Voter Questions & Answers
I answer voter and media questions so go ahead and ask me anything!
Topics:
Alberta Separatism
What is your personal opinion on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada in any way?
Question:
I am completely opposed to Alberta separatism, it is a horrid idea championed by scoundrels and fools. We are stronger and more prosperous as part of a united Canada than we could ever be on our own.
Answer:
Housing Crisis
What process will you use to make housing affordable as this is a multifaceted problem and not just about housing.
Question:
Solving the housing crisis is a complex beast. It extends beyond simply building more homes, and it will require cooperation from all levels of government. I've been talking about this for years on Reddit, I've linked a few of my posts below which discuss the housing crisis in more detail. I'd encourage you to read them to better understand what I am advocating for.
[Post 1] [Post 2] [Post 3] [Post 4]
In this election, I've built my platform to focus on things that can be done at the municipal level specifically. The plan, roughly speaking, is to first create the conditions that will allow us to solve the housing crisis, then, we actually have to build more housing. While doing this, we have to ensure that our transportation and municipal infrastructure does not become overly stressed. This is why I am so focused on things on things like zoning, land use, public transit, and tax reform; I want to create the conditions that will allow us to solve the housing crisis.
We also need to get building, and the research I've done shows that my policies will enable both the private and public sector to build housing at a higher rate while ensuring that investors and corporations aren't able to hoard all this new housing for themselves. I would also like to actively work with our provincial and federal government to build more housing. Specifically, I think that Cooperating with the Federal government's Housing Accelerator Fund and the new Build Canada Homes crown corp will be extremely important for actually building the amount of housing we need.
Answer:
Municipal Taxes
What is your position is on current and future property taxes in Lethbridge?
Question:
I would like to abolish our current system of property taxes and replace them with something called a Land Value Tax (Wikipedia link). I would suggest reading the linked article for a more detailed overview of what exactly I am proposing, but the short summary is that LVTs shift the tax burden to wealthy land hoarders and away from everyone else. They are also heralded by economists as "the perfect tax" due to their economic efficiency, their ability to encourage various types of private sector land improvements, and for reducing economic inequality.
I also want to make middle density, mixed use zoning the default throughout the city while actively working to achieve densification. In addition to making Lethbridge more affordable, more resilient against climate change, more interesting to live in, and strengthening our local communities, this change will also improve the average tax density in the city meaning each individual will need to pay less taxes on average. Low density sprawl is incredibly expensive to build and maintain and is a major contributor to high municipal taxes, so lowering taxes in a structurally sustainable way requires an end to sprawl.
Ultimately, my strategy for lowering taxes involves fixing the major structural problems, such as urban sprawl, which keep taxes high. This will likely require upfront investment in the short term to ultimately achieve sustainable long term tax reduction, but I plan to place that tax burden on the wealthy while giving the rest of us a tax break through smart changes in our tax system. I am firmly against short sighted under-investment and tax-axing as those strategies always lead to structural deficits which cost us more in the long run.
I believe that we are best off when we pay what it takes to make Lethbridge a great place to live.
Answer:
Given that our property taxes are based on property values, how are the rich given a break based on those values? The more your property is worth, the more you pay.
Question:
The way I propose we tax the rich is by replacing our current system of property taxes with a Land Value Tax (LVT). The amount of tax paid under our current property tax system is mostly based on the "improvements" (ie buildings, structures, etc) to the land, only a small portion of tax comes from the value of the land itself. LVTs only tax the value of the land, ignoring any improvements to the land.
The research on LVTs show they will shift the tax burden away from workers / middle income families / small businesses, and onto people who own high value land (the rich). I would suggest reading the Wikipedia article on Land Value Taxes as it can provide more information on how exactly this type of taxation works and why it is progressive (ie, the rich pay more while the rest pay less).
To quote the linked Wikipedia article:
LVT generally is a progressive tax, with those of greater means paying more,[4][45] in that land ownership correlates to income[46] and landlords cannot shift the tax burden onto tenants.[why?][47] LVT generally reduces economic inequality, removes incentives to misuse real estate, and reduces the vulnerability of economies to property booms and crashes.[48]
Answer:
Education
Question:
What level of formal education have you completed?
I have a Bachelor's of Engineering (B. Eng) specialized in Space Systems Design from Carleton University. By education, I am a rocket scientist. My LinkedIn page has more information about my education and professional history.
Answer:
Ethics
I think you've got your heart in the right place and have a good platform but I've seen you proudly boast your job history/LinkedIn so I think its relevant to ask how do you justify being "progressive populist" when the company you worked for materially supports the slaughter of children in Gaza for profit and the CAF ships you worked with help enforce the blockade on Gaza.
Question:
I can't say much about the work I actually did at Lockheed Martin Canada (LMC), but none of it was related to weapon systems. It was mostly related to keeping sailors safe on Canadian ships by doing things like making sure electrical enclosures don't explode and helicopters can land safely.
