Voters in the Courtenay-Alberni riding will have seven candidates to choose from when they go to the polls April 28 in the 2025 federal election. As part of our ongoing election coverage, we asked each candidate to submit answers to a series of questions.
Candidates are listed in reverse alphabetical order.
Chris Markevich (Green Party)
1. What would your party do to safeguard Courtenay-Alberni workers and businesses from the fallout from tariffs?
The Green Party of Canada recently released a 38-point plan to address the threats posed by the tariffs imposed on Canada by the Trump administration.
With respect to workers and the economy, the Green Party proposes that Canada establish a Federal Strategic Reserve of raw resources, including aluminum, steel, lumber, rare earth, potash and other key resources to safeguard jobs, retain our critical industrial capacity, and supply key federal and provincial housing, infrastructure, IT, and energy infrastructure investments with the necessary raw materials needed to protect Canada.
We also need to guarantee strong financial support for Canadian-owned small and medium businesses that may be impacted by tariffs or other measures of economic warfare by the U.S. administration.
The Green Party also wants to invest in Canada Post to further recruit delivery capacity, build retail e-commerce capacity to provide faster, cheaper delivery options for Canadian-made products and from Canadian-owned businesses that meet certain requirements, and replace Amazon’s Canadian market share.
2. What do you see as the best way to address the cost-of-living crisis?
Statistics Canada confirms income inequality has reached the highest level ever recorded in Canadian history. Twenty per cent of Canadians hold more than two-thirds of the country’s wealth. Meanwhile, more than 33 per cent of Canadians earn less than $40,000 a year. That’s barely enough to cover basic necessities in most communities. Our first major policy to address income inequality is eliminating all federal income taxes on earnings under $40,000. This plan achieves tax elimination by raising the “basic personal amount” from $15,705 to $40,000 – the portion of income that all Canadians can earn without paying federal income tax.
When workers keep more of their earnings, they can afford necessities without taking on debt. They spend locally at neighbourhood grocery stores, restaurants, and small businesses. These businesses then hire more staff and pay better wages. The Green Party will launch the biggest public housing construction program since the 1970s. We’ll create good local jobs, and use Canadian materials.We’ll also build homes that people can actually afford.
When public money builds housing, it must be truly affordable. This means an individual or family should be able to pay their rent or mortgage with 30 per cent of their regular income.
3. With the riding’s aging demographic, what would you do to ensure seniors continue to have access to the services they need?
The Green Party is committed to ensuring financial security for seniors through a Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI), replacing existing income support programs like OAS and GIS.
GLI would be based on the Market Basket Measure and regional living wage calculations, ensuring all Canadians have enough to meet their basic needs. We will also be introducing a plan to implement paid elder care, in order to alleviate the financial burden placed on families who are taking care of their loved ones.
We recognize the vital role of caregivers and propose financial support, workplace protections, expanded home care services, and inter-generational co-housing to support both professional and family caregivers. We would make the Canada Caregiver Credit refundable, providing greater financial relief for those caring for seniors in their families.
Teresa Knight (The Animal Protection Party)
1. What would your party do to safeguard Courtenay-Alberni workers and businesses from the fallout from tariffs?
My party, if elected, would offer grants and incentives to those affected by tariffs and subsequent layoffs. These grants would be to encourage people to come up with viable plans to transition to new employment for themselves or their group which are environmentally advantageous - offering an improvement to existing methods (in forestry, for example) or new ideas altogether - and either do not hurt animals or create alternatives to the use or reduce the use of animals in food production or research. Using animals for food and for research subjects is very expensive and the world will be looking for cheaper and more efficient ways going forward. As animal agriculture, particularly large scale factory farms contribute to environmental degradation on a huge scale, this will help people here, animals, the environment and our futures.
We live in one of the most beautiful and least-spoiled places on Earth - people will flock here if we preserve it.
2. What do you see as the best way to address the cost-of-living crisis?
I would recommend people have patience to wait out the next few months or longer while being frugal. As Canada develops new trade partners and increases interprovincial trade, jobs will increase and prices will go down. In the meantime, and on an ongoing basis, I would encourage sustainable living... growing our own food and eating less meat, as plant-based eating is much more economical and lessens animal cruelty.
3. With the riding’s aging demographic, what would you do to ensure seniors continue to have access to the services they need?
As I am a senior myself, you can believe that I will ensure that services for seniors will not deteriorate.
