Green MLA Megan Mitton responded to her Liberal opponent today after attending a meeting held by the environmental group, Sierra Club of Canada
Green MLA Megan Mitton says it’s not true that a Liberal majority government is the only way to defeat the Progressive Conservatives led by Premier Blaine Higgs.
“We need a lot of things to change,” Mitton told reporters today after attending a community meeting sponsored by the Sierra Club at the Sackville Commons.
“What’s been happening over the years is [we’re] just going back between Red and Blue, Red and Blue and not really having change for New Brunswickers,” she said responding to her Liberal opponent John Higham who told supporters at his nominating meeting this week that a Liberal majority is the key to defeating Higgs.
“That’s not true,” Mitton said.
“Me being there is also a vote against Higgs,” she added.
She predicted the election will result in a minority government with the Greens holding the balance of power. She made it clear that whichever of the older parties wins a minority, the Greens would not support Higgs
“We’re going to have a new premier,” she said.
‘Seat at the table’
Mitton also rejected Higham’s suggestion that Tantramar needs to elect a member with “a seat at the table” to get things done for the riding.
“I don’t think it should depend who your MLA is and what party they’re in that your community gets what it needs,” she said.
“I think that’s basically advocating for corruption in government, that if you have a seat at the table, you get more. I think that’s fundamentally unfair and we need to move away from that and I fight against that constantly.”
Mitton said New Brunswickers should have access to health care, safe roads and good education without regard to the party affiliation of their MLA.
“We need to get rid of corruption. We need to get rid of patronage in New Brunswick,” she said.
“That’s a really problematic mindset to have and I challenge that all the way.”
Meantime, Mitton confirmed Higham’s statement that he had asked her to run for the Liberals.
“I said, ‘no’, my values don’t align with their party.”
Green Party issues
Mitton says the Green Party will release its platform after the campaign gets underway in September, but in the meantime, voters already know what to expect.
“People shouldn’t be surprised by what they hear from me,” she adds, noting that for the Greens health care is a priority.
“I’ve been working on that with the community advocating to government and also that we need action on climate change, I think people are feeling the heat this summer, seeing the wildfires and knowing that we need to take action.”
Mitton also mentioned the rising cost of living and the need for more affordable housing.
“We need a rent cap, we need property assessment reform,” she said.
“We need a lot of things to change.”
To listen to Mitton’s exchange with reporters, click on the media player below:
Yeah, we need climate change.
A change of political climate. Getting rid of the likes of Mitton and Higham would be a great start!
Rent caps is the reason why there is a housing shortage. Why would landlords want to invest in low income housing if rent can’t be adjusted to the cost of living. When costs of building materials doubled in 3 years, electricity has just risen, Oil and natural gas has sky rocketed so caps at 3,4,or 5% will cover that rise dream on
Caps force evictions putting people on the streets. Most landlords would adjust rents with the cost of living and work with their tenants. Government dictating rent caps is basically communism, sorry but our country was built on free enterprise in a democratic society. Democracy is what our forefathers fought and died for.
Rent caps are not the reason why there is a housing shortage. The housing shortage is by no means limited to Sackville, NB, or even Canada, yet only some places have rent caps. So your reasoning is poor there. Having said that, there is a pretty solid consensus amongst economists that rent caps, as you suggest, disincentive developers from adding supply. So, I agree to an extent, that if the goal is to get more housing built, then a rent cap may work against that end. Rent caps absolutely benefit those who are already renting, but they do nothing to help those looking for affordable housing. I like our MLA’s suggestion about property assessment reform. It is needed. I just wish that the Greens, who I support, would fess up to the research they did to come up with their ad hoc policy on housing, especially regarding their position on rent control which strikes me as populism, rather than evidence-based policy.
“Democracy is what our forefathers fought and died for.”
-1776 we fought and died to remain loyal to the crown and prevent annexation to the USA
-1812 ditto
-1914 we fought under the banner “For God, King, and Empire”, though the primary reason was to preserve the international legal order represented by Belgium’s violated neutrality & sovereignty
-1939 we fought against fascist militarism, the cause being the violation of Poland’s sovereignty
-1950 we fought for the United Nations to support the principles of collective defence and national sovereignty, specifically South Korea’s.
We never went to war for unregulated free enterprise, and democracy was something we evolved on our own without fighting a war to get it. The general trend of Canadian warfare has been to stop foreign interference in national sovereignty. Which is why we now support Ukraine in its defence of its sovereignty against Russian interference, invasion, and conquest.
Our forefathers never fought and died to prevent the capping of rent increases. Calling industry regulation “communism” is like calling a speeding ticket “fascism”: nonsensical.
Healthcare is a priority? Action on climate change? Affordable housing?
Megan Mitton’s word salad is always a source of amusement for me .. I couldn’t imagine a single thing that I would ever agree on with her .. which is probably because I don’t have an “educated opinion” or an expensive university education.. probably going to see no real change in Tantramar as the greens still feel like they’re for the people here.. but they’re not.. they’re for an Agenda and its a global Agenda… no one wants to talk about that though .. until then enjoy the show. Was it a green who left the Klaus Schwab poster on the street lamp pole “you will own nothing and you will be happy”?