Parry Sound-Muskoka Progressive Conservative Party candidate Scott Aitchison kicked-off the opening of his Huntsville office today, September 9, 2019.
His Huntsville office will be located at the train station. There was a ribbon-cutting, barbecue, and guests dropped in throughout the day to wish him well, and bend his ear leading up to the October federal election.
Aitchison said the office would serve North Muskoka and East Parry Sound. He said one of the major issues that he’s been hearing about so far when he’s been knocking on doors is concern about affordability. He said there are people across the riding who are struggling to get by.
“That’s exacerbated by a housing problem, it’s exacerbated by things like carbon taxes that just make everything that much more expensive and I think Canadians are feeling that,” he said.
Aitchison said he is in favour of eliminating the carbon tax and “coming up with actually some practical solutions that help us reduce our footprint and incentivizing Canadians to reduce their footprint as opposed to just penalizing or taxing them.”
He said his party’s platform also speaks to “the housing issues that we face and making changes to the mortgage stress test so people, young families might be able to buy a house. It’s a good start. There’s a lot more we do need to do but the fact of the matter is we need a strong, loud voice from this riding to make sure whatever we do get started in Ottawa on housing programs as an example, that we get heard and we get noticed because this current government has spent all kinds of money on important housing programs but it’s all gone to big cities. And we need to make sure the policies that are crafted in Ottawa address the needs across the country, not just in urban centres.”
Aitchison said he thinks the vast majority of Canadians want to do the right thing, and they want governments to do the right thing, “but they want real practical solutions to environmental problems, not just more tax and spend Liberal programs.”
Aitchison also has an office in Bracebridge and Parry Sound.
Ribbon-cutting at the inauguration of the Huntsville office
Entrance to the campaign office
Huntsville train station campaign office
Visitors were welcomed with a barbecue
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If the carbon tax is getting Canadians to reduce usage and help the environment then why is BC carbon tax not doing that as their emissions have gone up and why has Australia canned their carbon tax?? …because all it does is hurt the working poor and seniors. There are other ways to clean up the planet that actually do some real good. Have you ever looked at studies from long long ago that show there was more CO2 in the atmosphere before people were even here than there is now? Trees need CO2 to produce H2O and low and behold humans need that to live. You know people do have to drive….no busses here, no public transportation here and not all of us can afford a Tesla or another electric car but of course those cars do have to be plugged in and where does the majority of that electricity come from….not those awful looking windmills or solar panels, which by the way are killing birds by the thousands and only provide 2% of our electricity needs. And those batteries are harming kid’s, some under 5 with how the raw material is mined.
There are solutions out there but taking our money in the form of a carbon tax and then giving it back just doesn’t make any sense. ..all you’re doing is giving the government more power which they abuse.
Trish I’m glad that your life has improved since Justin Trudeau was elected. But stop and ask yourself how many people are worse off after 4 years of Liberal rule. Every province is struggling financially, regional and
municipal governments are implementing accommodation taxes to offset cuts at the provincial level. All of the mainstream parties voted to increase the electoral boundaries. So we elected more people Federally and Provincially due to these changes. So think for a moment, why would any sound person increase the cost to run the government if they could not maintain a balanced budget. Only a career politician who was absolutely clueless or have no common sense whatsoever would consider this option when everyone is running deficits. And sadly that’s exactly what happened in Canada, and Justin and Stephen were both in favour of it. Greece and Venezuela are two good examples of how socialism can devour itself.
We need political reform in Canada and Muskoka is a great example of what not to do. Sixty-Five thousand permanent residents supporting four levels of Government, not very cost effective. The District was established in the 70s to deliver services to all of Muskoka in a cost effective manner. They took over are land fill site, are main source of revenue. The Province downloaded policing costs onto us afterwards. The Province negotiates with the provincial police and we pay. Why didn’t the District take over Governing in Muskoka?Why did the city of Barrie eliminate all the municipalities within its boundaries when it increased in size. Maybe someone was smart enough to realize it was not cost effective to maintain the status quo. Ask yourself why no elected official has ever questioned this imbalance after all these years. How many other communities in Muskoka have antiquated sewage treatment plants and aging infrastructure. What is the cost to our environment ignoring these problems. Can you believe that we still dump raw sewage into waterways. The Government is in essence the largest polluter in Canada. How long will they continue to destroy are lakes and rivers. Future generations will pay for years of neglect and degradation. Every environment ministry in Canada is allowing this charade to continue through their silence. We don’t even cooperate with the District on snow removal and funding is always and issue. We sure get good value for are money don’t we. I would love to see a 30 year projection on the cost of maintaining the status quo in Muskoka. One thing is for certain the cost of living in Muskoka is going to increase substantially unless something is done about it. And uninformed electorate will not enhance democracy it will destroy it.
