{"id":24998,"date":"2019-10-18T19:10:55","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T23:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=24998"},"modified":"2019-10-18T19:11:04","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T23:11:04","slug":"walter-bauer-wants-to-turn-auroras-north-riding-green","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/walter-bauer-wants-to-turn-auroras-north-riding-green\/","title":{"rendered":"Walter Bauer wants to turn Aurora\u2019s north riding Green"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change drove thousands to take to the streets in\ncity after city last week, and that same issue is fuelling Walter Bauer in his\ncampaign to be Newmarket-Aurora\u2019s next MPP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The long-time Aurora resident is carrying the banner of\nthe Green Party of Canada in this month\u2019s Federal election and he says the\nclimate crisis spurred him to take his support for the Green party and its\nenvironmental platform to the next level, taking it door-to-door and, he hopes,\nto Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI pay attention to scientists and there are 300-odd\nscientists who say we\u2019re heading for a crisis and that concerns me,\u201d he says.\n\u201cThe other reason I am running is I am really angry at politicians, the spin\nand the double-speak about critical issues. [Politicians] say things that are\nskewed and just untrue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A prime example, he says, is the Conservative leader\u2019s\npledge to put in place tax credits for taking transit should his party form government\non October 21. Bauer says his first reaction was, \u2018That\u2019s a good idea,\u2019 but\ndigging deeper he found that it was an initiative the previous Conservative\ngovernment pursued and didn\u2019t meet its objectives to get more people to park\ntheir cars and take transit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, climate change tops the list of issues he is hearing\nat the doorstep, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe way I approach a resident [at the door] is I ask\nthem if they are concerned about climate change and I swear to God that 90 per\ncent of them say they are,\u201d he says. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re voting Green,\nbut 90 per cent of them say they are concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that opening Bauer says he takes the time to explain\nthe Green Party\u2019s platform on climate change, which he says is the \u201cmost\nextensive\u201d of the Federal parties, as well as the platform with the \u201cmost\naggressive targets\u201d that apply to all of Canada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs Canadians we have the largest carbon footprint in the\nworld,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is around 28 tonnes per person. It is difficult for us to\nsee the Amazon forest burning in Brazil and say, \u2018You have to do something\nabout it,\u2019 when our carbon footprint is so high. In my mind, to talk about the\nriding in that sense is the wrong message. We have to deal with this as a\ncountry, we have to lead by example.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First and foremost in this national strategy is a price\non pollution, which the Greens coin as \u201cFee & Dividend,\u201d similar to the\nstructure floated by the incumbent Liberal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Housing is another issue that crops up at the door and,\nas a community volunteer, Mr. Bauer says this concept should be broadened to\ninclude shelter as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor two years, I worked for Inn from the Cold (the\nNewmarket-based homeless initiative) and I was serving breakfast throughout the\nwinter for two years,\u201d he says. \u201cI spoke to the management there and there were\nindividuals I thought who, with a little bit of a push, they could get out of\nthis. [The manager] said to me, \u2018You\u2019re assuming they want to get out of it.\nWhat they need is shelter. They don\u2019t need anything else.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn terms of housing, I volunteered for Habitat for\nHumanity, so we were building houses and I got firsthand knowledge and\nappreciation from residents who are moving into these houses. They couldn\u2019t\nafford a house in any other way, so we need low-cost housing, we need\nhigh-density housing, we need coop housing. There is room for all that in\nNewmarket-Aurora.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Green Party, he adds, will commit $750,000,000 for\nnew builds, as well as rental assistance programs that will benefit 125,000\nhouseholds. The Party also will move forward in financing more co-op housing\ninitiatives and appointing a housing minister to oversee the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet inequities remain outside of housing, says Bauer, and\nthe Greens are committed to closing the gaps. Citing wealth inequities, he says\nfurther taxation on \u201cthe super-wealthy\u201d is necessary as well as closing tax\nloopholes for capital gains. Off-shore \u201ctax-dodging\u201d also needs to end, and new\ntaxes need to be introduced for e-commerce giants like Amazon, Netflix and Uber\nto make sure they are taxed in an equitable manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looping back to housing, a financial transaction tax\nneeds to be introduced to apply to those flipping houses rather than opening\nthem up for rental income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need a guaranteed livable income,\u201d he adds. \u201cIf people\nknow they have a guaranteed liveable income, what they are going to do with the\nmoney is not invest it like you and I might; they are going to buy things and\nthey are going to buy things locally. That is going to improve the economy. We\nneed a $15 minimum wage. Right now, people are working two jobs, they are not\ngetting benefits and that has got to end. They are working 10 \u2013 12 hours a day\nand they are worn out. All these things need to take place to make a more\nequitable society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t vote for what you believe, you\u2019re voting\nfor mediocrity. You\u2019re voting for primarily two parties that have been back and\nforth forever and they don\u2019t really care anymore about what they say. You\u2019re\nnot voting for what you believe. Even if we (the Greens) don\u2019t win, I am trying\nto move the needle. If we get a large enough percentage, these two major\nparties are going to start saying, \u2018Maybe we better start paying attention.\u2019\nThey have to pay attention to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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