Gazan looks ahead after Winnipeg Centre win

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This article was published 01/10/2021 (1753 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The New Democratic Party’s Leah Gazan rooted herself in Winnipeg Centre for a second term after cruising to a 21-point victory in last month’s federal election.

“I see this as a shared accomplishment with everybody in the community,” she said. “It’s bigger than me, it’s about the power of our community coming together to push for a better world, locally, nationally and internationally.”

Gazan said she plans to keep pushing on the issues she championed before the election, most of which centre on poverty. Those include affordable housing, universal pharmacare and universal basic income.

“It’s no secret that Winnipeg Centre is the third poorest riding in Canada,” the re-elected MP said. “I’m going to continue to push for a guaranteed liveable basic income. I think that it would be a game changer, certainly in Winnipeg Centre and around the country.”

The NDP included a guaranteed income for disabled persons and seniors in their official platform with a commitment to expand the program, Gazan said.

The idea has also been gaining traction amongst the Liberals, but Conservative leader Erin O’Toole has denounced the idea.

Gazan said the issue comes down to human rights.

“It’s not acceptable that seniors in this country live in poverty or that refugee families don’t even qualify for the child tax benefit, often just having to live off of things like income assistance, which is not liveable,” she said, also denouncing the employment assistance program as “archaic” and inadequate.

“We need to ensure that everybody in this country lives in dignity and has what they need to thrive, not just survive,” she said. “People should not be freezing to death in bus shacks in Winnipeg Centre.”

Gazan said Canada should be taxing the “ultra rich” as one way to help finance the program.

The benefits of a guaranteed basic income outweigh the costs in any case, she said, pointing in particular to a four-year experiment in Dauphin, Man. conducted in the 1970s. During that period, residents received a basic income equivalent to approximately $16,000 when adjusted for inflation.

Amongst other ripple effects, hospitalizations fell 8.5 per cent in those four years, primarily due to a drop in alcohol-related accidents, mental health issues and physician’s visits, according to a study by University of Manitoba researcher Evelyn L. Forget.

Gazan also touched on reconciliation efforts and denounced the returning government’s record.

“They continue to fight First Nations kids in court… they have reneged on their promise to end all boil-water advisories — a promise they made in 2015 and a promise they failed to keep,” said Gazan. “They need to stop with the political rhetoric and deal with these really critical and urgent human rights matters now.”

While Gazan’s NDPs hold just 25 seats in Parliament and trail the Liberals, Conservatives and Bloc Québecois, she said her party is in a good place to hold the government to account. Liberals will likely require NDP support to push their initiatives past opposing Conservatives.

That’s the hand the NDP played to push policies such as paid sick leave and universal pharmacare into the political mainstream, said Gazan. She said minority governments work as long as people are willing to reach across the aisle, and Gazan said she’s committed to doing so.