That’s quite a dramatic comment, Jim. I referred mostly to the Conservative party’s and Scott Aitchison’s comment on their plans ( or lack thereof) for effectively tackling climate change.
As for socialism??… none of the 4 main political parties in Canada are socialist. Even the NDP is not socialist but social democratic which adheres to social democracy policies with a strong social safety net for people who are ill, disabled, less fortunate and struggling for whatever reason.
All 4 of the main Canadian parties support a free market system and private ownership of land and capital assets. You must be referring to communism. Thankfully the Communist party doesn’t do so well in Canada.
You don’t seem to be in favour of taxes but perhaps you appreciate having good schools and hospitals, paved roads, highway bridges that don’t crumble, protection for safe food, non toxic drinking water, garbage collection, building codes, and so many other services Canadians enjoy. Starving to death? Karl Marx? As I mentioned, rather dramatic. My life has definitely been improved in the last few years since the Harper government lost power. I’m once again proud to be Canadian. Tackling climate change and starting the complicated process of righting the serious wrongs inflicted on indigenous peoples over centuries. (“not even on our radar” of the Harper government) are just two of many things that contribute to that feeling of moving forward positively. Nothin in politics is ever perfect.
Excellent comment Trisha. If anyone agrees with – “he is in favour of eliminating the carbon tax and “coming up with actually some practical solutions that help us reduce our footprint and incentivizing Canadians to reduce their footprint as opposed to just penalizing or taxing them.” Needs to revisit and understand the purpose of the carbon tax. Don’t just panic and stop trying when you read the word “tax.” Persevere. Understand it. Trisha’s comments point the way.
Trish, Electing a socialist government with a Masters degree in futility is not improving the lives of Canadians.
Anyone who thinks more taxation is the answer to societies woes is sadly mistaken. We pay more in taxes now than we do for food, clothing,and shelter combined. Once we’re all starving to death it will be easier for you and your minions to shove your socialist agenda down our throats. Karl Marx would be pleased with your progress.
Thanks for pointing this out, Susan. What I intended to and should have said was that my $283 carbon tax rebate was more than I paid in carbon tax for my energy use. It of course doesn’t cover the full energy use bill, mea culpa, but does provide an incentive to drive less, increase home energy efficiency, fly less, buy a hybrid or electric car in future (if I could ever eventually afford that), and so on.
Why are you getting a tax rebate back then? ” I received more in my tax rebate than I spent on energy use in 2018″ I have to drive to work and heat my house. I did not get a rebate for minimal usage. Hmmm….. Is this rebate really just based on income then?
Conservative talking points about tackling climate change are misleading and disingenuous. I guess each Conservative candidate has to toe the party “lines”. A candidate who feels they and the party has to come “up with actually some practical solutions” is not well prepared or ready to represent Canadians, but should have long ago developed a plan of strong EFFECTIVE initiatives to reduce our energy use across the spectrum of transportation, industry, agriculture, household, etc. It’s too late to just start coming up with solutions.
Scaring people about high costs of gasoline etc. without reminding them about the fact that the carbon tax form of a price on carbon is revenue neutral and citizens receive a tax rebate is misleading. Gas prices are affected by many other factors than the carbon tax and have not been that high here in Muskoka. I received more in my tax rebate than I spent on energy use in 2018.
A carbon tax is a proven (British Columbia, Australia and others in Europe) “incentive” for changing behaviours and habits and reducing people’s energy use.
90% of the revenue went back directly in tax rebates and 10% to grants to universities and hospitals for energy reduction initiatives. Middle and lower income folks and urban dwellers (most Canadians ) will do better with a carbon tax because they tend to use less energy than those in high income brackets.
It would be nice if election candidates offered accurate, complete information instead of offering vague talking points.
Best of luck Scott, put an end to Liberal corruption and disrespect of our tax dollars.
When Ms. Cowie inaugurates her office in Huntsville, we will be happy to cover it as well.
Doppler: Did you cover the Grand Opening of Liberal candidate, Trish Cowie’s office on Thursday, September 5? If not, would you explain why not?