Castanet is running a series of candidate profiles in the run-up to the federal election on Monday, April 28. Between now and election day, we will publish Q&As with each of the candidates. Today, Castanet sits down with Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola Conservative Party candidate Frank Caputo to see where he stands on key issues.

Castanet: U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war and annexation threats have dominated a lot of the discussion early in the campaign. What is your take on the situation and what would you do to address it if elected?

Caputo: First of all, I'm a proud Canadian. My parents came to Canada with nothing, and I'm a first generation Canadian, so I owe so much to Canada. My motto, and our motto [as Conservatives], is Canada First. So, what would I do to address this? I think there are a few different things we have to talk about. As conservatives we said we would take a multi-faceted approach, focusing on three aspects when it comes to trade — things we don't need, things we can make ourselves and things we can get elsewhere.

When you think about things we can get elsewhere, we currently import a ton of fruit from the United States. Well, maybe we need to get that fruit from elsewhere, or is that something we we don't need necessarily? Those are ways that we can get Canada first, as in not relying on the United States.

But where we critically rely on the United States is when it comes to our energy, and that's one of my biggest issues. Right now, our energy goes 98 per cent to the U.S. We don't have any east to west conduits or pipelines. What that does is it means Europe and other economies are dependent on Russian oil, Russian natural gas.

Other thing we would do right away — tax cuts. Just recently, my party announced that on automobiles, you'd see no GST on Canadian made autos. Those are the types of common sense approaches I think we need to do to always put Canada first. No doubt in my mind that Donald Trump wants to put us into economic havoc. Under my watch, under watch as Conservatives, we won't go out without a fight. We will fight. We will draw the line, and we'll do it prudently and appropriately.

Castanet: If elected, how would you make life more affordable for people, specifically in Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola?

Caputo: Rather than put a temporary pause on the carbon tax, we will eliminate the carbon tax, and unlike the Liberals who are just going to shift it to the producers — which will ultimately get passed on to the consumers —we will eliminate it completely.

We will incentivize municipalities like Kamloops to build homes. You build homes, you get the money to build homes. You build more homes as a municipality you're going to get more money, and that's going to come with infrastructure. Right now, under the Liberal government, they just give money and there's no accountability. We want to see that money that's given actually go to homes.

We also want to see tax cuts. Right now Canadians are just paying far too much — period. The Canadian economy often depends on resources, in this province, especially. [In] Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola, we are reliant on forestry. Growing up forestry fed my family, and yet we haven't had a softwood lumber deal since the Liberals came in. Under the Liberal government trying to get any sort of mine approved [is difficult] even Highland Valley [mine] they're looking at [staying active until] 2040. I'm going to fight for that to ensure anything I can do to ensure those jobs last well beyond that. So, on a local level, we have issues to address, but on a national level there are also issues to address.

Castanet: What do you think needs to be done to address the housing crisis, and what's your party's take on how to solve it?

Caputo: There are a number of issues that we have to address when it comes to housing. The problem is there's no incentive for a municipality to get things done quickly. As conservatives, we believe when you build, we will give you the money. You want to build like crazy? We will make sure that that infrastructure is there, [and] that we are using Canadian products. A lot of people think it's just a matter of building the houses. It's also a matter of building the appropriate infrastructure, and rather than just throwing money at it, like I've seen the Liberals do, we will actually invest and invest properly, so that the money goes whether it be close to transit, close to transportation corridors. This is what I think we need to do to build the houses and working with municipalities to reduce zoning requirements. [Conservative leader] Pierre [Poilievre] talks about those things, about working with the municipalities to almost get out of the way to say ‘what can we do to reduce the paperwork?’ so somebody's building tomorrow, not next year.

Castanet: How would your party balance economic interests with environmental and First Nations concerns when it comes to potentially fast tracking major projects?

Caputo: You just look in British Columbia and Alberta, about the Indigenous candidates we have. We have former Haisla Chief Ellis Ross, he's running, and then former chief Billy Morin running in Alberta. I think these are people who can give us the economic know-how with a lens that says ‘How do we consult with respect?’ How do we push an agenda that says we want reconciliation, but we want by Indigenous-for-Indigenous. Where there's a will, there's a way. Often you just have to pick up the phone. You have to do it with respect.

I actually think these things can be balanced, and there can be a win-win for everybody, and then ultimately Canadians on the whole, will win with jobs — really good paying jobs — producing Canadian products and driving a Canadian economy.

Castanet: What would you do as MP to make sure small businesses here in Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola are positioned to succeed?

Caputo: First thing I would do is eliminate as much regulation as possible. The Liberals have done so many things when it comes to the Canada Revenue Agency at tax time where people are told ‘fill out this form, no, wait, you don't have to fill out that form’ and they've gone to the accountant and it's cost them $1,200 already. The current state of our tax system is a mess, but it's a mess because of how complicated the Income Tax Act has gotten, but also how the Liberals have administered it.

I believe that we should be doing things to simplify what we're dealing with. The major way we deal with it is through tax breaks. The small business is probably the biggest engine when it comes to the Canadian economy, and, right now when I hear from people and talk to small business, they are dealing with death by 1,000 financial cuts. You've got to pay this, you've got to do this, you've got this form, and then you have to pay this person to do this. We've talked about eliminating that level of bureaucracy. I think that is key to allow businesses to do what they do best, which is business, not answer to government through never-ending forms and taxation.

Learn more before you vote

Get ready to cast your ballot by finding out about all the Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola election candidates here.

Castanet is also partnering with the Kamloops & District Chamber of Commerce and community business improvement associations to host an online election forum on Tuesday, April 22, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Viewers can submit questions for candidates during the event, which will be live streamed on Castanet. Voters will be able to go back and watch after the forum has concluded.

All candidates in the Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola and Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies ridings have been invited to attend.