Gord Johns (NDP)
1. What would your party do to safeguard Courtenay-Alberni workers and businesses from the fallout from tariffs?
Protecting workers and businesses in Courtenay-Alberni from the fallout of tariffs will require building a local economy that is both resilient and sustainable. That means investing in clean energy, value-added industries, local food systems, community infrastructure and housing and Indigenous-led economic development.
We will fight for trade policies that defend local jobs, safeguard our environment and protect key sectors like sustainable forestry, fisheries, and tourism. We have already seen the impact that American tariffs and threats can have on everything from lumber exports to seafood and agriculture. I will push for strong made in Canada procurement policies and targeted investments to help local businesses diversify their markets, adapt new technologies and build regional supply chains that are less vulnerable to international disruption.
We will fight to enhance EI and provide emergency relief for sectors hit by trade shocks. And, we will advocate for federal support that help local businesses stay afloat and invest in value-added processing right here on Vancouver Island, to reduce dependence on raw exports and build economic resilience. In uncertain times, Courtenay-Alberni needs experienced representation in Ottawa, an M.P. who has delivered for our workers and businesses and is ready to hit the ground running.
2. What do you see as the best way to address the cost-of-living crisis?
The cost of living crisis is real, and families are feeling it daily--from high grocery bills to unaffordable housing and growing debt. And now, with Donald Trump's aggressive trade war, the pressure on Canadian households will become worse, driving up prices on everyday essentials, like medications, household goods and consumer products while putting jobs and local businesses in jeopardy.
We can't afford to sit on our hands while powerful interests and foreign leaders make life harder for Canadians. New Democrats will fight back with a windfall profits tax on the corporate giants like the grocery chains, banks and big oil, earning record profits while families struggle to get by. We will use that revenue to make life more affordable by expanding dental care, pharmacare and building non-market housing like co-ops and rent-geared-to-income. We will push for bold action to reduce our dependence on vulnerable global supply chains and invest in local food systems, Canadian manufacturing, and clean energy. And we will hold the line against unfair trade practices that threaten both our cost of living and our sovereignty. This crisis is political and so is the solution.
The NDP will always fight for working people, not corporate profits.
3. With the riding’s aging demographic, what would you do to ensure seniors continue to have access to the services they need?
Aging with dignity should be a right, not a privilege but too many families are seeing their elderly loved ones live with financial insecurity and isolation. Seniors on fixed-incomes, continue to face high cost of living as big corporations and banks earn record profits. The NDP forced the minority Liberal government to end GIS clawbacks from vulnerable seniors who received pandemic supports. The Poilievre/Harper government hiked the retirement age to 67 from 65.
If we stand together, we can fix health care, stop price gouging and make homes more affordable for seniors. We fought so seniors can be covered for dental care – and that’s just a start. We will ensure that seniors don’t fall through the gaps with a National Seniors Strategy, giving seniors health care priority, reducing isolation and tackling seniors’ poverty by increasing the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). We will take the profit out of long-term care, build accessible and affordable housing and end pension theft, ensuring that seniors with employee pensions are at the front of the line when corporations fail.
Our seniors built this country and deserve the full support of their government, which is what I will keep fighting for in Ottawa.
Thomas Gamble, People's Party of Canada
1. What would your party do to safeguard Courtenay-Alberni workers and businesses from the fallout from tariffs?
Firstly, with PPC leadership, there would not be a tariff issue. Starting a trade war with our closest friend and ally is foolish beyond measure. Bernier was the only one speaking any sense, verses the Ottawa group-think of the other parties. Securing our border and addressing the drug trade is in Canada's interest. The PPC platform could have resolved the issue before the threat of tariffs started.
The PPC supports free and fair trade that benefits Canadian workers and businesses. We believe in removing unnecessary trade barriers and tariffs that only serve to increase costs for consumers and limit market access for local businesses. When tariffs are imposed against Canada, our government must respond carefully with a focus on long-term economic strategy, not short-term political games and immature tit-for-tat posturing.
To protect workers in Courtenay–Alberni, we would lower taxes, reduce regulatory burdens and ensure Canadian businesses are competitive both at home and abroad. Instead of relying on government subsidies and bailouts that favour large corporations, we’ll create an environment where local businesses can thrive on their own merits. The best way to shield Canadians from global trade shocks is to make our economy stronger, leaner, and more independent from government interference.
