Heaith top issue for ND

Katharine Hamer

News Reporter
khamer@nsnews.com

THE NDP might not
‘have a shot at leading
the next federal govern-
‘ment, but according to
its West Vancouver-
Sunshine Coast candi-
‘date, it’s the only party
» prepared to address the
country’s key issue:
‘health care,

; “We're not going out to
“win as a party,” said Telis
{Sawaidis. “We're going out
there to make sure that we take
‘care of Canadians, that we're

‘ TELIS Savvaidis: health
- care Is key for NDP.

cstill a voice in Ottawa. Last

“time we were a strong enough
voice, we brought in a nation-
al Medicare system.”

Like’ his NDP counterpart
in North Vancouver, 19-year-
old Sam Schechter, Sawvaidis is
young and fiercely idealistic.

Born in Athens, Greece,
but a Powell River resident
since the age of three, the 29-
year-old sees it as his responsi-

‘bility to give back to the com-
~ munity.

Sawvaidis -has operated
Snickers restaurant in Powell
“River since 1995. In 1994, he
‘produced an award-winning
sports show for a local cable

*channel. He’s‘an:active mem-

:ber of a number of community

‘organizations in Powell River |

and he likes. to play around
with’ words (pen he arrived
"for this interview, he declared

himself “a little kefuftled” by

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the whir of cainpaign activity, )

“He said the NDP is the
Party most concerned with the
social programs Canada needs.
“Weare a social-issue party; we
always have been,” said
Savvaidis. “It’s time that peo-
ple thar have took a better con-
cern with people that don't
have, especially with such a
surplus in government: right
now,

“We have a Liberal govern-
ment that's given back a bone
to society of 13 per cent at tax
time; It doesn’t make sense.
Let’s give people jobs first and
foremost. Let's take care of
their. health. Let's make sure
their children have food on the
table.and clothing.

“We need to start taking
care”-of health care. Alexa
(McDonough, federal NDP
leader) said health care should
be’ our. main issue. And now
these other nvo leaders say,
‘that’s right, health care does
have ‘to be our main issue,”
when they said all along that
taxes were their main issue.”

Sawaidis (campaign slogan:
“Time to Drean: Again”)
doesn’t. believe the hype of
leaders who say they can cut
taxes and still improve
Canada’s health care system.

“If you cut taxes, you're
going to cut Medicare. It’s
economic fact. If you privatize
Medicare, all these companies
that are paying out right now
for’ Medicare, large corpora-
ons, what can they do, what's
their option? Part-time work,
that way they don't have to pay
benefits. We don’t have as
many people working; our tax
base goes down, so our social
service program goes down
even more,”

Sawvaidis is pro-choice and
anti death penalty. His key
issues, besides health care, are
child poverty, education, and
the environment.

He doesn’t think we should

allow the dumping of cruise
ship waste in ovr harbours, or
sell our water to the US.:
“There will come a day per-
haps where Canadians don’t
have cnough water, but we will
still have to meet those quotas
first.”

He sees an immediate need
for government to provide
affordable — prescriptions, a
home care program, and more
hospital beds. “Many times
elderly people and working
families have to decide, “Do we
end up getting this prescrip-
tion, or am T going to put food

on the table??

“We have enough hospital
beds right now, but we don't
have the money to fund these
beds, and that's the ridiculous
thing. People need to realize
that they need to have their
voice heard, and once a gov-
emment comes in again and
says ‘We're going to. slash
Medicare, we're going to slash
EID." no, sorry, this cannot
happen. We're Canadians. We
put you where you are. Listen
to us for once, not to your-
selves of your corporate lead-
ers.”

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