In part two of TimminsToday's discussion with Timmins-James Bay Liberal candidate Todd Lever, he addresses the legalization of marijuana, attack ads, and why he feels Justin Trudeau should be the next Prime Minister of Canada.
Q - Timmins-James Bay has long been an NDP riding. How do you feel your chances are to win the riding?
A - Up until 2004, the riding was Liberal.
Charlie Angus only won by 600 votes in that election.
There is a strong history of really good Liberal members of parliament from Timmins-James Bay.
People tend to vote more for the party than the leader.
It will really depend on what happens at the national level.
You do everything you can to identify your votes and get those people out to vote.
Anytime you have an incumbent it's tough to knock them off.
If everything goes according to plan for the Liberal party, we'll hopefully be in position to form government.
Charlie Angus has been there for 11 years, so he should be defending things he's done for the riding.
I think voters should ask themselves what's been the benefit of having Charlie Angus and the NDP here for the last 11 years.
Q - If elected, what kind of presence would you bring to Ottawa?
A - It's an exciting thing to think about.
I'd be there to learn as much as I can and serving the constituents of Timmins-James Bay.
You have to really get in front of people and explain what we need here.
You can't just wait in line.
You really have to explain how important things are, to get what I think we are entitled too.
I would explain to our leader how a strong Timmins-James Bay benefits Northern Ontario, Ontario and Canada as a whole.
You've really got to get in there elbows up and make yourself known.
Q - Trudeau has spoke about legalizing marijuana, is that something you are on board with?
A - Really it's just a different and better approach to what most people consider a recreational, personal activity.
Why would you give someone a criminal record for that kind of thing?
It's not really a big issue.
In fact the Conservatives, their position is decriminalization.
It's time for the Canadian government to change with the times.
People are worried that they can't travel or they won't get jobs because they have a conviction for simple possession from 15-20 years ago.
You have to look at things a little bit differently than pure black and white.
Q - What are your thoughts on the Conservative attack ads against Trudeau and the 'Nice Hair Though' campaign?
A - They're ridiculous.
The fact that they keep spending a ridiculous amount of money on those type of ads, the fact that they changed the rules of the game so they could spend more money on those types of ads, tells you who you're dealing with.
Having met Justin Trudeau in person, he's trying not to focus on that.
He's saying 'Focus on the plan', here is our plan, here is what we want to do.
That other stuff is really just the old dirty type of politics that we're used to from Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.
Q - The most often used Trudeau sound byte thus far seems to be 'The budget will balance itself'. What do you think he meant by that?
A - That's taken completely out of context.
The context was, by growing a strong middle class, by investing in infrastructure and partnering with provincial and municipal governments, you'll create a strong economy.
When you have a strong economy, that increases your revenue so you're not worried about nickle and dimeing everything.
It's taken out of context as usual.
We're very confident that our economic plan blows both of the other major parties away.
Q - Will Justin Trudeau be making any appearances in the Timmins-James Bay area during his campaign?
A - We're over 60 days away.
Since he's been leader, he's been zig-zagging across the country.
I hope he can make it here, and if he makes it here, it will be a good sign that this riding is both important and in-play.
It's tough to control that from my perspective, but always hopeful.
Q - Why do you believe in Justin Trudeau as a Prime Minister?
A - He's there for the right reasons.
Politicians can be described in two ways.
There are those that want to be something, and there are those who want to do something.
Justin Trudeau wants to make a better country for more Canadians.
He doesn't care that people are doing commercials about his hair.
He's very disciplined.
Very focused and goal oriented.
I know that he has the right intentions and he has the right team around him.
He's not a micro-manager.
It's a different sort of approach to leadership than the iron fist that we see now.
Q - How soon will your campaign signs go up? Do you have a campaign office yet?
A - Signs are ordered, and we'll see those soon.
I don't want to put signs up too early, we're still two months away from the election, but Charlie Angus has signs up, so we're going to get ours up.
The campaign office, we've got it now, and it will be opening up in the next couple of weeks.
Q - Why should people vote for Todd Lever?
A - I just hope that people will understand that my focus is on making things better for the people here.
It's not about me, it's not about Charlie Angus.
I would simply say, I'll be a vigorous advocate for the interests of everybody that lives in our riding.
That's what I want to do for the riding and hopefully I can get the support of voters out there.
Election 2015
Read Part 1 of TimminsToday's interview with Liberal candidate Todd Lever
Read Part 1 of TimminsToday's interview with NDP candidate Charlie Angus
Read Part 2 of TimminsToday's interview with NDP candidate Charlie Angus.
