People’s Party candidate running for a change in voice in Lethbridge
By Tim Kalinowski on August 24, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com Lethbridge People’s Party of Canada candidate Kimmie Hovan says her party stands for personal freedom, respect for all citizens rights, fairness and responsibility.“I decided to run because I think there needed to be a change in voice for Lethbridge constituents,” says Hovan. “I chose the People’s Party because last election I couldn’t in my right conscience vote for the three main parties. I was raised NDP, and I voted NDP my whole life until this past election where I couldn’t stand behind them anymore. I did some research and I found the People’s Party of Canada.”
Hovan, who is a local business owner, a long time southern Alberta resident and a mother of three, says she particularly admires party leader Maxime Bernier.
“His convictions lined up with my beliefs and my convictions right across the board,” she says.
Hovan says she was drawn specifically to the party’s position on free speech.
“Being censored on (social) media, having things taken down for your beliefs, being told you can’t go and peacefully display you are upset with something that’s going on. And I find it is very polar opposite. One group is allowed to voice their opinions publicly and have a rally, and do things like that. But other groups are targeted against being able to do that. Not being able to stand up and say, ‘Hey, I don’t believe this is right, and these are the reasons why.’ And then being censored on social media and saying, ‘You can’t say that because it is misinformation.’ But it is not misinformation if you have done your research.”
Hovan was asked if she could provide examples of what specific opinions of hers she feels are being censored, and her party’s view on hate speech as free speech or intentionally misleading speech as free speech.
She says it’s just that people become offended very quickly these days, and often call something hate speech, (which is never OK in her opinion), or misleading speech even if they simply disagree with an opposing opinion.
“Hate speech has been coined as someone’s opinion now,” she responds. “If I have an opinion that I don’t like tomatoes, but you do. I am considered a tomato bigot. You can have a beef but don’t attack somebody personally, don’t attack their beliefs.”
Hovan was also asked how a PPC government intends to balance the federal budget, (which now stands at projected $354 billion deficit), as it has promised in two years if elected without major cuts to the social programs like health care. The PPC does propose in its platform $5 billion in cuts to foreign aid, $1 billion for the CBC, $5-10 billion on what it calls “corporate handouts.” This is similar to what the PPC proposed pre-COVID in the 2019 federal elections. Also the platform has some language about making changes to equalization and not “funding programs which are provincial or municipal responsibilities.” No costing as to how all these things will add up to $354 billion is included in the platform.
“I am a business owner, and I understand expenses need to be cut in order to make a business flourish,” Hovan says. “You have to cut spending. The spending that’s going on for helping other countries, and things that, we don’t need to be spending that.
“I can’t voice what Maxime has decided in terms of the budget,” she admits, “but I do know there are going to have to be cuts. And that has to be done by (cutting) foreign aid and the CBC; those are the big ones.”
Hovan’s party is also promising to cut immigration down from the 350,000 new citizens Canada takes a year to 150,000, and to only allow refugees under very stringent circumstances. Hovan was asked how her party then intended to replace that labour pool for Canadian companies, including many based in the Lethbridge region, that rely on immigrant labour to address their human resource shortages. A story published in the Financial Post in July, citing a recent survey from Canadian Federation of Independent Business, says these labour shortages are expected to intensify in the coming years.
“And the reason isn’t because available workers lack skills, but rather, because of muted immigration levels,” it reports.
Hovan says she does not have those answers, but says her party does not want to get rid of all immigration.
“If you look at it from the perspective of cutting back on immigration into Canada, it is the more the economic immigration we want,” she says. “Those who are going to depend on social services is what the big problem is– because we do support quite a few in that aspect.”
Hovan says these should be people who already speak English, have their own money, and people who do not “depend on the government to find that job for them.”
Her party would also ask all these new immigrants to be personally interviewed to see if they pass a values test before being allowed into Canada.
“You have to be able to respect all people,” she says about the specific values her party is looking for, “you have the freedom to choose for yourself, you have responsibility for those things you choose to do. There is accountability for those things. And it has to be fair across the board.
“I don’t have the right to push my beliefs on you is what it is. The PPC has many different religions, ethnicities, cultures that are within their party. It is not just on one main one that you are following. I don’t understand how people can’t see it is not just one vision as long as you follow the basic respect for human rights. What’s wrong with that?” Follow @TimKalHerald on Twitter 4
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