a4

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

1 Comment(s)

Thérèse Tremblay-Philippe admits that the economy of Restigouche County is in “pretty bad shape,” but believes that an NDP government can create self-sustaining jobs that will give people of the area hope.

Enlarge Photo

Therese Tremblay-Philippe

"We need to create jobs to raise the economy again and bring our youth back to this area, but we also have to give hope to the seniors to make sure that their families stay together," she said. "Yes, the mill is closed... and we definitely need to bring back the quality of life, because to me it's not quality life to leave your family behind and go work in Alberta. I don't think that's the way it should be done."

She said that the government should stop the practice of sending raw materials out of this area for processing. "We should have an industry here creating things that can be exported," she said.

Tremblay-Philippe said that we have to protect the planet for future generations. "The New Democrat platform is to penalize the polluters, not to give them tax breaks, which is what the Liberals and Conservatives want to do... We should be penalizing them if they do pollute and make sure that the money that comes in is given back to the people."

She said that it was because of a political decision that the Charlo Airport is having problems. "If it's good enough for Harper to land there, it should be good enough for everybody," she said.

She said that when the government changes, a lot of projects are cancelled, and "it shouldn't be done that way. If it's good for our community, it should be studied instead of being trashed or crucified because it's from another party," Tremblay-Philippe said.

She said that governments have been trying to shut down the north for quite some time and referred to this as the "Frank McKenna Era."

"They've always said, Restigouche is poor, but we weren't. Look at all the jobs that were at the mill and Olin Chemical. These were all highly unionized, highly paid jobs. So, the government had to prove that we were poor so they took our jobs away."

She said that the government could have done something to save the mill, since its closure was largely because of energy costs. "They did not want to do it because, finally, they had an opportunity to close the north down," she said.

She said that the federal government's cuts to cultural programs are a "total insult," and stated that "culture is a way for the people to express themselves; it's their soul."

She said that for the government to try to save money is nonsense since every dollar invested in the arts brings an $11 return.

She said that it is especially important in this economic situation to ensure that seniors and veterans have secure pensions. The government should bring in legislation that will protect pensions.

Tremblay-Philippe also spoke about the need for a national child care program. She said that existing child care services are too expensive and when a single mother goes to work, nearly half the money she earns can go to child care.

She spoke of the need to protect health care and pointed out that the man responsible for the system's creation, Tommy Douglas, was a New Democrat.

"We're saying no to privatization; we cannot accept that the rich will be able to have a better system than someone who is poorer," she said. "You can really feel it: the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Enough is Enough."

She said that the environment is a crucial issue and that "we really need to protect, to educate to protect...." She went on to say that recycling must be improved. Presently, people have to drive to centrally located bins. Instead, there should be pick-up of recyclable materials.

She also called for public transportation systems, which might involve vans since busses don't seem viable in areas with lower populations.

She was critical of recent changes in the Employment Insurance program, which she said penalizes women. She said that now only 40 per cent of people are eligible, which is a very low rate considering the "billions of surplus" that exist.

"People need to vote for a change, and for a positive change they need to vote NDP," she said.