Sans remarked. "We need to get the Bank of Canada to reduce its inflation targets to zero. As a government, PPC would cut all the spending on useless agendas and commitments. We would try and cut taxes all the way across, obviously get the economy going, the pipelines going, mining going and all the resources to create the jobs to get our dollar nice and strong."
Sans also advocated for a return to a currency backed by gold during the meeting. He noted Canada currently has no gold reserves at a time when many, including the United States, are stockpiling gold.
Canada sold the last of its gold reserves in 2016 and the Bank of Canada currently lists its gold reserves at zero. Sans said Canada should have precious metals to back its currency as an insurance policy.
He also levelled criticism against the Conservative and Liberal parties and said he feels that many people in Canada are unhappy with the way the country is going right now.
"Those who support the People's Party of Canada understand that the Liberals or Conservatives don't address the root cause issues of all our problems. They just attack each other and it's all kind of pointless. They're all left-leaning and they don't have true conservative policies or platforms," Sans said. "People are tired of it and they want real solutions and I think going back and forth between the red party and blue party doesn't seem to make any effective change in this country."
Sans said he is unsure if he'll be able to return to the South Cariboo before the election, but noted he would like to. The federal election is scheduled for Monday, April 28.
