Residents of the Langley East riding saw their candidates in action Thursday night, as the Liberal, NDP, Green and Libertarian hopefuls answered questions on Langley issues in the May 9 provincial election.
The all-candidates meeting, hosted at the Langley Events Centre by the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce and the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, began with two-minute opening remarks from Inder Johal (NDP), Bill Masse (Green Party), Alex Joehl (Libertarian) and Rich Coleman (Liberal).
Candidates then had 30 seconds each to answer a series of questions, some prepared in advanced by the hosting groups, and others from members of the audience.
The first question of the night had to do with the legalization of marijuana, and what system of distribution should be put in place.
Johal said she was not familiar with the topic and could not provide comment.
Masse said he was most concerned that legal cannabis be kept away from children, and that large corporations do not take over the industry.
“In the B.C. Green Party we have certain requirements. First of all we want to make sure the public is protected and that it’s kept away from kids,” he said.
Alex Joehl noted that as it stands, it will be a crime to own five marijuana plants. He believes that just like home-brewed beer, those who cultivate their own marijuana would be able to keep it safe and away from children.
“What we need to realize is that people who grow marijuana are doing it for themselves, recreationally, and are not having to buy it from the black market or from government stores,” he said.
Rich Coleman said it’s a tough question to answer at this point, as the federal government has yet to work out the rules, but he would expect the production would be controlled.
“We will be regulating it to the age appropriateness that we should be under the law,” he said.
The topic then switched to small businesses, with moderator Scott Johnston asking if each party planned to lower small business taxes from the current 2.5 per cent.
Johal said they NDP plans to lower the rate to 2 per cent, while Masse said the Green Party plans to keep the current rate. Joehl said the Libertarians would rather “simplify” the tax code and a percentage would later be decided. Coleman said the B.C. Liberals also plan to lower the rate to 2 per cent.
When asked about minimum wage, Johal said she would like it raised to $15 per hour, and eventually even higher.
“Not only will it boost our economy, it will give people a chance to actually spend their money in the communities that they actually live in, and actually have some money leftover to spend because it’s very difficult to live in this province,” she said.
The Green Party would establish a fair wage commission to determine a stable rate that could change over time.
“Yes, we agree the minimum wage is too low, but we want to take the politics out of minimum wage determination. Because it stays low for a long time until there’s a change in the government, and then there’s a big bump and that’s a shock to industry and probably hurts the working poor more than it helps,” Masse said.
Joehl believes that “minimum wage hurts — period” for the businesses, the employees and the consumers.
“There is no reason for the B.C. Libertarian party to suggest raising the minimum wage,” he said.
Coleman said the B.C. Liberals will continue their plan to incrementally raise the minimum wage on an annual basis.
“We need to work with business and communities to make sure we still have the sustainability for people to invest in their small businesses and to hire people,” he said.