NanaimoNewsNOW reached out to each candidate in the 2019 provincial byelection, asking for a brief bio and answers to the same three questions surrounding important local issues.
The responses below are unedited.
Biography/contact info:
Email: rmrich@telus.net
Phone: (250) 388-4274
Website: www.VanIsleParty.com. See Dr. Robin’s Nanaimo Platform on the “Robin4MLA” top bar of the website.
Dr. Robin M. Richardson, PhD, age 76, is a distinguished Harvard University –educated economist who has served as Senior Economist for the Toronto Dominion Bank, Chief Economist for a major stockbrokerage company, and National Research Director and Chief Economist for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Dr. Richardson is also a former Canadian Member of Parliament and public policy analyst. He is an author, pastor, historian and former college professor.
Dr. Richardson served in the Royal Canadian Artillery. For many years, he was Executive Director of Haven House – The Victoria Military Hospitality Centre. Dr. Richardson lives in Victoria, BC and at his vacation home in Nanaimo, BC, with his wife, Jacqui of 52 years, and their dog, Daisy. Robin and Jacqui have two children and two grandchildren.
Question 1: What is your top priority specific to Nanaimo which you would work to address if elected to the legislature?
If elected VIP MLA for Nanaimo to the BC Legislature, I would hold the balance of power for the next 3 years.
My top priority would be to demand that the NDP Government make the City of Nanaimo a 3-year pilot project in its February budget for a Guaranteed Annual Income (GAI) of $1,800 per
person per month for all of Nanaimo’s citizens for the next 3 years.
I have studied the GAI worldwide since my doctoral days in economics at Harvard University in the late 1960’s.
Here are some of the things you can expect from a GAI of $1,800 per person per month:
1. The elimination of poverty for seniors, children, single moms, students, First Nations and others.
2. Reduced levels of depression.
3. A possible reduction in suicides.
4. Less crime. Lower police, detention and court costs.
5. More start-ups or expansion of small businesses.
6. Longer stays in school. Fewer dropouts.
7. More use of adult education.
8. More stay-at- home parents.
A GAI is quite affordable. We need to look at the net cost to taxpayers, not the gross cost. There would be SAVINGS in many government departments.
Question 2: The current approach to Nanaimo’s homelessness issue is causing much angst in the community. What made-in-Nanaimo solutions would you lobby for to address the crisis?
A recent survey about the number of homeless in BC showed that Vancouver Island has a disproportionate number of homeless in BC. The VanIsle homeless (1,884) represents 24.6% of the BC homeless (7,655) whereas Vancouver Island’s population (about 800,000) is nearly 17% of the population of BC.
The Nanaimo homeless is the highest on a per capita basis than anywhere else on Vancouver Island.
The temporary housing solution to DisContent City was not well thought out by the NDP Government and previous Nanaimo City Council. It is destroying good will and property values in two neighbourhoods.
The VANISLE PROVINCE Party is a positive populist centrist provincial political party. We believe in consulting the grassroots neighbourhood associations before any decisions are made that could affect their properties and livelihoods.
One of the outcomes of my worldwide studies as an economist of various Guaranteed Annual Income (GAI) projects is that a GAI, set at the right level – say, $1,800 per person per month – as I am proposing for the City of Nanaimo, would stimulate builders to build affordable housing.
When the very poor are only getting social assistance, there is no incentive for builders to build affordable rental housing for them.
Question 3: The current NDP government is taking steps to “cool” Nanaimo’s real estate market, lowering home values in the interim. Do you support this approach? Why or why not?
I do not support the NDP speculation tax and, if elected your VIP MLA for Nanaimo, I would demand that it be removed in the NDP February budget or sooner for the Regional District of Nanaimo.
The NDP speculation tax is:
1. A blatant attempt by the NDP Government to take property rights away from homeowners with vacant properties and give them to the government.
2. A measure to force homeowners to become landlords and risk tenants destroying their property.
The speculation tax is designed to make homeowners prove that they are not speculators. It is bureaucracy at its worst. Some consultants in the BC Ministry of Finance should be fired!
The NDP Government did not have to go to this extreme to find out who has vacant property. Homeowners are viewed as “guilty until proven innocent.” This is not our legal system. It is unjust, anti-democratic and totalitarian in the extreme.
It is time that homeowners took back what belongs to us – our homes!
VANISLE PROVINCE “100 Times Better Off!”
