Wayne James, Green Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman

Why do you want this job?

I very feel like our society has lost its way.

I say that from the perspective of being an organic farmer. I note that all food we consume contains a trace of toxin, and this is the food we feed our children. This is an indication of a society that's lost its way, because the only reason these toxins are there is because somebody made money doing it.

We're not doing anything to address major issues like climate change, issues that are our fault in the first place. Instead we choose to talk about an economy that's designed to expand on a planet with finite resources.

What's the biggest issue for the country and in your riding?

We're distancing ourselves from the living world by creating one of plastic. We're losing touch with the source of life, the planet. The biggest issue is our inability to look past our desire to have more money, our inability to understand that we determine the kind of future we're going to have. I'm not just talking about the physical world here either. We are of this earth, its air, its water and its soil, and it's a matter of understanding there's a spiritual component to life and that the energy of life comes from someplace. The way we conduct ourselves as physical and spiritual beings will have a huge impact on what sort of world we're going to have.

What would you do with the Senate?

Our forefathers knew we'd need the checks and balances of the Senate when they created the country. It seems to me that it's lost that understanding. We hope that those who have the responsibility to appoint people do so with a high moral purpose, not to pad their own agendas. We've morphed away from that. I don't know that it can be saved. It would be a matter of sitting down with people and listening more about it without all the hyperbole surrounding it right now.

Winnipeg was described as the most racist city in Canada. What would you do to combat racism?

One of the things Canada had going for it up until around the year 2000 was that we were becoming recognized as a peacekeeping nation. We were leaders when it comes to peacekeeping. We've forsaken that image and become warriors. When you turn to the path of the aggressor, you lose your ability to be sensitive to the world around you. This plays into being much less tolerant of other people. If we maintained our role as peacekeepers, we'd start to see each other as equals. If we approach these situations with intentional understanding that we're all equals, if we taught that in our schools, then we would have a profound effect on the level of tolerance we see between each other.

What role should the federal government play in dealing with climate change?

Leadership would be a great place to start. Canada has lost its status as a world leader in this area. It's taken us a long time to recognize that we've changed the climate of the planet. We need to lead from a place of knowing that this is a planet of finite resources, and we can't keep taking from it forever. We can't forget that there are other living organisms on this planet that have just as much right to be here as we do.

If there was one government policy you think is done better in another country, what is it?

I just saw an interview with Hugh Jackman the other night and he was saying that Australia's government brought together 100 of their country's best authorities on a number of subjects and brought them together to solve a bunch of problems. I love the idea of bringing together the leading minds in a room and thrashing it out. Let's see what both sides are and pick the best option. That's an exciting form of democracy. I would love to see Canada adopt something like this.

Under what circumstances is deficit spending a good choice?

As a farmer, my labour is done for free, so I'm in a deficit 300 days a year. My revenue is done in a very short period of time. That's one way to look at deficit financing, that you're projecting into the future with the plan that revenue will be coming in. We need to be mindful that we don't play too far that way though and mortgage our country on our grandchildren's future. It has to be on acase-by-case basis.

What do you believe is the single most effective way to fight crime?

We need to be building a society that's inclusive. We're now a country that incarcerates children at the age of 13. We've embraced the idea of mandatory sentencing, which goes against the idea of having a judge who is able to consider all the factors of a situation. Violence, for the most part, is a reaction to some form of abuse. I don't think any of us are born evil;everyone wants to be part of a community. But if a child feels like society doesn't want to embrace them, should we expect that child to embrace the rules of that society? Violence becomes a natural reaction.

What should be done about homegrown terrorism?

Homegrown terrorism is often based on a frustration of a country not doing the things that a particular person would expect them to do. I think a lot of it comes from people in countries that have been interfered with who see what they consider injustice. Whether they're right or wrong in that judgment, it is nevertheless a reaction to it. You certainly don't deal with it by imposing a surveillance state on the people of one country or another, which is something we're seeing happen right here.

If there was a gay pride parade in your riding, would you go? Why or why not?

Parades usually are fun. They're happy events. Yes, I would go, provided I'm not on the field harvesting.

Have either you or your family had a frustrating experience with the health-care system, and what would you do to fix the problem?

Not myself personally, but I will make the observation that it's an industry, and it's easy to feel depersonalized in those situations, which can be frustrating. We should recognize that health is also a state of mind. When a person is happy their health tends to follow along with that. The body and mind are tied together. The pressures on the health system are such that the doctors and other staff don't have a lot of time to engage people on a personal level.

What would you do to get more people to vote?

I'd give Elections Canada back the right to encourage people to vote. The idea that they can't encourage people to vote is so anti-democratic. More than that, we need to engage our young people with the idea of what it means to be a free person, teach them what it means to take on the responsibility of a democracy.

What's a better use of federal dollars: fixing roads or building rapid transit infrastructure?

I would vote for more rapid transit. If we acknowledge that climate change is indeed upon us, then we must recognize that the internal combustion engine is the greatest driver of this change. The idea that every person on the planet needs their own vehicle for personal use is one of the major problems causing climate change. I would love to see some sort of light rail connecting satellite communities like Beausejour to Winnipeg.

Would you support legalizing a small amount of marijuana? Have you ever tried it?

I have tried it and I would legalize it.

I also recognize that many indigenous cultures perceive these herbs as giving somebody the ability to speak to Godor the spirit world. So it's not only legalizing it, but understanding that there are some positive benefits to it as well.