PLATFORM | jordantempleman

Where I Stand on the Issues that Affect British Columbia.

Why should you vote for me:

I don’t believe it’s the job of a candidate to convince the people to vote for them. I believe the job of candidates is to provide political options for the constituents. I am running to bring emphasis to several issues that I don’t believe have had a strong enough focus on in this election. If you agree with what I say and wish for the issues I bring up to have a louder voice, then please put your support behind me, and vote for me. I have no intent to draw anyone away from what they truly believe politically, what I do hope is that I encourage as many as I can to look and find out what that really is.

As well, I would like to draw the attention of our young voters hoping to inspire the 18-25 demographic to get more politically involved.

My Platform

Political Party and Candidate Donations

The only people who should be able to donate to a political party are those who can vote for that party.

The following requirements should be implemented on political donors to keep our democracy strong.

To be an individual, no corporations, unions, or any form of special interest group should be able to sway the actions of elected officials in BC besides the general electorate.
To be of voting age (currently 18)
Resident of British Colombia for at least 6 months.
A Limit of $1,550 per year to match Federal legislation

Voting Age

In Canada and BC the voting age is 18. We as Canadians have determined this to be the age one must meet before considered responsible enough to take part in the democratic process. Yet as a Canadian one can join the Canadian Armed Forces at the age of 16. Are we really going to say that a person is adult enough to server our country in a military capacity but can’t take part in a general election? This discrepancy found in law is outrages in my personal opinion. The question remains what can we do about it? As a province we have no control over the military or Canada wide voting ages, but we can be the example. This is why I support a lowering the provincial voting age to 16, because if you can service my country in a military capacity then you can serve in the election of my province.

Pipelines (Kinder Morgan Pipeline)

As it stands I can not support the Kinder Morgan expansion project. The transport of diluted crude bitumen over our ocean is far too large of a risk. In the event of a spill of this form of bitumen the oil will sink rather then float on the surface of the water. this prevents any kind of efforts to clean up the spill. For me to ever support this project the oil would have to be refined before transported.

Child Poverty (Early Child Tax Benefit)

When it comes to helping those living in poverty now, I know the emphasis needs to be on supporting the parents. The current BC early child tax benefit offers a max of $55 a month per child under the age of 6. There are two changes that need to be made to this that several other provinces in our country already have in place.

First the benefits need to hold on past the age of 6. The majority of the other provinces child benefits last until the child’s 18 birthday.

Second, these benefits need to be tied to inflation. Cost of living will rise, thus we need to rise the benefits people receive.

Transit System (Bus Routes)

The way we improve our transit system is by making it more time efficient. Ridership will rise dramatically if we invest in public transit to the point where it is even close to the efficiency of driving. When we look at the funding it is clear that without government support transit won’t improve. Currently over 75% of transit funds are put in by the province and local governments, less than 20% are raised by the ridership and advertising. In terms of the Saanich Peninsula I will support that investments be brought in through increases in bus routes and an increase in the number of buses on these routes. The government needs to be the one to take the first step in changing our transit to one that has a high ridership. Because the only form of a sustainable transit system, is one everyone uses.

Post-Secondary Education

Post-Secondary education needs to be available to everyone who has a passion for it, but, this does not mean it will necessarily be free. For those coming through lower income backgrounds grants and loans must be provided. Student Aid BC does an adequate job of providing for many students in our province but there is still much work to be done if higher level education will ever be within the grasp of every resident of British Columbia.

There are two main reasons I don't support a system that completely funds Post-Secondary education for all.

First, I see no need for the general tax payer to be paying for the education of adults who can easily afford it themselves. We have many wealthy individuals and families in our province and I don't believe that the burden of funding the education of those who can afford it should be placed on the backs of those who already can't.

Second, a system that provides free education for all with no exceptions attracts people to BC for that reason only. The only people who should be eligible for provincial funding for Post-Secondary studies need to be those who have lived within BC for a substantial amount of time.

Keep checking in throughout the campaign for more on my platform.