Mark Fournier: ‘time for a change’

Introducing the candidates for Kingston and the Islands

Fournier calls provincial income taxes “self-defeating.”
Image by: Harrison Smith
Fournier calls provincial income taxes “self-defeating.”

Freedom Party candidate Mark Fournier wasn’t originally going to run in Kingston and the Islands this provincial election.

“I’m a very serious voter,” Fournier said. “[But] I found that there was nobody on the ballot I could vote for.”

Fournier received a call from Freedom Party leader Paul McKeever that convinced him to run.

The main issue he’s concerned with is abolishing the provincial income tax.

“Productivity taxes are the most self-defeating taxes ever created,” he said.

Fournier would advocate for consumption taxes to be increased to replace the income tax.

“It would bring investments here, it would bring work here,” he said.

His party supports a smaller role for government, opting instead to operate on a free-market basis.

This ideology extends to their stance on health care, Fournier said.

“A legislated government monopoly is guaranteed only to produce shortages and that’s exactly the problem we have with our health care system in Ontario.”

He said the government should assist the neediest people in society but offer options for others.

“What I would like to see is no-tier [health care]. … Citizens shouldn’t be ordered by the government.”

Fournier said the biggest problems Ontario is facing are increasing governmental roles, over-taxation and over-regulation.

“You can’t make a move as a small businessman in this province without going through layers of bureaucracy.”

Fournier cited Alberta as an example for Ontario.

“Alberta’s out-competing us in every area because they aren’t like the Ontario-style regulations,” he said. “Alberta has smarter politicians than we have.”

“I want to be one of those politicians that is up to the Alberta level and beyond the Ontario level.”

Fournier said he’s new to Kingston, having lived here for only four years.

“I must admit the local issues are new to me. … My main mission would be to initiate broader-based changes that would affect the entire province,” he said. “Kingston [would be] one of the beneficiaries of changes in Ontario.”

Fournier said it’s time for a change in Ontario politics.

“The two main parties vying for election in Toronto are so similar they can’t even find an issue to argue about,” he said.

“The people of Kingston could make history with this election,” if they choose to vote for Fournier, he said.

“They could send the first Freedom Party member to Queen’s Park, which would be the first step in a very dynamic change in the way business is done there.”

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to content