2. What do you see as the best way to address the cost-of-living crisis?
The PPC alone is committed to putting an end to the inflationary policies which created this cost-of-living crisis. We would end government reckless overspending immediately, balance the budget, and abolish the carbon tax that increases prices on everything from groceries to fuel. Our plan puts more money back into Canadians by lowering personal income taxes, reducing the GST, and eliminating corporate welfare. These aren't band-aids, these are structural changes that will truly make life less costly. Families in Courtenay–Alberni who are just barely making ends meet need real relief, not the same old talk.
We believe Canadians should be able to work hard, save money, and build a future without being punished and robbed by inflationary government policies. Ending the cost-of-living crisis starts with restoring economic responsibility and respecting taxpayers.
3. With the riding’s aging demographic, what would you do to ensure seniors continue to have access to the services they need?
Seniors in Courtenay–Alberni are owed respect, autonomy, and quality access to care. The PPC feels that provinces should be enabled to better administer health care by allowing a tax points transfer instead of tied federal funding. This would enable British Columbia to have greater authority to fund and improve services where they are most needed. We would also reform the tax system to decrease the burden on seniors, maintain pension income, and eliminate the carbon tax to lower their cost of living. Our plan encourages a sustainable system that respects both the demands of seniors now and the taxpayers of tomorrow.
Seniors have contributed a lifetime to building and strengthening this country. They deserve more than political rhetoric; they deserve a government that honours their legacy with thoughtful, practical policies that ensure well-being and security in the years ahead, not just for themselves but also for their children and grandchildren.
Brian Cameron (Liberal Party)
1. What would your party do to safeguard Courtenay-Alberni workers and businesses from the fallout from tariffs?
Last week, I stood behind Prime Minister Mark Carney when he announced his commitment to developing a sustainable fisheries, forestry and energy economy for B.C. and to support workers and their families affected by tariffs. With a strong mandate from Canadians, the Prime Minister can deliver on his promise to build a more productive, competitive and resilient Canada. I believe Mark Carney is the right leader at the right time to help the industries that drive our region find new markets to safeguard the future of Vancouver Island’s economy in the face of the tariff attack on Canadian workers. In addition, our party has promised to complete the removal of federal barriers to interprovincial trade by July 1, 2025 and to use every dollar raised from counter-tariffs on American goods to support Canadian workers and businesses.
It's about standing strong for Canada. It's about standing up for Canada and meeting the threat faced from the United States head-on. I would be proud to fight for Courtenay-Alberni in a Liberal government and work with our local industry to continue finding solutions for a stable and prosperous economic future.
2. What do you see as the best way to address the cost-of-living crisis?
One of the first acts by the Prime Minister was removing the consumer carbon tax, which over the past two weeks has lowered prices by up to 20 cents per litre. That’s proof that a Liberal Government under Mark Carney would make good on our commitment to helping make Canada more affordable. In response to the housing crisis, we promise to build 500,000 new homes per year, eliminate the GST for first-time home buyers and cut red tape for the private sector to make it easier to build the homes we need in Courtenay-Alberni.
We’ve also announced our plan to help lower and middle-class families across Canada that are hurting the most from the affordability crisis through a tax cut for more than 22 million Canadians. We’ll be able to help save Canadians up to $825 a year towards providing for their family. If I were elected - and with a strong mandate from Canadians - I’d work with our Liberal government to make this country affordable for every resident of Courtenay-Alberni.
3. With the riding’s aging demographic, what would you do to ensure seniors continue to have access to the services they need?
Mark Carney and our Liberal team have a plan to help our seniors access and afford the services they need most. We’ve pledged to deliver the urgent economic support that seniors and retirees need - and to protect retirement savings by reducing the minimum withdrawal amount by 25 per cent for one year, giving seniors more flexibility when drawing from their Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF). We’d also increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement by five per cent, providing up to $652 more over the coming year, tax-free to low-income seniors. Furthermore, we’ve promised $2 billion to help build deeply affordable housing for students and seniors with provincial and territorial partners.
If elected as your Member of Parliament, I would fight to help reduce backlogs, ensure seniors have the financial support they need to access services and ensure high-quality and timely care. I believe a Liberal government would make good on our commitment to invest and support provinces and territories in improving long-term care facilities, building affordable homes for seniors and securing safer and more compassionate care for years to come.
NOTE: Kris McNichol (Conservative Party) did not submit answers by the requested deadline. Jesse Musial of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada was confirmed as a candidate after the questions were distributed and returned.
