{"id":29978,"date":"2021-09-16T19:34:56","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T23:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=29978"},"modified":"2021-09-16T19:42:56","modified_gmt":"2021-09-16T23:42:56","slug":"meet-the-candidates-tim-flemming-green-party-of-canada-newmarket-aurora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/meet-the-candidates-tim-flemming-green-party-of-canada-newmarket-aurora\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Candidates: Tim Flemming \u2013 Green Party of Canada (Newmarket-Aurora)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a resident of Aurora and Newmarket for more than 35 years, Tim Flemming has raised his family here, is seeing his grandchildren flourish, and is taking an active role in fighting for the change he wants to see as Newmarket-Aurora\u2019s Green Party candidate in the September 20 Federal Election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heading door to door in the final heat of the campaign, he is doing so with a particular focus on climate change. In the last election, it was an \u201cimportant\u201d issue for the community, but things have changed over the past 20 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat has become a very important issue is now an imperative,\u201d he says. \u201cThe platform of the Green Party is the most aggressive and assertive in addressing a very severe condition for the country, for the world, and right here at home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Green Party\u2019s plan is, he says, a \u201cvery well-balanced, well-thought out\u201d platform that he is proud to take to local voters \u2013 and integral to the climate platform is an emphasis on the \u201crenewal economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlaces like Newmarket, Aurora, and Richmond Hill are uniquely positioned to actually be leaders in this space,\u201d he says. \u201cWe certainly have a lot of very bright minds, a reasonably progressive thinking, we have some interesting technology [developments] going on and renewable platforms already. We have a healthy and educated workforce and the conversion to a renewable energy economy is going to take all of those factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we can make a real difference and not only establish some exceptionally good jobs for a lot of the young folks out there. I think we have a chance to be a leader in hydroelectric transportation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora and Newmarket are communities that have grown rapidly and are on track to continue to do so. Growth is not something Mr. Flemming says he opposes, but it is something that could be done \u201cmore efficiently\u201d in terms of construction to address both environmental and cost factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFolks are very much concerned about the disparity of housing and in costs,\u201d he says, touting a National Housing Strategy that will go towards addressing these concerns. \u201cIn many ways, we do have the same homelessness challenges to a lesser degree in Town. We do have people who need help and, to me, that is what a government \u2013 and governing \u2013 is all about. While we\u2019re also going to build them, I think we need to reassess. About two years ago, the government of the day installed the stress test and this has made it extremely difficult [as] the math says it almost cuts the value of someone investing and starting a home in half. It is worthy to take a look at that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediate action, he adds, must be taken on Canada\u2019s recovery from COVID. Mr. Flemming personally believes strongly in double vaccinations, but he said he also respects the choice of individuals on vaccines, rapid testing and masking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen people live together, they also have to share the space,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have to protect individuals [but] there is a balance. There probably needs to be some level of sustained continued fiscal support from the government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, however, he says some supports need to be reassessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLong-term, I have a lot of faith in our community, in our folks, in our employees, and I believe generally in people,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t believe people are malingerers; people aren\u2019t aspiring to operate at the $10.50 an hour they\u2019re going to get from CERB. They want to get back in their community, put food on the table, and we need to continue but wean off of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A \u201cfinancial guy\u201d by day, Mr. Flemming says he is conscious of the issue of affordability beyond housing and CERB, straight down to families putting food on the table and gassing up to get where they need to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we need government intervention, but we do need to have potentially the right stimulus or the right support around background things,\u201d he said, making specific reference to supply chain and transportation elements. \u201cMaybe there is a slight lift in short-term taxation relief, but I do know that more problematic of many things is we have gone through a decade of less than two per cent inflation; our economy has not developed to run a 3.5 or 4 per cent. That will be a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All too often it is said that a vote for the Green Party is essentially throwing your vote away, a notion that Mr. Flemming says he often encounters \u2013 and counters \u2013 at the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI highly value my vote \u2013 my personal vote and the joy and honour of being in a democracy like Canada,\u201d he says. \u201cYou make the choice that works most appropriately for you \u2013 matches your morals, your values\u2026and you don\u2019t walk a mile in one step but move in the right direction. The Green Party doesn\u2019t exist solely to be able to have the necessary 170+ seats. It would be wonderful if [party leader] Annamie Paul could, but the reality is we have a role and responsibility to continue to educate, to highlight, and make our elected officials, whoever they be, accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Canada, in our current democracy, accountability comes on September 20. Honour your choice, do what you think is appropriate, and I always think wherever you place your vote, I never see it as a throwaway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong>
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/em><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a resident of Aurora and Newmarket for more than 35 years, Tim Flemming has raised his family here, is seeing his grandchildren flourish, and is taking an active role in fighting for the change he wants to see as Newmarket-Aurora\u2019s Green Party candidate in the September 20 Federal Election. Heading door to door in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":29970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/2021-09-16-05.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-7Nw","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-14 12:48:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}