Candidates call for cheaper drug costs at debate (2015 Federal election St. Catharines riding)

Candidates call for cheaper drug costs at debate

• The Standard (St. Catharines)
• 9 Oct 2015
• KARENA WALTER Standard Staff karena.walter@sunmedia.ca

St. Catharines federal election candidates may have different prescriptions for improving the healthcare system, but all were united on lowering drug costs Thursday.

New Democratic Party candidate Susan Erskine-Fournier said Canadians aren’t being allowed to access the drugs they need.

“I think right now we’re being held hostage by our pharmaceutical companies,” she told a small crowd during a debate on health care at the St. Catharines library downtown.

She pointed to an acquaintance with cystic fibrosis whose drugs cost more than $3,600 a month to stay alive.

An NDP government is committed to a national drug plan and would put $2.6 billion toward it, she said.

The debate hosted by the Niagara Health Coalition and Retired Teachers of Ontario District 14 drew about 25 people. It touched on the aging population, mental health and the health of First Nations.

Erskine-Fournier was responding to a question about whether candidates’ parties would create a public drug program for Canadians. They were told Carlton University researchers believe a public drug program would save more than $410 billion compared to what Canadians are paying now.

Liberal Party candidate Chris Bittle also favoured cutting costs.

“A bulk purchase of drugs has to happen, it’s common sense,” he said.

He added they also have to save money in people’s pockets in other ways, adding Conservative tax breaks have benefited the wealthiest Canadians.

Incumbent Rick Dykstra of the Conservative Party said the minister of health has already begun the process of sitting down with her provincial and territorial counterparts to begin working on bulk purchases of prescription drugs to lower the cost to Canadians.

A bulk purchasing system is going to save Canadians and the provinces and territorites money long-term, he said.

“We are more than willing to work with the provinces on this issue and once we are re-elected it is certainly something that we are going to continue to do,” Dykstra said.

Saleh Waziruddin of the Communist Party of Canada said his party would go a step further and is calling for nationalizing Big Pharma.

Waziruddin said any dollars spent on drugs should go to research, not private profit.

Even a capitalist newspaper said the pharmaceutical industry needs to step back from pricing or there will be backlash, he said.

Green Party candidate Jim Fannon said the government needs to stop subsidizing the “fattest corporations” on the planet, some of which are Canadian and some for- eign-owned including drug companies, the gas sector and automobile sector. He said those companies have seen their profits skyrocket.

“We treat symptoms now. We don’t treat root causes,” he said. “Until we get to root cause, it doesn’t matter if it’s mental health or what have you, we’re always going to put a Band-Aid on the symptoms and just throwing money at it, which is never effective.”

The Niagara Health Coalition says it represents more than 12,000 Niagara citizens and the Retired Teachers of Ontario District 14 represents 3,000 retired teachers.

Clips and Coverage from Junior Chamber of Commerce St. Catharines Federal Election Debate

Clips from my debate with incumbent Conservative MP Rick Dykstra at the Junior Chamber of Commerce's Debate for St. Catharines in the 2015 Federal Election

On autoworker jobs:

Isn't it barbaric (reference to Islamophobic tip line the Conservative Party advocated) not to have an inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls?

Why did his government cut a program creating jobs for those with mental health and intellectual development issues?

Cutting health care for refugee applicants:

Coverage from Niagara This Week

https://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/5957749-candidates-duke-it-out-at-jci-st-catharines-debate/

"Waziruddin said a Communist government would put a major focus on keeping jobs in Canada. Referring to manufacturing companies that are closing up shop and moving south, he said the Communist Party platform says if the private sector is going to close facilities, the government should purchase them to run them and keep the jobs in Canada."

...

"“A few hundred Communist votes will speak louder than a few thousand votes for the other parties,” he said."

JCI Debate – Why Each St. Catharines Candidate Can Best Represent Youth in Niagara

(from https://niagaranext.wordpress.com/2015/)

Heading into tonight’s JCI Federal Election (7:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn on Ontario St.), I asked five members of the emerging generation why the candidate they support is the best choice to represent Niagara.

