Jim Graham is representing the Canadian Alliance Party in the riding of Prince Edward-Hastings. Graham has spent his professional life dealing with high-level military issues.

He served in the Canadian Armed Forces and spent several years in Germany as a NATO fighter pilot. As well, he lived in Britain, Saudi Arabia and the United States. After serving 12 years in the military as a jet pilot he moved to Montreal where he worked in Canada’s aerospace industry. He managed several major programs, in particular the voice and video communications program which Spar Aerospace contributed to the International Space Station. Graham and his wife now live in a cottage north of Belleville where he is self-employed as an aerospace consultant. They have five children.

Canadian farmers are looking for a government that can help them compete on what they call an unlevel playing field. One of their biggest and loudest complaints is that U.S. and European farmers are receiving much higher subsidies. How does the Alliance party respond to these cries?

We’re big on protecting our farmers and protecting our food supply. We will lead with negotiations and negotiated agreements. We won’t walk away from a signed piece of paper thinking that we have a deal while farmers in other countries have a better deal. In 1999 we spent a lot of time touring and asking farmers what their problems were. What we have to do is to create a level playing field.

Can you be more specific about which issues the Alliance party believes are important?

We want to reduce user fees. The federal tax on fertilizer alone is $300-million a year. We want to establish a competitive grain-handling system. We also want to give farmers a chance to market commercially or use the Canadian Wheat Board. We plan to ease the transition and cut the red tape for farmers who want to move up the chain and move into value-added areas. For example, some Prairie farmers are getting into pasta factories. They’re not just doing the growing, they’re also producing the end product. We strongly endorse that for farmers. They’re not just limited to food production. We’re big on entrepreneurialism. We will do our best to ease the flow of agricultural products inter-Canada and inter-provincially. It’s surprising how many barriers there are to free trade on a province by province basis.

With your background you obviously care a great deal for the military. Does the Alliance as a whole consider the military a top priority?

We will rebuild the Canadian Military. We have already earmarked $2-billion. Under the Liberals, the military has languished. Our defence spending in 1998-99 was just under $9-billion. NATO asks for two percent of the GNP from member countries. We are committed to adding $2-billion a year. As the population grows we will make sure that increase stays in place. We’re friendly toward the people who put their lives on the line to defend the country. The Liberal’s treatment of the military is disgraceful.

In terms of taxes, what would your party offer to Canadians who are struggling to make ends meet?

We backed away from a straight 17 per cent tax. We had a backlash, a negative reaction to cutting taxes for people making more than $100,000. The average income in this riding is $24,300 as of 1997 income tax returns. Real incomes here have gone down and continue to drop. For a single parent with two children we will increase the allowance. In fact, looking at the income for a single parent or a family with two parents, they won’t pay any tax until they make over $26,000. Our plan will take 1.4 million Canadians off the tax rolls. The GST was supposed to be taken away in the 1999 Red Book. The only tangible move the Liberals have made is for the rich. And even if they want to keep their promises they’ll never be able to because they’re such poor managers.

People have a general mistrust of politicians. You are a new candidate in a new party. Why should voters put their trust in you?

I will vote the will of my constituents even if it goes against the party. I’m required to do that - I will do that. We will bring back the recall policy. If I’m not performing well in Ottawa my constituents can fire me. That’s not the case now. As well, opposition MPs’ input will be welcome. Liberal backbenchers want a say. We need everybody to pull the same way - we would hope all MPs will join with us to help govern the country.

The issue Canadians are most concerned about today is health care. What would your party do in this area if elected?

We are very strong on long term health care. We follow the five principles of the Canada Health Act. Accessibility, public administration, universality, comprehensiveness and portability - in other words, that you can go from province to province. And we’d want one more in there - a statutory requirement that governments not decrease spending. We will immediately put in $400-million to restore spending to 1995 levels. We will make it politician proof - that future governments can’t tear it down. We would then leave it to the provinces to administer. This idea that the Canadian Alliance is for a two-tier system is a complete red herring. Our job is to provide funding, stable funding, then it’s up to the provinces to administer it. If they want 75 tiers, that’s up to them. But as far as being asked the question ‘are you, the Canadian Alliance, going to dictate that it’s two tier,’ the answer is, absolutely not.

The Canadian Alliance party has taken a strong stand on fighting crime. Talk a bit about this.

We would be tough on crime. Police chiefs tell us we should put more focus on this area. We believe in the rights of victims of crime not the rights of the criminals. Parole will not be a right; it will have to be earned. We would have consecutive sentences, not concurrent. In Paul Bernardo’s case, for example, he would have two 25-year terms consecutively, not concurrently. The rights of victims under the Canadian Alliance will count. We will also take away the rights of criminals to vote. Any person serving time will not be allowed to vote. On the subject of youth crime and the Criminal Code - repeat violent young offenders are liable to be tried in adult court. Youths doing an adult crime will be charged as an adult.