Voters in New Brunswick Southwest have a choice of six candidates in the federal election on Monday, October 21. Liberal Karen Ludwig hopes for a second term while Conservative John Williamson hopes to take back the seat he lost in 2015. Green Party candidate Susan Jonah, New Democrat Doug Mullin, Meryl Sarty with the People's Party and Veterans Coalition Party candidate Abe Scott hope their messages resonate with voters.
     The St. Stephen Area Chamber of Commerce recently hosted "Meet Your Federal Candidates Night" at the Garcelon Civic Center. Responses, edited for length, to the 11 questions follow.

What will be your first action item for our riding if elected?
     Ludwig: "Certainly I am looking at seniors -- that will be a major priority for me."
     Mullin: "My first action item will be to meet with the councils of every municipality within the riding."
     Sarty: "For our riding I would be concerned about the loss of our firearms."
     Scott: "We need tax relief, but I definitely will consult with the riding."
     Williamson: "One, is to get the stalled infrastructure projects moving again. Number two will be to meet with Premier Blaine Higgs, and third, in conjunction with my Conservative colleagues, is to repeal the Liberal carbon tax."
     Jonah: "Seniors are a big issue."

What are your plans to address the poverty issue across Canada?
     Mullin: "A universal pharmacare system."
     Sarty: "I think we should stop giving away money to the rest of the world. The pipeline to the east -- build it."
     Scott: "We are going to put a four‑year moratorium on foreign aid. That $23 billion could go towards housing programs, it could go towards hunger programs."
     Williamson: "Bringing in a universal income tax cut, increasing the tax relief for seniors as well, repealing the carbon tax."
     Jonah: "We need to have a living minimum wage of around $15, more affordable housing. Pharmacare is necessary."
     Ludwig: "Our Canada Child Benefit, that is actually tax free. The benefit is almost 12,000 children in our federal riding. I agree with my colleagues up here about introducing pharmacare."
How will you and your party support entrepreneurs and small business owners in our riding?
     Sarty: "First of all, I think we balance our budget and then we can cut taxes."
     Scott: "We are going to eliminate the goods and services tax. Second part, the Canada Pension Plan, no longer taxed. The other, number three, is reducing the tax to farmers."
     Williamson: "A few years ago there was a town hall meeting actually in this very room. This was when the Liberals were rolling in their tax increases on small businesses. Because of the outrage and the backlash, they had to pull back on some of those, not all of them. We're going to start out by repealing them."
     Jonah: "Cutting red tape, making it easier to deal with government, making it easier to deal with other organizations, supporting the small businesses, keeping your taxes as low as you possibly can."
     Ludwig: "We've lowered the small business tax from 11% to 9%, which is an important initiative, but we also need to grow the customer base. We do that by signing trade agreements. We do need to look at immigration."
     Mullin: "Tackle issues that impact their bottom lines, like the high credit card merchant fees. Our plan for public universal pharmacare will also assist small businesses."

What will you do to help St. Stephen to continue to grow and prosper?
     Scott: "Lower taxes, consultation with the constituents within the riding."
     Williamson: "The infrastructure I think has got to be at the top of the list."
     Jonah: "Make sure that the Internet service that's here is top‑notch. We need to keep the taxes low. Again, we also need to deal with seniors and poverty and the housing situation."
     Ludwig: "We also need to be looking at rural transportation. We need to attract new workers, and these workers need to have affordable and quality housing, and to have young families here we also need have the daycare spaces."
     Mullin: "A New Democratic government would work to expand high‑speed broadband access for all, investing in our rural infrastructures along with growing core transit service, along with quality and affordable childcare."
     Sarty: "Balance the budget and enable us to lower taxes. Stop giving money away to the rest of the world. We have a lot of trade barriers in Canada between the provinces."

What are your feelings on the Energy East pipeline project?
     Williamson: "I support Energy East 100%."
     Jonah: "Putting money into another pipeline is really not going to get us to where we need to be in 20 years, 30 years, 50 years."
     Ludwig: "If oil is going to be shipped in any format, the safest way to ship it would be by pipe, but I can also tell you that, when we look at the Energy East pipeline, one, we have not had an application to review since 2017."
     Mullin: "When Energy East was moving forward, there was not free, prior, informed consent, so a New Democratic government would work with Indigenous peoples to develop a national energy plan of reconciliation."
     Sarty: "We are going to be running on oil for a while. We can have oil on the West Coast, on the      East Coast. The safety factor, I think we can overcome that by imposing bonds on the companies."
     Scott: "We need to get our resources out to market. One hundred percent, without question, Energy East needs to go ahead."

