Jodi Wyman, Liberal Brandon-Souris

Why do you want this job?

I believe that I can help make real change. I believe that we can do better by Canadians with a new government, and I also believe that I can do better for this riding here in Brandon-Souris. We have a lot of challenges, and I think that I've taken the time to understand those challenges, and I think I can do better.

What's the biggest issue for the country and in your riding?

(For the country)I think it's the economy. We've stalled out. We have low growth rates, we have record household debt, we have ayouth unemployment rate at 14 per cent, we have the poorest job quality ever, and we need to kick-start the economy with some serious investment. We need to increase the number of skilled workers in our labour force, and we need tomake sure that we've got everybody working, and families have money intheir pockets, so they can keep the economy going.

(For the riding) I believe it's infrastructure. We have acrisis of infrastructure here, an $11-billion deficit, and that'severything from roads and bridges to still repairing from the 2011 flood to a lack of support for the agriculture industry to affordable housing. Affordable housing is a huge issue here in our riding, and we need to address it.

What would you do with the Senate?

I think that the Senate serves a really good purpose. If you have a majority government in the House of Commons, they can continue doing whatever they want, but the Senate, first of all, hasthe ability to slow down or change legislation, so it's a second review of all legislation going through, which is important. Secondly, they do a lot of research and studying programs in the community, that sort of thing. The Senate fills a very important purpose, but the senators need to be appointed based on merit and not based on partisan needs.

Winnipeg was described as the most racist city in Canada. What would you do to combat racism?

I think we need to address some of the double standards right now. There's a First Nations funding gap, which is huge, and there's no excuse for it. For some reason, the federal government pays less per student than the provinces pay per student off reserve. We need to address that funding gap. First Nations are ourfastest growing segment of our population, and we need to invest in education for them, and we also need to make sure that we're lifting everybody out of poverty, and that we don't see the First Nations overly represented in the victims of crime, inincarceration rates, in children in care. We need to address that and make sure that we lift everybody up and everybody has the same advantages as everybody else. We're going to see improvements in the racism that way.

What role should the federal government play in dealing with climate change?

The federal government needs to take a leadership role in climate change. Out here in the agriculture industry, as the weather gets more extreme, and we'reseeing the ups and the downs and the floods, that sort of thing, that affects the farmers' bottom line. We need to un-muzzle scientistsso that we can study green technologies and climate-resistant infrastructure and plan long-term, because it is happening, and cuttingfunding for science and experimental lakes and research is not going to help.

If there was one government policy you think is done better in another country, what is it?

I don't really have a comment on that.

Under what circumstances is deficit spending a good choice?

I think deficit spending is a good choice when you need to invest in your own country. I'm a business owner. I know that there are times when interest rates are low, when things are stable, that it's areally good opportunity to borrow money and expand your business or hire new staff or take a risk and end up with a bigger bottom line, and that's what we're suggesting here. Let's kick-start the economy with a relatively small deficit and get people working, address the infrastructure crisis we have, and it's going to lead to economic growth and jobs.

What do you believe is the single most effective way to fight crime?

Addressing poverty, I believe, is the best way toaddress crime. I've been a lawyer for 18 years. I started out working in the criminal law field, and I think it's a myth that people end up committing (crimes) out of just bad character. A lot of times, it'sdesperation, it's lack of opportunity, lack of education and that sort of thing. If we can lift people out of poverty, we're going to see a decrease in crime. I have no doubt of that.

What should be done about homegrown terrorism?

Similarly, if we're not addressing poverty, we're notaddressing mental health properly. We've done folks adisservice when it comes to mental health care in general.Soif we're not addressingthose core roots of people who end up in a personal crisis lack of affordable housing, thingslike that then you end up with people taking desperate measures. I don'tbelieve it's terrorism so much as desperate people, some mental health issues, addictions, that sort of thing. We need to make sure that we're taking care of themarginalized population, too.

If there was a gay pride parade in your riding, would you go? Why or why not?

Yes. There was a gay pride parade. I attended the opening ceremonies. The Liberal Party is very supportive of gay rights. To me, especially as a lawyer, I don't understand why it needs to be a controversial issue. We all have charter rights, and those rights are protected, and I think the government needs to continue protectingthem, and there really shouldn't be a need to fight for those rights.

Have either you or your family had a frustrating experience with the health-care system, and what would you do to fix the problem?

My husband is permanently disabled on workers compensation, so he's been through the system with twoback surgeries and a variety of issues that way. He's had excellent, excellent service, but we see high doctor turnover here, so people aren't able to keep a doctor very long. The Liberal Party would like health care to be a top priority, so we need to sit down with the provinces, we need to make health care an issue, and we need to make sure that the money that's being transferred to the provinces for health care is accountable, has good standards and we're all receiving the same quality service.

What would you do to get morepeopleto vote?

With the other candidates in Brandon-Souris, I was part of a RocktheVote rally on Aug. 29. We had it in a park, we had live bands, we hadchildren's entertainment, we had a skateboard demonstration, and all of us candidates were out for five hours in the park, trying to get people to come up and talk to us. It didn't have to be highly political, but just to get engaged and pay attention for the September and October stretch. Our party here has also done voter ID clinics, because there's going to be some challenges with the new Fair Elections Act. When people try to vote,they're going to find that they don't have the proper ID.We're going to do another couple as well, just to make sure people can vote. Every speech I do, as well, I always end with'Let's get out and vote.' Really, your vote is your voice, and it's extremely important that you make it heard.

What's a better use of federal dollars: fixing roads or building rapid transit infrastructure?

From the Brandon-Souris perspective, it would be building roads. I stillbelieve that we need tosupport the rural areas. We're getting increasingly urbanized, and I'm a huge advocate from the rural areasoutside of the big cities, so I still believe it's buildingroads.

Would you support legalizing a small amount of marijuana?Have you ever tried it?

Yes, I definitely support legalizing marijuana for a variety of reasons, and no, it's not something I've done.