KamloopsBCNow reached out to all Member of Parliament candidates running in the 2015 Federal Election in the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding and asked them questions pertaining to their electoral district.

Responses received from those running in the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding will be posted live on KamloopsBCNow between August 31st and September 4th in a randomly selected order.

1. Why are you best suited to represent our region federally?

I have spent my entire career - as a citizen, jurist, and human rights lawyer- solving difficult problems, advocating fairness, and equality of opportunity for people. I am able to reach across the divide and unite people. I am an independent thinker and not afraid to tackle the tough issues. I am a voice for those who need help making ends meet.

I have always put core democratic principles, and human rights at the forefront and I commit to restoring respect for parliament, Canadian democracy, and institutions that are being eroded and debased by the Conservatives. Today, we need principled parliamentarians who listen to all voices, make responsible decisions based on evidence and the greater good, and to get things done! We need servants of the public and not servants of the 'part'. We need a new vision, a new voice - a unity of purpose.

And, that's why I am running for parliament.

2. What will you do to ensure the voices of the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo region are heard at a federal level?

We deserve a strong, dynamic voice, and forward-looking vision in Parliament - a real leader - a person of courage, wisdom and integrity. For too many years now, we have had weak representation. Our voice has not been heard and we have a Conservative representative who channels Mr. Harper and has consistently failed to stand up against the damage done to our economy, democracy, and international reputation by the Harper government. We deserve better, much better.

3. What is your stance on legalizing marijuana in Canada?

An NDP government will decriminalize marijuana the minute we get into government. I have dealt with thousands of cases and spent more than three decades in the frontlines of the courts dealing with drugs and the justice system. I have first-hand experience of the harms illegal drugs inflict on our communities. The so-called "war on drugs" has been a dismal failure and the approach of the Harper government is making it worse. Canadians are ready for change on the issue of marijuana - whether decriminalization, regulation, taxation, harm reduction, prevention, and public safety. We need a new approach. I am open to wide consultation and reforms. I will bring my experience and expertise to the table on the whole range of controlled drugs and substance, to create real solutions.

4. How are you planning on building and maintaining a political relationship with local First Nations?

Stephen Harper's Conservatives have seriously impaired the federal government's relations with our Indigenous Peoples through confrontation politics. I am committed to working with First Nations on the basis of mutual trust and respect. I was raised in the Cariboo among First Nations friends and I have spent my entire professional career working on matters of Aboriginal rights, criminal justice, and child welfare. I have addressed issues of Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women and have over-incarceration of Aboriginal persons. I have worked hard and will continue to do so to build solid relationships to improve economic partnerships, housing and living conditions, stable and appropriate funding for bands, child welfare, health, sanitation on reserves, education and training.

New Democrats believe we must embrace a true a nation-nation relationship that is built on respect. I am determined to implement the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation in consultation with local FN communities, have an Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and move on the UN Declaration on Rights and Indigenous Peoples.

An NDP government will create a cabinet-level committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, to ensure federal government decisions respect treaty rights, inherent rights, and Canada's international obligations.

We need a new relationship to move forward and grow as people and a country. It will be good for our economy, environment, international reputation, and it will make Canada stronger and more united. We are one people, in this together.

5. How will your party support the provincial/national economy? Do you think the Canadian economy is slumping into a recession?

Canadians have been waiting for an economy that's focused on their priorities, the needs of families and the middle class - not just the wealthiest. After 10 years of record Conservative deficits and mismangement, Canada's middle class families are working harder and falling further behind. Incomes are dropping and household debt is rising. Stephen Harper's plan just isn't working. He is the first PM in Canadian history to record two recessions. That's why Canadians are looking for change.

Tom Mulcair and the NDP have a concrete plan to put Canada on track, and for building a stronger middle class, with good jobs. Our plan will create jobs and help families get ahead by helping local businesses grow by cutting the small business tax rate, work with towns and cities to build new roads, bridges and community infrastructure, and kick-start manufacturing with a new Innovation tax credit. We will also create one million new high-quality childcare spaces and cap fees for parents - no more than $15 a day. This will alleviate the high cost of childcare and improve family incomes (In Quebec 70,000 more women were able to enter the workforce with an affordable childcare program).

