‘Dynamo’ Sweden an example for Ontario, NDP’s DiNovo says

Ontario should be a little more like Sweden, Parkdale-High Park incumbent MPP Cheri DiNovo says.

The veteran NDP candidate pointed to the Nordic nation when the Swansea Area Ratepayers Association provincial election debate at Swansea Town Hall turned to trade on Sunday, less than a week before the Oct. 6 vote.

“We’re in favour of liberalizing interprovincial trade,” DiNovo said. “If you look at the social democratic dynamo that is Sweden, you’re looking at one of the greatest traders in the world.

“Every third Swede drives a Volvo because of tax incentives that enable them to take care of their own companies, and that’s what we need to do here in Ontario.”

Free trade and wealth go hand in hand, Libertarian candidate Rod Rojas said.

“When we ship something overseas with our Canadian dollars, there’s a flow of our money going towards the outside world,” he said. “When they hold their Canadian dollars, they have to send it back here. Otherwise they never get paid.

“There is no reason to protect our producers because any money spent outside needs to be re-spent here.”

Thomas Zaugg of The People’s Political Party disagreed, saying Rojas’s view went too far.

“I just wanted to point out some logic to my Libertarian friend,” Zaugg said. “Yes we can import until the cows come home but it’s more important that we are able to export goods if we want to have the flow of money coming back into our country.

“It’s not exactly a protectionist measure and I don’t fully agree with a buy-Ontario measure, but I do think a higher Ontario measure would be a smarter one.”

Also at the all-candidates meeting were Liberal candidate Cortney Pasternak, Progressive Conservative candidate Joe Ganetakos and independent candidate Istvan Tar.

In addition to trade, the six contenders discussed jobs, provincial spending policies, waste management, nuclear power and education funding.

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By: Beth Ford
Posted: Oct 4 2011 9:55 pm
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Filed under: News Ontario Votes 2011
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