This debate promises to be an interesting one, in particular as it features all five registered candidates.

Question: Why do you think [Party] and/or [Candidate] is the best choice for young people in Niagara and/or Canada?

...

Drew Garvie – (Communist Party of Canada, Saleh Waziruddin, 0.3%, 0.2%)

Saleh Waziruddin is the best choice for young people because voting communist demands a youth and student agenda. St. Catharines-Niagara has some of the worst unemployment rates in Ontario and Canada, and youth unemployment is double the average rate. The average undergraduate in Canada graduates $27,000 in debt and in Ontario it’s even higher. Our generation is the first since WWII which will have a lower living standard then their parents’ generation. Under Harper, Canada has become a voice for oil corporations in international climate negotiations. Saleh and the Communist Party think that education is a right and that youth should have decent jobs with higher wages. We support the elimination of tuition fees, the establishment of a living stipend for students, and the cancellation of all student debt. We demand that the minimum wage federally and provincially be raised to a living wage of $20/hr and that youth unemployment be eliminated through massive public green job creation, building affordable housing, expanding infrastructure, social services and funding for arts and culture. We would facilitate the unionization of young workers with a new Labour Bill of Rights.

We need to scrap CETA negotiations and the TPP and withdraw from NAFTA. Free trade has resulted in huge job loss in manufacturing that used to be the backbone of communities such as St. Catharines. Saleh is taking a strong stand against corporate greed by saying that if profitable companies don’t want to produce in Canada, we can take over the plants and the government can run them under democratic control. Saleh is a consistent fighter against racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia and the Communist Party of Canada demands full equality. The Communist Party supports closing the Tar Sands and expanding public green energy, as does the environmental movement. This is the kind of bold agenda, demanded by the youth and student movement, that can move Canada in a new direction. Voting for Saleh is a recognition that there will be a long-term fight for this future, but that voting for these policies is a small step towards the necessary goal of a socialist Canada.

Bullet News Niagara Profile of me as the St. Catharines Communist Party Candidate in the Federal Election

Bullet News Niagara profile

Bullet News Niagara profile

Saleh Waziruddin, Communist, STC

By Bullet News October 2, 2015

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NIAGARA - Bullet News asked our local federal election candidates to complete a questionnaire.
In no specific order, we present the candidates' answers for you here.
Today’s profile: Saleh Waziruddin, Communist Party candidate for St. Catharines riding.
* Name: Saleh Waziruddin
* Age: 37
* Occupation: Call centre worker, I fix cable boxes over the phone so people can watch TV.

 

* Federal Riding: St. Catharines

* Political Party: Communist Party of Canada

* Political Experience: Party activist for over a decade including on provincial and federal leading committees. Two years municipal government experience at the department head-level in a small town. On the Canada-level executive committees of the Canadian Peace Congress and the Canadian Network on Cuba.

* Why do you want to serve as an MP for your riding?
All our MP Rick Dykstra has to show after 10 years of representing us is superficial grants that haven't created sustainable quality jobs. In the last election he touted a $4 million dollar grant for the video game company Silicon Knights, which we were told was going to be the next GM, to make a video game, but after the election it laid off most of the staff and went bankrupt. In this election Dykstra's told us GM is making a big announcement, which has turned out to be investment in the plant but again without any jobs to show for it.
Instead, I want to use the power of an MP to bring public investment which will bring good jobs for the foreseeable future, and to use legislation to stop profitable plants from closing just because the workers won't take 50% pay cuts or have two-tiered pensions.

* What personal attributes will help you in serving as an MP?
I don't accept glib answers at face value and dig inquisitively until I find the truth. When our MP Rick Dykstra defended cuts to refugee applicants' health care as fair because, he told us, it is more than what Canadian citizens get, I found out that many refugee applicants don't have the right to work so it's not a fair comparison. The Supreme Court agreed and called these cuts cruel and unusual and forced the government to restore some of the health care.

* What led you to join your political party as opposed to any other party?
At my first party meeting I saw that the Communist Party is where working class people who believe in revolution and organization are. I realized right away I was “home” and decided to join that day.