6. How will you ensure the region's natural resource jobs will promote growth as well as comply with ethical/environmental standards?

We are blessed with abundant natural resources. We shouldn't have to choose between a strong economy and a clean environment. But in the last ten years, the Conservatives have gutted the laws protecting our air, land, and water while interfering with the resource and environment assessment processes and impairing relationships with First Nations. Stephen Harper can't get to "Yes" on a single project. This has hurt the economy, the environment, and Canada's international reputation.

New Democrats have a concrete plan to reverse the damage Stephen Harper has done and take effective action to fight climate change. Our plan will create jobs, protect the environment, and reduce green house gas emissions. This will help us move our resource projects ahead in a sustainable way and create good paying jobs. New Democrats will also diversify the economy by kick-starting clean and renewable energy production, eliminating the Conservatives billion dollar subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, making polluters pay, starting with cap and trade for carbon, and bring back environmental protections that were gutted by the Conservatives.

The Conservatives solitary focus on the oil and gas sector placed "too many eggs in one basket" and that has hurt our economy. We need to diversify our economy and that will transition us to using our resources prudently and creating new jobs and products that will sustain us through the commodity cycles and generate a new prosperity. It's about leadership, priorities, and championing Canadian business.

7. British Columbia is suffering from a doctor shortage, what steps do you have in place to address this issue

Five million Canadian do not have a family physician. We do need to train and accredit more doctors and governments play a key role in funding medical schools. However, addressing the doctor shortage is only one aspect of the larger issue; we need innovation and imagination in health care.

Canadians are proud of public healthcare. Tommy Douglas' NDP pioneered public health care in Canada, and New Democrats are determined to defend it. But progress has stalled. Canadians now wait longer in Emergency Departments or to see their family doctor - if they even have one- than other countries. Stephen Harper has put our health care at risk. He imposed billions in unilateral cuts, leaving provinces and territories to shoulder 80 per cent of health care costs. He axed the Health Council and refuses to meet the premiers to discuss health care needs. His hands-off approach lowers standards and leaves the door open to privatization. We have to take a stand if we want to save public health care in Canada.

An NDP government will stop Harper's unilateral cuts and get back to working collaboratively with the provinces. We'll lead strategies to improve health care and make it more sustainable over the long-term. Our top priorities will be improved access to primary, long-term and home-care, improving prescription drug coverage, better mental health services, and measures to prevent long-term illnesses that affect millions of Canadians.

An innovative and imaginative approach to health care is required to address the changing demographics, reduce costs, and bureaucracy. A healthy population required less health care resources. An innovative approach will also alleviate the doctor shortage by proper usage of other health care professionals complementing family physicians.

We'll show immediate leadership by improving health care that's delivered federally - and we'll modernize and reform the health care system - while preserving a core Canadian value of universal public health care.

8. What will you do to help retain new graduates in the region?

The simple answer is jobs. A good job means being able to give your family a better life. Good, family supporting jobs with benefits and pensions.

We will work with towns and cities to build new roads, bridges, and community infrastructure. Tom Mulcair's plan will deliver stable, long-term investments in core infrastructure, a strategy for public transit to get people moving, and a plan to make housing more affordable. We will commit an additional cent of the existing gasoline tax to get people moving. This will ramp up an additional $1.5 billion dollar annual, combined with a plan to invest $1.3 billion annually over the next 20 years to ensure long-term funding for public transit in our cities. This will put people to work and improve quality of life.

We will kick-start manufacturing with a new Innovation Tax Credit to promote business innovation.

We will help local businesses grow by cutting the small business tax rate and provide hiring incentives. We will reward job creators in the economy. This will help create good middle class jobs.

The NDP will provide real opportunities to complete trades training. Over 80 per cent of trades training takes place on-the-job; providing job opportunities will ensure that apprentices can accumulate the hours they need to complete their apprenticeship.

