NDP Leader Jack Layton last weekend in an exclusive interview with The VOICE slammed Prime Minister Stephen Harper for not taking action against his candidate in Calgary Centre, Lee Richardson, for his racist remarks against immigrants (see last week’s issue).
Layton noted the irony of Harper’s apology for the racist Komagata Maru incident while allowing “racist, discriminatory points of view” to exist in his Conservative caucus. He added: “So it’s not enough just to apologize and then allow these kinds of views to continue. We hope that the voters of Calgary Centre will do what obviously Mr. Harper is not prepared to do and that is to throw him out of office.”
Regarding an apology for the Komagata Maru incident, Layton said: “Well, as Prime Minister, I would issue a formal apology. I would stand on behalf of the government of Canada in the House of Commons, where it should be done, and issue a proper apology. And that would be done in consultation with the community as well, so that community representatives could be present and the community could be aware that what we are doing is saying that that racist decision 100 years ago was wrong and an apology needs to be issued, because as long as that has not happened, then it’s a stain on Canadian history that has not been recognized.”
Here’s the rest of the interview:
VOICE: Why should people vote for the NDP because they don’t expect it to form the government?
LAYTON: Well, I’m running for Prime Minister because I believe that the governments that we’ve had, both the most recent one (for) the last 25 months and, in fact, governments for 25 years, have not put the hardworking families of this country first and we think that it’s time we had a Prime Minister who put the issues that are facing families in first place at the Cabinet table. We have a very strong caucus of members of Parliament that have shown that we can work on the issues of health care – people don’t have doctors, they need access to health care – on issues that are facing families, they’re having trouble making ends meet at the end of every month, and we would be on their side instead of always on the side of the board room tables of the big corporations, banks and the oil companies that are gouging everybody every day.
VOICE: What constructive role did you play in the last minority Parliament as one of the opposition parties?
LAYTON: Well, we’ve had the opportunity in both the last minority Parliaments to get some really positive results for Canadians. In the first one, we stopped the Liberals of Mr. (Paul) Martin from bringing in a $4-billion corporate tax cut that would have really benefitted those corporations and head offices on Bay Street, not the average person, and we put all of that money into education for our kids, into transit -good for the environment and good for families - and we also put funds into affordable housing because many people are having trouble finding affordable housing. So I think we showed that we could get results there.
In the case of the current government, we worked to get more accountability, because we’d had all those scandals with the Liberals, and we worked with the Conservatives, made 20 different amendments to their bills to make it better on accountability in government and now that is the law of the land. Unfortunately, certain key parts of it the Conservatives have never implemented, but we would implement those parts of the law if we were in government.
VOICE: There’s a report that you would be willing to form a coalition with the Liberals. What do you have to say to that?
LAYTON: Well, certainly I’ve never proposed that. Some journalists thought that that’s what was being suggested. What I said I would do as Prime Minister – I don’t predict the results of elections – but as Prime Minister, I would work with whatever Parliament is created to try to get results for Canadian families along the lines that we’ve suggested during this campaign.
VOICE: What role would you play this time in view of the role that you’ve played in the last two Parliaments?
LAYTON: I think we’ve shown that both in Parliament and in my previous experiences as president of Canadian municipalities - a thousand municipalities all across the country, many different political stripes there - or on Toronto City Council where we had many different points of view for 20 years in a senior position that I am able to work with people and try to get results. I think that’s what the voters want.
VOICE: What flaws do you see in the Conservatives’ immigration policies?
LAYTON: Well, the problem with the Conservatives’ policy is that they have given arbitrary powers through Bill C-50 to the (Immigration) Minister to make decisions with no recourse to an appeal, as we have suggested there should be, and you can’t be exactly sure what the rules are going to be. That we think is wrong. We want the rules to be very clear. And what we’ve seen with the Conservatives is they are bringing far more people in under the temporary worker’s permit, foreign worker’s permit situation, than they have been bringing in under regular immigration. And that’s not right because those people coming in under temporary permits can’t bring in their families, they can’t apply to become Canadians, they can’t help us build our country and our communities. We build the country we have by welcoming immigrants with their talents – and, by the way, let them use the skills that they bring with them whether they are doctors or engineers or health care workers of any kind; we have far too many not being able to use their skills – and they should they be able to bring their families. That’s how you build successful communities in Canada.
VOICE: How do you feel about the NDP support in B.C.?
LAYTON: It’s growing and I am very pleased about that. When I became Leader, we had only two members of Parliament, we now have 10 in British Columbia, and I believe that’s going to grow in this election because people are saying” ‘Well, we’ve seen these other two parties and they don’t deliver for our families. Our families are finding it’s getting harder and harder here in Canada to make ends meet and we need someone who’s going to be on our side. That’s going to take some steps to make sure that we have the things we need – health care, education, care for the elders in our family, and an economy that works for us, not just for the friends of the government - the rich on Bay Street.’
VOICE: Since you are so confident of forming the government, how many seats do you think you’re going to get?
LAYTON: You know I appreciate the question, but I never actually predict election results. I am just going to work right up until the last minute and when the polls close to talk to people about the kind of Canada we could have with a Prime Minister who actually reflects the priorities of the kitchen table, that people and families talk about when they are sitting together and planning how to deal with what lies ahead. We think that should always be the priority on the Cabinet table and that’s what I am going to work to accomplish and we’ll see what Canadians decide.
VOICE: Do you have any specific message for the Indo-Canadian community?
LAYTON: First, I want to thank the Indo-Canadian community for the warm welcome that they have given to me always when I have visited in communities across the country. Secondly, I am very proud of the fact that our party has the most South Asian candidates in the election – we have 14 – more than any other party and I am hoping that we will see some real success in this election so that the voice of the Indo-Canadian community can be strong in the House of Commons.
Of course, in Toronto, I represent the Gerrard (Street) India Bazaar … it’s a wonderful place and I want to thank everybody who’s involved in preparing the delicious food I get to eat when I do down there. Murg Makhani (butter chicken) is my favourite – and a little Gulab Jamun, when we are finished.
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