An interview on the issues with Stephane Dion

On Friday I had a phone interview with Stephane Dion and we covered a wide range of topics, from education and party reform to urban poverty, the fishery and sustainable resource development.

Thanks to those who suggested topics for the interview, as you'll see I asked questions on a number of them. While I tried to approach the interview with my journalistic hat on I am a Dion supporter, just to make my bias clear.

And thanks to Denise for arranging it. Also, check out Blogging Tory Greg Staples' podcast interview with Dion. Cherniak indicates a Blogging Dipper interview is also in the works.

POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION

I wanted to start with the issue of post secondary education, as regular readers will know it's one I have a keen interest in.

I first asked if he would support a dedicated, and increased, transfer to the provinces solely for post secondary education. He said the Conservative government seems poised to move on its campaign promise of a dedicated transfer this fall and said he supported that move.

"I would improve the core transfers to provinces but it would not be my priority. My priority would be direct help for students and for research."

He indicated the area he would particularly like to tackle is the issue of the indirect costs of university research. When a university gets a grant for research that only covers core areas, and universities are forced to scramble to cover the indirect costs that come with the grant work, such as computers, travel, and wages for support staff.

Dion said these indirect costs should be paid by the Federal government as much as possible. When he entered politics the Feds covered 0 per cent and, thanks to the hard work of John Manley as Industry Minister, that has now reached 24 per cent and was set to reach 40 per cent under the Innovation Agenda championed by Prime Minister Paul Martin. In the U.S. though, he said the figure is 70 per cent.

"This is the best way we can help graduate students and research in Canada. We cannot be competitive for very long if we don't try to be as close as possible (to that percentage)."

Next I asked about student assistance, and specifically the renewal of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. He said he would look at the role of the foundation, expressing concern about some less than positive reports on the foundation in a report from the auditor general, but he said student assistance must be maintained, and increased.

"I will certainly commit myself to never seeing a drop in the amount of money we give to help students. Do we need to increase help to students? Yes. We need to target the people in need especially, and the people that cannot commute from rural and remote areas. I think the federal government must find a way to focus its help for the people that have more need. We want to help everyone, but especially them."

I thought he seemed quite strong and passionate in the area of education for aboriginal Canadians, noting there's a clear federal role to be played there, and committing to ending the waiting list for Aboriginal Canadians to attend university. Dion said he would give them a "passport" so they could study wherever they wanted, right away.

"Now you have a waiting list, and you loose people. A teenager of 18, 19 years old, you ask them to wait six to eight months before they start, how many of them do you lose? This is unacceptable to me."

He also committed to expanding apprenticeship and trades training programs for Aboriginal youth that don't want to attend university.

"We need to help them have a profession much more than we are now. It's important that they are part of the labour force."

URBAN POVERTY

Dion said he was very concerned about this issue, and indicated it was the impetus behind one of his major policy planks.

"It's why I've said, under my watch, there will not be an additional GST cut. It would be a $5 billion a year cost to the Government of Canada for you to pay 40 cents less when you're buying a shirt."

Instead, Dion said he would put $4 billion into the Child Tax Benefit to increase the help per child from $3000 to $5000.

"I'm told by the Caldeon Institute with that I will bring 800,000 kids and their families out of poverty."

He said he will also create a $1000 tax credit to help the working poor to jump over the welfare wall but added it's not just money, but services, that are needed.

"(We need) to stop this disgrace of so many kids in poverty in Canada, especially in urban Canada."

OCEANS AND FISHERIES

I noted that the fishery has long been a contentious issue, particularly in B.C., with sports fisherman, commercial fisherman and Aboriginal fisherman all going after a limited resource, and tensions rising. I also noted the lack of trust in the management acumen of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans by all sides, and mentioned Harper and Jim Prentice's divisive and inaccurate statements about ending so-called "race-based" fisheries policies, and I asked what he would do to build trust in the DFO and to try to bring peace to these competing stakeholders.

Dion began by strongly rejecting Harper's race-based comments.

"It's based on historic differences between Canadians, and it's wrong to say (it's race based). He starts with that, but it's where he wants to go, and we need to say 'No' right away. (Could there be) accommodations found on the ground between different types of fisherman? Yes. But not to challenge the rights of Aboriginal Canadians to have recognized their constitutional rights."

From a management perspective he said we need to put the resource first, otherwise there's nothing for anyone to fish, indicating the need for more science and more monitoring, which he said would be his first priority on the file.

"For me, it would be oceans and fisheries much more than fisheries and oceans. We need to first have healthy oceans to help the fisherman before it's too late. It's a world catastrophe now for the fisheries. Ninety-per cent of the big fish have disappeared around the world. The sustainability of the fishery will be at the core of my fishery strategy."

He also indicated he would "be very open" to the idea of moving many of the Fisheries department scientists and staff out of Ottawa and to the coasts, to be much closer to the on the ground situation.

RESOURCES AND SECONDARY INDUSTRIES

I asked about government support for the creation of value-added industries around our resource sectors. The shipping of raw logs out of Canada for secondary processing is a good example, by creating more secondary industries in Canada (i.e. Making those raw logs into furniture) we would create more jobs here in Canada and get more value from our limited natural resources.

"I'm a strong supporter of the regions of Canada. In my vision for the country the territory is very important. We can't all be packed in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, we will suffocate. For that you need sustainable industries and technological capacity, and it's why I'll work very closely with the resource regions of Canada."

PARTY REFORM

Lastly, I asked about party reform, and specifically if he would support the adoption of some form of a one member, one vote system for future leadership conventions.

"We may come one day to want one member, one vote but I would say at least, as long as we're so weak in rural Canada, it would be a mistake for now. It's very important for a candidate like me to have an incentive to campaign everywhere, rather than just try to have many votes in Montreal. (There needs to be) an obligation to convince people in Lac St. Jean or Northern Ontario or Northern Alberta, even though we may only have 75 members there. Otherwise, our capacity to win the next election will not be the same. It's important for all the candidates to understand all the regions of the country."

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