* Why should voters trust your party leader and party to deliver on its promises?
Despite many opportunities to back down from fighting for the working class over many years the Communist Party and Miguel Figueroa have not given in or given up. When the government de-registered us and other smaller parties to prevent us from running in elections our Party under Miguel Figueroa didn't back down, but went all the way to the Supreme Court, and the Communist Party's victory there makes it possible for you and I to have more choices in our elections, to vote for and run for what we believe in.

* What about your party’s leader do you admire most?
Miguel Figueroa has a talent for finding simple, straight-forward ways to debunk the spin of pro-rich politicians. Check out some of his talks on Youtube!

* Name three specific issues affecting voters at the Niagara level and say what you and your party would do to address these issues.
1. Lack of and loss of good jobs: corporations don't invest when the economy is in recession so public investment is needed to create good jobs which will last. This can be funded by taxing corporations their fair share instead of giving them tax breaks they are just sitting on and not investing. Don't let corporations shut down profitable plants just because workers won't take 50 per cent pay cuts or take quality pensions away from younger/newer workers. If the companies don't want to run the plans, then we will.

2. Poverty: Enact a guaranteed minimum income above the poverty line and implement a Canada-wide housing strategy funded by 1 per cent of the budget going to public and social housing. Instead of holding back the EI fund and forcing the unemployed to take the first job they find even if it's far away from home, fund all job-seekers at 90 per cent of previous or average earnings for the duration of unemployment. In addition, there should be full pay equity for women so all can enjoy access to good jobs.

3. Immigration, specifically migrant labour and refugees: Farm workers who have been coming to Niagara seasonally and have worked here for more years than I have are being forcibly deported under the Conservative government's 4-in-4-out rule, where workers who have worked for more than four years must wait four more years before trying to work in Canada again. There should be a path to permanent residency and citizenship for everyone, if you are good enough to work here you are good enough to stay here.
Niagara residents want to sponsor refugees, but are prevented by catch-22 style barriers the Conservative government has placed like the ones which prevented the Kurdi family from being here today instead of being almost wiped out by drowning, as shown in a letter sent by their aunt to Citizenship and Immigration Canada about why they couldn't fulfil impossible requirements. Refugees should be welcome and the government should do everything it can to fulfil its international treaty obligations to be a safe haven for people fleeing for their lives, instead of demonizing refugees as security threats or freeloaders.

* Name three federal issues affecting the nation and say how you and your party would address these issues.
1. Post-secondary tuition fees: Increase funding to provinces and territories to make post-secondary education free with living-cost stipends for students. Many capitalist countries, including poor ones, already do this. Lift the cap on funding for Aboriginal post-secondary education.

2. Health Care: Re-establish the Canada Health Accord which was allowed to lapse by the Conservative government so provinces, territories, and the federal government can work towards fully meeting our health care needs. Enforce the Canada Health Act to stop the creeping privatization of our health care. Nationalize the pharmaceutical industry so drug prices fund research and not profits.

3. Climate change: Instead of withdrawing from global climate change agreements we need emergency legislation to slash greenhouse emissions and we need a massive expansion of public transit including high-speed rail. We need to provide reparations to countries suffering from climate change we have caused.

* Name one issue you feel is important, but has been overlooked by the media during the campaign and discuss why this issue needs more attention.
The wars. The world is marching closer and closer to World War III, and the Conservative government's latest reckless adventures in the Middle East, North Africa, and Ukraine are entangling us further and further. In Ukraine we are giving military equipment to a government less popular than fascists. In Syria, we aren't told what Canadian ground troops are doing or how they die, and in Iraq our airstrikes have killed at least 27 civilians including children, but the government says there is no duty to investigate.
By being entangled in NATO we are signed-on to a reckless nuclear-first-strike policy.
The government has pursued basing rights in several countries. A secret base in the United Arab Emirates was only exposed because of a business disagreement.
We need to get out of this track taking us all straight to world-scale death and destruction. World Wars I and II should have been a lesson enough, if our interventions in Afghanistan and Libya haven't taught us anything.