What is your party's stance on gun control?
     Jonah: "I believe that we will have a strong program to support the police and, in the areas where they have problems, handgun problems but, as far as law‑abiding citizens, hunting and that sort of thing, I support that 100%."
     Ludwig: "We have issues with mental health, we have issues [of] people with histories of violence, so a deeper background check is absolutely essential -- 99% of people that I have met with a license and having guns are completely responsible."
     Mullin: "As Canadians we need to have a much more nuanced conversation about it so we respect our rural values, our rural way of life, while at the same time respecting the urban way of life and protecting public safety."
     Sarty: "Crime goes down in areas where there are lots of guns."
     Scott: "We want to repeal C‑71. We have a gun store that just opened up in our riding. Based on C‑71 there is now a threat that he is going to lose the business."
     Williamson: "In the last election the Liberals promised not to bring back a long‑gun registry. It didn't take them long to break that promise, they brought back Bill C‑71, which targets law‑abiding citizens. Meanwhile the Trudeau Liberals also weakened the punishments for crimes committed with firearms."

Does your party plan on raising taxes or lowering taxes?
     Ludwig: "We've already lowered the taxes for the middle class. We have the tax‑free Canada      Child Benefit. We've lowered the tax for small business. We increased the taxes on the top 1%. When the increase goes up at the price at the pump -- due to the carbon tax -- that increase will be offset with a rebate."
     Mullin: "We would raise taxes on the top 1%, but for average, ordinary Canadians we would lower taxes."
     Sarty: "Our party plans on lowering taxes. We're looking at a 10% tax for small business. We're looking at zero to $15,000, no tax; $15,000 to $100,000, 15%; over $100,000, 25%."
     Scott: "No new taxes. Goods and services tax gone within four years... carbon tax -- gone."
     Williamson: "Our party plans to lower taxes on Canadians, a return of the home renovation tax credit... The first bill will be to repeal the Liberal carbon tax."
Jonah: "We do have a plan to close loopholes and benefits for some of the more wealthy companies... Eliminate fossil fuel subsidy payments and tax write‑offs for oil wells and gas and mining exploration."

What type of new social programs or changes to existing social programs is your party reviewing?
     Mullin: "We would expand Medicare by including universal pharmacare. We would also expand Medicare by including dental care."
     Sarty: "Our party would transfer goods and services tax profits over to the provinces so they could use that as a foundation of their health programs. On the federal level, something that we are concerned about is the treatment of our soldiers."
     Scott: "Canada Pension? We're going to take the tax off it. Foreign aid? A freeze for four years."
     Williamson: "We will continue to see annual increases to the Canada Health and Social Transfer -- greater access to the disability tax credit."
     Jonah: "We need to keep the Canada Pension Plan strong. The Employment Insurance program should be revamped. We need pharmacare and dental care. We need to make sure that everyone has access to proper housing and transportation."
     Ludwig: "We had tremendous success with the expansion of the New Horizons for Seniors program... the Canada Child Benefit, I mentioned. ... We also implemented a national dementia strategy."

What is your stance on climate change?
     Sarty: "I don't think it's as big an issue, and I don't think that we should be tying up the money that we are doing."
     Scott: "Number one, get rid of the carbon tax. It does not do anything for the environment whatsoever. We need real, true change. Let's bring levels below 2015 levels by 40% by the year 2030 and focusing finally by 2050, reducing carbon emissions by 80% overall."
     Williamson: "My belief is that a carbon tax is not going to deal with this challenge. I believe the solution is going to be found in technology and innovation and, frankly, export Canadian technology around the world."
      Jonah: "We need to get away from pipelines and from carbon producing businesses."
     Ludwig: "We need to have policies that are based on science and those policies that will impact our lives. So yes, global climate change, it's real."
     Mullin: "The goal is to move us to net carbon‑free electricity by 2030 and move to 100% non‑emitting electricity by 2050."

There is a good chance we will end up with a minority government. How will you work with the other parties in a minority government situation?
     Scott: "We will work with the government if we like what we see."
     Williamson: "It's not going to change the focus of the member of Parliament just to roll up their sleeves and get to work to deliver infrastructure projects to the riding back home."
     Jonah: "It forces people to work together. Voting reform would actually go a long ways to alleviate this problem of minority and majority government."
     Ludwig: "We need to have a representative that can work with everyone. Every single MP in the House of Commons voted with me on the protection and recovery of right whales."
     Mullin: "We need a mixed‑member proportional system so that a situation like the last election where 32 seats in Atlantic Canada go Liberal with 40% of the vote."
     Sarty: "I think that if we be respectful of each other, and I think when we work with each other with respect, I think minority government will work."

Why are you running as a candidate in this election?
     Williamson: "I am running in this election to be your representative, to stand up for you, to be your voice in Parliament, to work every day to advance priorities of your communities or families or business, your interest in Ottawa, to come home and explain my votes in Parliament."
     Jonah: "I ended up being on our new council when we created our new rural community, and I thought this is a chance to actually use that knowledge I gained over the years."
     Ludwig: "I ran to make a difference and, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother, I'm a wife, I was a teacher. Those are really important roles to me."
     Mullin: "I believe that every Canadian should have a chance to vote for the party of their choice. Ultimately I am in this for you because I see you reflected in the mirror."
     Sarty: "I don't want my children and grandchildren to inherit what's lying ahead of us when we look ahead right now."
     Scott: "I simply had enough of there being no voice for the ordinary working class Canadian in Ottawa. There is not. You have career politicians sitting back, getting their pensions after six years."