Rob Morley, PC
Hometown: Whalen Corners
Occupation: Cash crop farmer, former trucking company owner. Shop supervisor at Lavis contracting in Clinton
Political experience: 18 years municipal: nine as councillor (Usborne Twp.), three as reeve (Usborne), six as mayor (South Huron). The last year I was mayor (2006), I was also the warden of Huron County.
Community involvement: Cemetery board, Zion West United church committees, OFA
What is the best way to stimulate the economy in your riding?
Stabilize the economy for agriculture. There’s a risk management plan for farmers. We need to promote tourism in our riding – that’s a big thing. Promote nuclear power… that’s a big thing in the north of our riding.
What is the biggest environmental issue facing your riding and what can be done to solve it?
Clean air and water. One of the things we need to do is clean up these coal plants for hydro production. Part of the process we’re going through is to get all the environmental hotspots cleaned up by 2015. As far as water’s concerned, we need to enforce al the recommendations that came out of the o’Connor report. There are a lot still standing from that. We need to be looking at the lake shore and see what’s going on there and the reasons for lake shore issues. That will keep us busy the first four years for sure. We’re also looking at implementing a waste management strategy. We need to figure out how we’re going to deal with all this waste and figure out diversion. There’s a lot of energy from waste technology that we might need to get into.
What is your solution for Ontario’s energy needs?
Nuclear. That’s the cleanest source we have. Unfortunately, the wind power just doesn’t produce enough and it’s not constant enough. It’s destroying our shorelines and using up a lot of agricultural land. I think we need to stop and look at wind turbines and learn more about it than we know. There’s a lot of technology out there. There are 3000 wind turbines proposed in our riding. We need to step back and take a ahrd look at what’s going on. It’s a very expensive source of power, too.
Should we favour consumption taxes over income and corporate taxes?
I’d have to know a lot more about this before I could comment on it.
Do you think the minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour?
Minimum wage needs to be raised, there’s no question. But we need to go to industry and see whether it’s a good idea. It needs to be discussed with business because every time it’s been raised, it has hurt industry.
Do you support public funding for all faith-based schools?
If they meet the criteria. They have to become part of the public system, they have to use the curriculum and hire certified teachers. They have to go through the standardized testing programs and agree to publish the results. If they do all that, I believe it’s fair to fund them. Otherwise, no. It’s a matter of integration, not segregation. They have to join the public system. It’s about fairness.
Which electoral system will you be voting for: MMP or first past the post?
I’ll be first past the post, which is status quo. MMP calls for more MPPs, larger ridings, and appointed politicians. I don’t think that’s a good representation of what people want.