Growing the Timmins-James Bay riding economically is the biggest election issue for Todd Lever. The Liberal candidate says a lot has to be done to grow the resource industries, like mining and forestry. He says on top of that, the boom-and-bust economy needs to be balanced out.
He says we need to take pro-active steps to avoid the boom-and-bust. He points out Sudbury, saying they have had a lot of government investment into things like education and healthcare, so they are able to withstand that cycle a lot more than the communities in the Timmins-James Bay riding.
He says from a large scale perspective, the Liberals will re-establish the middle class with tax breaks for earners between $44,000 and $90,000 a year. He says that break is paid for by a slight tax increase to high-income earners, those who make over $200,000. By shifting where we get the taxes from, the middle class is directly benefited. Lever says that money will then go back into the economy.
He says at the local level, because of the size and remoteness of our riding, we need more investment from the government, something that he says is lacking right now.
NDP candidate Charlie Angus, Conservative candidate John Curley, and Green Party candidate Max Kennedy say creating jobs is their biggest election issue.
Full answer from Lever:
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