Candidate profile: Animal Protection Party candidate Kira Cheeseborough

Despite the focus on animal protection, Cheeseborough says her party does have a plan around job security for workers in struggling industries — such as forestry.

“What we should be doing is keeping what we extract here, and creating jobs and hiring people that lost their jobs in this industry, and retraining them to more artisan work to create high-quality finished products that we can say is Canada made,” Cheeseborough says, “and that we can export out for a higher profit margin than we are with just a bulk of raw resources.”

Working as a youth advisor and peer support worker for A Way Home Kamloops, Cheeseborough is working towards a social work degree at Thompson Rivers University. She says she’s seen the need for improved mental health services first hand and hopes to address it.

“Those are severely lacking, unfortunately,” she says. “So many community organizations and groups are trying the best to fill those gaps, but these gaps should not exist in the first place, and this should be filled by the government that is meant to be protecting the people.”

Now several weeks into her campaign, Cheeseborough says she’s learned a lot from other candidates, and speaking with residents.

“Just being at the forums, and listening to the issues and hearing people directly ask about what we are going to do about issues that matter to them is one of the biggest things that I value,” she says. “It’s seeing that the solutions to issues come from the people who are being impacted by them the most.”

In the next two and a half weeks before the federal election, Cheeseborough will be working to show constituents the ideals behind the animal protection party.

CANDIDATE Q&A

Ahead of the 2019 federal election vote, CFJC Today reached out to each candidate in the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding for their positions on local issues. Here is Animal Protection Party of Canada candidate Kira Cheeseborough’s responses.

In your view, what is an MP’s most important responsibility?

“I believe an MP’s most important job is to represent the people in their riding, including their needs, concerns, and values, while implementing sustainable change in a manner that will protect everyone. AN MP should also be highly aware of the political climate, how it affects vulnerable populations, and must be willing to take a stand against oppressive policies while working alongside those who have already been challenging these systems of oppression.”

What are the biggest issues people in our riding have? How would you address those?

“For the young voters, there is an urgency for action against the climate crisis. Affordability and the loss of jobs is another important issue for voters.

Addressing the climate crisis requires us to re-examine all other issues in the context of climate impact. To adequately make a difference, we need to end subsidies in fossil fuel industries, transitioning into clean energy alternatives while supporting workers and their families through retraining programs. We also need to move away from animal agriculture into plant-based farming or biocyclic vegan agriculture, as animal-based industries are the leading cause of topsoil erosion, ocean dead zones, deforestation, land/water usage, habitat destruction, and species extinction.

In this, it is of paramount importance that we work alongside Indigenous people, as they have been fighting to protect the land and animals after settlers arrived. They have held the knowledge on how to protect biodiversity since time immemorial. We can return freed land from the transition into plant agriculture, to the respective nation, protect the land from extractive industries, and allow it to act as a natural carbon sink.

Protecting the environment includes economic reform. We must forgo the idea of growth in our economy and move to a steady-state economy—one that extracts and produces as needed, not in excess, and not driven by marketing-based consumerism. This will bolster inclusive and equitable jobs and promote sustainability and stability in our economy. Our current economy is only growing the wage and wealth gaps between the average Canadian and the CEOs. Affordability is such a concern for many who previously would have considered themselves financially stable because the cost of living is rising due to our economic practices.

We can start looking at affordability by implementing a universal basic income which would afford everyone equitable starting points to secure housing. However, rent control legislation must be developed in conjunction to prevent rent inflation. We also need more subsidized multi-unit homes, designated for elderly, students, single-parents, and low-income individuals and families. We can also look at tax incentives for maintenance, upkeep, and subsidization to support property owners renting to

fixed income tenants. Another driving factor to rising housing costs is capital investors purchasing housing and leaving it vacant to turn a profit, and gentrification, both of which should be regulated better.

Other areas where job loss is prevalent in our riding is in the forestry industry. First, we should ensure compliance to sustainable forestry management plans, end deforestation as an industry practice, and recover degraded/deforested areas by increasing the number of jobs within tree planting programs. Additionally, we should stop the exports of raw resources, retrain workers for jobs creating high-quality finished products at a larger profit that can instead be exported, and encourage more permanent job placements going forward.”

If you were to be elected and then appointed as a federal minister, which department do you believe you would excel in and why?

“Minister of Agriculture. Our agricultural system needs comprehensive change considering the urgency of the climate crisis. We can no longer afford to fund research initiatives on how to make an environmentally destructive industry less destructive. We need to transition into sustainable practices and support the farmers in moving away from this declining industry. Continuing to fund is condemning families into bankruptcy in the long-term. For reform like this to occur, the Minister of Agriculture needs a holistic perspective on these issues, not a perspective that only uses foundations based on exploitative traditions.”

How would your party address the family doctor shortage in our region?

“Forgiving student debt and eliminating post-secondary tuition would make the pursuit of medical careers much more accessible. Right now, education is a privilege when it shouldn’t be and the only people who can afford to go to school to become doctors are those who already have the money to do so. And with the cost of living becoming increasingly higher, more people are wanting to go into fields to earn money in a shorter amount of time with less debt. Ultimately, I would like to see a world in which everyone’s occupation is based primarily on their interests and aptitude, not a choice based on privilege or lack of.”

How would your party address the opioid crisis?

“We need to seriously consider and take steps towards decriminalization of drugs. Criminalization has only made the problem worse and has created a market for the production and selling of illicit drugs unregulated. Through decriminalization, we can regulate for impurities in substances, such as Fentanyl, and create overdose response teams and safe injection sites much more widely available. If we have more safe injection sites available, there is no need for someone to feel they must shoot up in an alley, park, or playground away from judgmental eyes and reduces the risk of needles being left behind. Criminalizing the use of drugs, which is usually a response to trauma or lack of connection, only further dehumanizes and isolates a person from receiving the connective support they are missing.”

How would your party address climate change?

“Right now, governments actively promote, support, and subsidize industries that are the largest drivers behind climate change. We need to stop promoting the industries that have the largest climate footprints. Instead, we need to shift to sustainable industries, and training for people to transition into them.

We also have much to gain by incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing in our relationship with the environment. By integrating knowledge on how we can protect the planet from Indigenous authored texts/art, storytellers, knowledge keepers, elders, and scholars, we can also engage children and youth in meaningful conversations surrounding reconciliation and decolonization.”

How would your party address affordability for young families?

“Beyond what was mentioned previously, increased programs and grants for young families to access childcare services, especially for young or single parents, will assist in the affordability for working parents. We also need to place more value into the jobs which support young families, such as caregivers, teachers. Stay at home parents should be granted an increased child tax benefit and spouse dependent credit. Raising a child, let alone multiple children, is extremely financially exhaustive yet it is crucial for a child to have their parents around in the first year after birth to form strong, healthy bonds. As such, we should provide better Employment Insurance parental benefits, so that children can grow in households with less work-related stress, availability of primary caregivers, and a good foundation for developing secure relationships later in life.”

by Ashley Legassic

Candidate profile: Animal Protection Party candidate Kira Cheeseborough

CANDIDATE Q&A

Our Community