Editor's note: BarrieToday has been providing our readers with profiles on the federal candidates in the Barrie-Innisfil and the Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte ridings. Today we feature Corrado Brancato, the People's Party of Canada candidate in Barrie-Innisfil. For more coverage of the upcoming federal election, visit our Canada Votes 2021 page.
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Corrado Brancato has decided it’s time to stand up and be counted.
The information technology specialist has joined the cadre of others across the country who are running under the People's Party of Canada (PPC) ticket. And although Brancato has the political will and issues often surface at the family’s dinner table, he has no political background.
The People's Party of Canada was founded by former Conservative leadership contender Maxime Bernier. During the pandemic, Bernier has been outspoken about his objections to many of the restrictions, having held several rallies in Barrie.
During an early campaign stop in Barrie, Bernier said the current election is a referendum on vaccine passports, with which he disagrees.
Brancato, a longtime party follower, says he disagrees with the direction of the Liberal government has taken.
“The timing with the direction of where the country’s going I thought I needed to take a stand and do something about it,” said the 56-year-old Innisfil resident. “To see this country go into debt as far as it has is terrifying. If we’re going to be putting up with this for another five years, Canada will no longer be the Canada that we know.
“That’s why I’m standing up and doing this for my kids, for my country, for the better of all Canadians," Brancato added.
Wearing masks, gathering and other restrictions imposed during the pandemic should not be imposed on individuals, but should instead be a choice individuals make on their own, he said.
And Brancato, who has not received a COVID-19 vaccination and doesn’t plan to get any, said that should also not be imposed upon people.
“There should not be a mandate for an experimental drug that has been produced so rapidly. And we don’t know the outcomes, we don’t know the long-term effects of what this jab will provide,” he said. “We know it’s killed people. We know the media has been silenced on this and quite a lot of things as well. It should be up to the person themselves if they want to take the jab or not.
“It’s not even a vaccine; it’s a lie that our government is telling us. We should be getting this out to the people to let them know so at least they could make a conscious decision with the right data in terms of what they’re taking.”
That controversial view is in contrast to government messaging that the COVID-19 vaccinations are saving lives. During the latest outbreak, health officials have pointed to the large number of people being infected are those who have not been vaccinated.
The Liberal government, Brancato said, is also going in the wrong direction, pointing to the oil and gas industry. Brancato said while there is a need to address climate change, an abrupt withdrawal from oil and gas will have repercussions on the people who work in the industry.
He favours a slower, more thoughtful approach and the implementation of a long-term plan.
Under a PPC government, he says Canada would withdraw from the Paris Agreement, which sets targets to fight climate change.
The party also wants the carbon tax removed, which Brancato calls a useless “money grab." The PPC would get rid of the GST and hand control of health care to the provinces. The capital gains tax would also be scrapped to put more money into the hands of Canadians.
He wants to see the government focus on Canada first. He points to many Indigenous communities where drinking water is still not available.
“It’s shocking that our Indigenous people don’t even have clean drinking water,” he said.
Brancato said the number of refugees allowed into this country should be reduced in favour of attracting more skilled people here.
PPC candidates gathered 1.6 per cent of the national vote during the 2019 federal election.