Our region will benefit from incentives and plans to kick-start clean and renewable energy production, diversifying our economy by complementing our resource industries.

9. What will you do to ensure continued financial support to the region for government programs?

It is a primary responsibility of a member of parliament to make sure their region is treated fairly and that the needs of residents and communities are properly addressed. This requires advocacy, skill, and a commitment to make sure this is done - I am a person that gets things done.

The Harper government has cut transfers to the provinces and local governments. The federal government must renew its commitment to equalization payments by engaging with the provinces.

An NDP government would work with the provinces to provide stable transfer payments for health care. Stopping the unilateral cuts by Harper will provide provinces with predictable budgets to improve and expand health care.

The NDP would restore long-term, stable funding for social housing and provide incentives to build 10,000 affordable market rental units.

10. Wildfires have been plaguing B.C. for the better part of 2015, pushing our expenditures into the hundreds of millions, how will you push for more federal involvement in terms of funding, resources, etc.?

In Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo we have first-hand experience of the devastating wildfires of 2003. And we know, the problem will get worse as a result of climate change. That's why I am pleased Tom Mulcair is showing leadership by offering a concrete plan to help communities, starting with a three-point plan that focuses on coordination, training, and infrastructure, that will:

- Update and implement the National Disaster Mitigation Plan;

- Restore funding for the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program and for training programs previously provided by the Emergency Preparedness College, and;

- Establish a new Disaster Mitigation Infrastructure program in partnership with provinces and territories.

The NDP is taking action to ensure Canadians and their homes are safer with an effective approach to coordinated disaster assistance that doesn't leave local communities on the hook for downloaded costs.

Stephen Harper has left residents of B.C.'s interior at risk by cutting training and emergency preparedness. It's going to take more than a conservative photo-op to protect our communities.

11. By mid-August, most of Interior B.C. was under a Level 4 drought classification, how would you push/promote for better water conservation in British Columbia?

Our water it the envy of the world. But, as our climate changes, we have a responsibility to protect it. Canada is one of the only industrialized countries without a Water Strategy. Instead of fixing that, Stephen Harper's Conservatives have stripped away protections for our lakes and rivers. And gutted environmental protections without debate by burying the changes in budget bills.

The NDP will work to:

- Establish a National Water Strategy, in collaboration with provinces, territories, municipalities, and First Nations to protect clean water as a right (including a national plan for conservation and cost-savings);

- Strengthen and enforce drinking water standards and pass laws that make polluters pay;

- Ban bulk water exports

We need environmental legislation that protects water as a commons, a human right, and a public trust. The federal government has a leadership role in protecting water as a right and as a matter of national security and sovereignty.

12. Is there anything else you would like voters to know?

I have spoken with men, women,and youth from various walks of life within the riding and heard their concerns. Many are worried that the sacrifices and choices made by previous generations of Canadians - to build a society based on fairness and equality of opportunity is in peril.

A political culture and ideology that borrows from the US Republican playbook, by the Harper Conservatives, has brought cynicism and coarseness that diminishes parliament, democratic governance, and Canada's international reputation - one that divides Canadians into "us and them", of attack ads, contempt of parliament, and bellicose rhetoric. From disrespect of Veterans, to attacks on the Chief Justice, it is a government that is ruthless, arrogant, and out of touch. The real challenges and issues that concern most Canadians are ignored or trivialized or - worse - belittled.

I believe we live in a time of great challenges and opportunity for Canada - that we can make the hard choices and meet the challenge of responsible leadership - so that we can leave a strong, visionary country, based on justice and opportunity to our children and grandchildren.

I am fortunate to have been born in Canada where there was greater opportunity. That was due to choices made by previous generations who shared a national vision of building a society based on the public good and shared responsibilities and rights. Today, we face growing inequality - an unraveling - of our sense of community and shared Canadian values.

I believe in a responsibility and commitment to work to make things better for all Canadians - for a fairer and more just society.

And that's why I am running for parliament.

For more information on Bill Sundhu, please visit his website here.

The 2015 Federal Election is Monday, October 19th.