Lethbridge-East Candidate Profile – Maria Fitzpatrick – New Democratic Party

Where do you stand on the Supervised Consumption Site, and how do you believe the drug crisis in Lethbridge can best be resolved?

“First of all, I do believe it’s a crisis, and we’ve reached out to families, to police, to local businesses, when the issue of ARCHES Supervised Consumption Site became an issue. And we reached out, we heard feedback, and that’s why we provided $11 million to support the wrap around services.”

Do you support the funding announcements made in December 2018 about supportive housing and intox/detox spaces?

“Again, that was part of what we heard from the community that was needed. And we did – part of that $11 million is out there. And I think you know that I spent 32-years in corrections. And that experience really taught me that we must engage people where they are, in order to help them, and they need to engage in their own treatment. And they can’t do that unless we keep them alive.”

Lethbridge has been sheltered compared to other parts of the province when it comes to the economic downturn, but jobs remain a key issue in this election.

What is your party proposing when it comes to economic issues and what policy, in particular, are you championing as something that will help the people of Lethbridge?

“Our plan centres around bringing $75 billion in new investment and creating 70,000 new jobs over the next 10 years. We also plan on getting the pipeline (Trans Mountain) built and getting the oil to markets at higher prices. Our plan also includes increasing private sector renewable energy to create over 7,000 jobs by 2030. And certainly, that’s very pertinent to the Lethbridge and southern Alberta region. We’ve probably got better sun and better wind than anywhere else in the country. So, certainly that area is very important to us. And we really believe we have to do the work on our airport. Enlarge it, improve it, so that we can bring more economic investment into our community and certainly things that we have done here; work on the Trades and Technology Program, the Ag programs at Lethbridge College. The money that we put into the Destination Project. All of those things make our community certainly a draw for people to move in, for jobs to come in.”

How can you take the positive experiences in Lethbridge when it comes to a diversified economy and try to translate that to the whole province?

“I’ve certainly talked about how we have weathered the recession better than other parts of the province because we’ve diversified. And I think certainly other areas have taken that to heart. And certainly, the government has taken it to heart and were doing things like – we’re working to refine more, process more, create more product like plastics and fabrics. I mean, nobody else is going to get a Cavendish Farms but we certainly talk about that. I’ve talked in the legislature about how you look at other things if you want to diversify your economy within your community.”

How do you view the health care system in the province in 2019, and what would your party do if elected to improve it?

“I would say that healthcare is probably one of our biggest focuses because it does affect every single person in the province. And certainly, Rachel Notley was here at the beginning of our campaign, and she talked about creating an additional 2,000 long term care and dementia beds. We’ve cut breast cancer surgery wait times by 60 per cent in Calgary, and here in Lethbridge we have met with the health minister, and we have – with Dr. Zielke from the cardiology department – we know that we need a Cath lab here, and we are moving to make that happen in our platform piece. I have had discussions with a couple of doctors here about a pain management clinic and I have shared that with our caucus and I just want to point out that certainly we need money invested in healthcare. We absolutely do. We can not afford to take a $4.5 billion hit in our budget because that will cut the surgeries that we have. We are, in our platform, moving to reduce the wait times for surgery by increasing the number of surgeries that happen.”

From three weeks of the polar vortex, to grass fires at the start of spring, Lethbridge and southern Alberta are bearing the brunt of climate change.

Where does your party rank dealing with climate as an issue, and what are your plans to protect the agriculture and farming industries that will be impacted?

“I’m going to start by saying climate change is real and we have certainly felt some of those effects right here in Lethbridge. We have invested money in the irrigation ditches. You know that we’re in the Palliser area, which is a drought triangle, and we have invested to protect the water that’s in the irrigation ditches by piping as much as we can so far. And we have saved about 30 per cent of our water supply that goes to farming and agriculture. That’s a huge piece. We have in terms of our emissions here in Alberta, since the Climate Leadership Plan was introduced, we have reduced emission in Alberta by 7 mega tonnes and that is huge. And it is certainly an example for the rest of the world to use so that they can do a reasonable climate change plan as well. And $18 million from the Climate Leadership Plan has been invested in Lethbridge, and Lethbridge County to diversify the jobs, renewable energy, wind farms, solar. We’ve had an impact right here in Lethbridge.”

Southern Alberta has been described as a leader when it comes to green energy, from wind turbines to solar panels.

Will you commit to keeping and improving Energy Efficiency Alberta, and if not, what are your plans for the industry?

“We are definitely going to continue with what we’ve started on the Climate Leadership Plan. We have a lot more work to do, and we plan on doing it because Alberta is certainly the shining example for the entire country.”

Recently comments have emerged from candidates about homophobia, white nationalism, and anti-muslim/refugee rhetoric.

What is your party doing to raise tolerance and civility regarding public office, and what are your views on the LGBTQ community?

“Well, I was at a forum the other night and I rushed over at the end of the forum and just got in at the tail end of the rally. I believe that every citizen in our entire province should be safe. I believe that kids that are in school need to be in a safe place in school, and they need to feel safe. They need an environment where they can thrive and learn. I know and certainly as a parent I know that you love, support and respect your children. And when parents do that, I think that children will come and speak to their parents when they are ready, not before. I certainly look back on my own life and I didn’t share everything with my parents. Not until I was ready to share it. And in fact, I used an example the other night at a forum; my domestic violence experience was not shared until I was ready to share it. And I have to respect that other people feel the same as I did, that you talk about it when you’re ready to talk about it. I have one other thing to say…. and that is my concern that Jason Kenney has actually put the LGBTQ+ right on the ballot, and that’s not ok.”

For more details on the specifics of the New Democratic Party platform, you can go here. (https://rachelnotley.ca/sites/default/files/alberta_ndp_2019_platform.pdf)

by Lara Fominoff

Lethbridge-East Candidate Profile – Maria Fitzpatrick – New Democratic Party

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