To more directly answer your question; the manufacturing company (Arnprior Aerospace) I previously worked for laid me off in late 2018 and I needed another job. At the time, I would have said that I was doing what society expected of me, getting a fancy corporate job with more pay and benefits so that I could have a stable life. To my eternal regret, I did not think of the moral implications of working for a a giant evil megacorp. Working at LMC rotted my soul, and by the time I quit in 2023, I was a suicidal shell of a person.
My experience working for LMC is a large part of why I developed my progressive populist politics. I really fucking don't want to live in a world where megacorps dominate our lives, a world where genocides are committed, a world where we are powerless to do anything other than passively accept these evils.
I am not proud of my time working at LMC, but I am not going to lie and try to hide that part of life either.
Answer:
Populism
How do you feel about all the times and places where populist governments become fascist as hell? just a reminder for everyone - Pierre Poilievre is a populist too.
Question:
The traits that lead to fascism, like deference to authority, anti-intellectualism, enforcing conformity, and scapegoating minorities, are features of right-populism, and that's if right-populism can even be meaningfully said to exist. Populism is inherently about taking power back from elites to make life better for the majority, and this is at absolute odds with right wing politics which have always been about empowering elites at the rest of our expense. Right wingers like Poilievre may claim to be populists, but I would call them liars who are trying to harness anti-elite sentiment to gain power for themselves.
My progressive populist politics are fundamentally rooted in a desire to see everyone thrive, and actively working to achieve this. I reject the idea that we have to allow wealthy elites to hoard all the benefits of society for themselves while things get steadily worse for the rest of us. I believe that knowledge, empathy, and community solidarity are the most powerful tools we have at our disposal to fight back against the world sliding into fascism.
I'll also claim that "centrists" like the Carney Liberals are a bigger threat in pushing us towards fascism than left- and progressive-populists like myself who are actively fighting against it. We saw how quick they were to side with elites over workers during the recent Air Canada strike, and it is exactly that kind of elitism which gives fascism fertile soil to take root. It's important to remember that corporations sided with fascists during the 20th century because actively suppressing labour to benefit businesses is a core trait of fascism.
Answer:
Queer & Disability Rights
Question:
What are you doing for the LGBTQIA and disabled communities in Lethbridge?
I am a member of both the queer (trans, agender, pansexual) and disabled (AuDHD) communities so it is extremely important to me that Lethbridge is inclusive and accessible to all. I have been a long time advocate for both queer and disabled rights, I openly and frequently talk about these issues in person and on Reddit [ u/Kaitte ].
My platform is aimed at improving affordability by addressing various system problems in Lethbridge. These problems tend to disproportionately affect queer and disabled people, and so directly addressing these problems should positively impact our communities. For example, our car dependent urban design is a major impediment for disabled people being mobile Lethbridge and I want to drastically improve funding for public transit (including Access-A-Ride) while improving our pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure. This will improve Lethbridge for everyone, but disabled people should experience the biggest improvements to their mobility. The rest of my platform follows a similar pattern to this example, I want to solve the actual problems leading to inequality.
I will also be giving a presentation on trans issues on Sept 18, I'd love to see you there 🙂.
Details here:
https://www.kaitte.ca/events/being-trans-is-amazing-so-why-all-the-hate
Answer:
Building the Third Bridge
Question:
Do you support Lethbridge building a third bridge?
I conditionally support building the third bridge, provided that:
We first implement more impactful and less costly measures to improve traffic and eliminate congestion.
The bridge is a high level bridge with dedicated rights-of-way for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit.
We secure the needed from higher levels of government so that we can build the bridge without blowing a hole in our budget.
I would also like to expand on my stance. I believe that we have a once in a generation opportunity to make a major investment in Lethbridge's future by building this bridge right. I want the third bridge to be a high level bridge with space for pedestrians, bikes, and public transit from the get-go. This would allow us to solve a number of major problems with traffic across the coulee in Lethbridge:
Driving down into the coulee causes people to pick up excessive speed which leads to frequent crashes when fast moving traffic collides with slower traffic coming out of the coulee. A high level bridge wouldn't have this problem, leading to fewer crashes and tonnes of money saved on cleaning up crashes in the future.
The angle driving out of the coulee means people are staring into the sun. This is another factor contributing to frequent crashes, especially when combined with the above point.
Driving across the coulee causes excess wear and tear on people's vehicles which leads to spending more on gas and maintenance. A high level bridge would eliminate this problem and save drivers money over the long run.
Dedicated space for pedestrians and cyclists along a high level bridge would give people a real alternative to driving, reducing traffic congestion and saving us money in the long run. Right now one of the biggest impediments to walking and cycling across the coulee is the danger and difficulty of biking into and out of the coulee. A high level bridge would solve this problem, giving people more freedom in how they get around Lethbridge.
Dedicated space for public transit would give people a true alternative for getting across the bridge if the worst happens and crashes end up closing and congesting traffic across the bridges. A high level bridge would allow us to future-proof the bridge by running a tram across it, which would allow us to move orders of magnitude more people than if we were to devote the same space to car traffic.
A high level bridge would give people an unparalleled view of the coulee. Beyond giving residents of Lethbridge a truly beautiful sight to enjoy, this would also serve as a tourist attraction which would bring more money into Lethbridge.