* Transparency in government has been cited by voters as an issue at all levels of government in recent years. What measures would you and your party do to make government open, accessible and transparent?
All proposed laws changing our rights should be preceded by public hearings and meetings in both large and small urban and rural locations. No hiding laws in Omnibus bills to avoid debate or rushing laws like Bill C51 with only minimal hearings.
All negotiations, including trade negotiations, should have the text released to the public at the earliest possible opportunity and at every stage of negotiation. Canadians got the text of the CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) trade deal text only from a German television station!

Abolish secret detention without trials, secret trials, and “security certificates” so that defendants have transparency on why they are being detained and can hold law enforcement accountable. Remove the immunities granted to CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) immediately, then abolish CSIS and CSE (Communications Security Establishment) which are political police that operate in secret.
Have parliamentary control over the armed forces. The Conservative government won't even tell parliament how a Canadian soldier died in Syria or even what exactly the ground troops are doing there.

Place direct civilian control with enforcement powers, or “teeth,” over the RCMP.
Defend and expand online privacy rights. Don't allow telecommunications companies to voluntary turn over customer records to the government.

* Should Members of Parliament be allowed more power to vote against party lines, introduce private members legislation, etc.? Explain.
Members of Parliament should vote their conscience but should be held accountable to the voters at all times, not just on election day and even then only as part of a limited choice. This can be done by the right to recall MP's, a right Canadians outside British Columbia do not have, but despite stereotypes we've been told about Communist governments, exists in Cuba and North Korea, and existed in the Soviet Union, where voters used it often to recall deputies right from meetings at their workplaces (over 500 elected officials recalled in 1984 alone!). This tradition dates back to the Paris Commune in France and even before then to ancient Greece. The right to recall will make MP's more responsive and responsible with the power we invest in them.

Proportional representation will also make parliament more reflective of the choices of the voters.

* What additional message would you like to share with voters?
Instead of voting for something you don't want and getting it because of “strategic” (tactical) voting to block this or that party, vote for something you want and you might get it. If you agree that the Communist Party's policies put the broader interests of the working class ahead of the few who own the country's wealth but have been acting in their own narrow interests, vote Communist. Your vote will get noticed and is part of announcing fundamental change is coming to Canada. Put the capitalists, who are driving us to disaster, on notice.

Answers to St. Catharines Standard Profile Questions for me as the St. Catharines Communist Party Candidate in the Federal Election

I missed the deadline for the profile but here are my answers:

Name: Saleh Waziruddin

Party: Communist Party of Canada

Age: 37

Occupation: Call centre worker

Family: parents and two sisters

Lives: Niagara Falls, work in St. Catharines and in the process of moving

Political experience: two years experience as manager of two departments in a municipal government, past federal and provincial candidate and campaign manager, Canada-wide executive committee member of Canadian Peace Congress and Canadian Network on Cuba

Contact:

web site http://communist-party.ca/SalehWaziruddin

 

twitter and instagram: @Communist4StCat

 

Facebook.com/SalehWaziruddin

Why I am seeking office:

Rick Dykstra doesn't have anything real to show for the last decade he has been in office.  He brings in grants but they don't lead to any sustainable jobs.  Last election he touted millions of dollars for Silicon Knights which we were told was going to be the next GM, but after the election it went bust and laid off staff.  One grant he brought in did create jobs, which was for BUILT (Bulding Up Individuals through Learning and Teamwork) which found work for people suffering from mental health problems. But even though it was more than paying for itself Dykstra couldn't save it from the Conversative government's chopping block because there wasn't enough money to cover needs.  We needed him then but he failed us.

Instead of trying get corporations to invest, which they won't do in a recession because they can't profit, through giving away tax breaks by cutting public services we need, we use the lost revenue for public investment.  This is the only way to get sustainable good jobs.  I am the only candidate offering this solution.

Instead of letting companies pack up because workers won't take 50% pay cuts, like in London, we should use state power to prevent closures of viable plants and run them ourselves if the corporations won't.

Instead of voting for something you don't want just to block someone else, vote for what you want.  Voting Communist puts everyone else on notice that you want fundamental change from today's destructive policies.