Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo candidate profile: Iain Currie, Green party

This week, Castanet Kamloops is going to help you get to know the seven candidates looking to represent the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding in Ottawa. We will be posting a video and a Q&A for each of the local hopefuls running in the Sept. 20 federal election. Each candidate is asked the same questions and their answers are published in full.

Here is the lineup for this week's special election coverage: Monday: Bill Sundhu, NDP; Tuesday: Bob O'Brien, independent; Wednesday: Jesse McCormick, Liberal; Thursday: Corally Delwo, People's Party of Canada; Friday: Iain Currie, Green; Saturday: Frank Caputo, Conservative; Sunday: Wayne Allan, independent.

Castanet Kamloops: Who are you and why do you want to be MP? Tell us about yourself — where are you from, what do you do and what will you bring to the table?

Iain Currie: “I’m Iain Currie, I’m the Green Party candidate. I was born and raised in Kamloops, so I’m from here. I'm a lawyer, but I'm also a father and a husband. And the father part is why I want to be MP.

“I ran for election in 2019 in this riding, and I said then, and it's still the case, that I saw a potentially bleak future for my children. And I contrasted that with the optimism that I saw when I was a kid for my future then, and I realized that I had to do something.

“The most pressing problem then, as it has been for years, and the most pressing problem now is the climate crisis. And so I bring to the table a strong voice for action on the series of crises that are facing Canada, particularly facing this area.”

What experience do you have that makes you qualified to represent this riding in Ottawa?

Currie: “I think the most important experience is being a human being growing up and living here for most of my life. My professional experience as a lawyer, I've been a lawyer for 27 years, I was a crown prosecutor in Kamloops for most of that time, and I've also just been a member of this community.

“I don't have all the answers, but I have a strong team of people who are working with me. And I am confident that we have not the answers, but that we have the right values aligned to make progress on all of these really important issues that we're facing.”

What local issues do you think you would be able to tackle as MP?

Currie: “I think that we are in Kamloops right now in the centre of a remarkable period of time, where we're seeing issues which are much, much bigger than local issues are, in fact, local issues. And so I talked about the climate crisis being what influenced me to enter politics last time, to run for office. And that has been clearly such a local issue. And so I don't think the Green Party is likely to form the next government of Canada. So I don't know that I would have any opportunity to introduce bills that are going to address any specific local problems. But I can tell you that I will work incredibly hard to address the challenge that we're facing locally, in transitioning our economy and our way of life to something better and greener, that is sustainable and resilient.”

What are your thoughts on vaccine passports, as introduced by the B.C. government last week?

Currie: “There needs to be some way to track vaccines. And a vaccine passport, maybe that term is taking on sort of negative connotations. But the idea of having some way to ensure the safety of the public when engaged in what are — with the Delta variant raging — are risky behaviours. And to mitigate the risk for all of us, I think it's essential to have some way to do that. A vaccine passport, I don't know if that's the right language, but it's the right concept. It's essential.”

Are you double vaccinated for COVID-19? If not, why not?

Currie: “I am. There’s no ‘why not’. It's clear to me that vaccine hesitancy is real, and it's irrational and it's unfortunate. But I think we have to be careful about not being punitive in terms of the way we deal with vaccines. You can only do so much to encourage people and to educate people, and there is going to be a certain percentage of population who doesn’t get vaccinated. But I am, I think it's the only logical way, I urge everybody to do it for our collective safety and for individual safety.”

What do you think needs to be done to combat the social issues plaguing Kamloops streets and, if elected, what would you do about it?

Currie: “I think there's two answers to that. One of which is the federal government needs to get involved in, well, first step, and really the easiest step and it's a no brainer, is to legalize drugs, to stop the black market in drugs immediately. And that's going to start making a difference immediately.

“Other things are more difficult and require a longer term investment. And that includes things like the federal government reinvesting in housing. It involves things like the federal government following through on some of its commitments in terms of mental health and drug addiction resources. It also requires some immediate engagement at all levels of government with the homelessness problem, and also with the problems with crime, which I know is a huge concern for this area.

“So we have to start acting immediately, do those easy things which can have beneficial impact, like legalizing drugs. But we also need to take a longer term approach, dealing with the issues that result in homelessness and poverty.”

What are your thoughts on climate change in general?

Currie: “So we could fill a book with talking about ideas about climate change. But the big one, and this is that we're past the point of discussion and debate. The science has spoken, it’s spoken long ago. And we're also past the point where we should be arguing about targets. And what's going to happen in 2030, or 2035. What we need to be talking about is, what are we doing tomorrow as a government? What are we doing on Sept. 21, to start the transition to something better, to something greener, to something sustainable. Something so that we will have air to breathe.

“So we're sitting here outside on a beautiful sunny day, there's no smoke in the air. But we can’t forget last week or the week before. And we can't forget what happened in Lytton. We can't forget all of the tragedies that are happening around the world. Because all we've been doing as a country, as a society, as a world is pretty much talking about it. Now's the time for action. Actually, two years ago was the time for action. Ten years ago was the time for action. Now it's time for urgent action.”

The Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding area is routinely impacted by wildfire. If elected, would you endeavour to take any steps to prevent or better fight wildfires? If yes, what would they be?

Currie: “Forests are primarily a provincial jurisdiction. So I know there's been talk about bringing in the Canadian military and sure that's a federal jurisdiction and support, providing whatever help possible to fight the fires from the federal government. But that's something that the province needs to sort out and ask, and then the federal government should say yes, how many and where.

“But the federal government also has a role to play, and the Supreme Court of Canada has recently said that the federal government has a play in dealing with the climate crisis. And the forest fires are tied up with that. Not just caused by climate change, but it's also contributing to it. And so, in that jurisdiction, the federal government has a huge role to play in terms of preventing and mitigating forest fires, in terms of investing in forest remediation, dealing with the interface zones and helping prevent forest fires.

“The Green Party has proposed a billion dollar fund to allow municipalities and other levels of government to invest in youth jobs, dealing with environmental issues. And that seems to be a perfect solution for the City of Kamloops to access federal funds, in order to hire some young people to work in places where forest fires will be a risk before they're happening. So to deal with Juniper Ridge is one of the obvious ones that comes to mind, an area that is homes surrounded by flammable materials, where the city could definitely use some money to hire some people to go out and deal with those risks in the offseason.”

If elected, what would your first priority be for the riding?

Currie: “My first priority would be bringing the message to our leaders, whoever forms the government will get a clear message from Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo that we care about action. That we don't accept that the way things have been for the last few months is just inevitably what’s going to happen in the future. So definitely, my focus will be on the climate crisis and immediate action.

“But there are lots of other priorities, there are so many issues that are coming together at this particular time. And many of them involve social justice and reconciliation with Indigenous people. And there are low hanging fruit, just as the Government of Canada can start taking immediate action, for example, on the climate by immediately eliminating subsidies to fossil fuel producers, that's a huge one.

"But closer to home, Kamloops has been in the international media for the worst possible reason, the unmarked graves of 215 children just discarded in our community. And so that's a long term project, reconciliation. But there are steps. The government right now is appealing a Human Rights Tribunal ruling that they need to comply with just the basic principle of providing First Nations children with the same level of care and attention and funding as everyone else in Canada, and the federal government is appealing that rule. So immediately stop that litigation, it can be done with an order in counsel essentially immediately, on Sept. 21, and send a message to all of us, but particularly to our Indigenous people, the people of Tk’emlups te Secewpemc, that we acknowledge the horrors of residential schools and we are pledged to not just never repeat the horrors, but in fact to treat the First Nations as equal partners in this confederation.”