Candidate Spotlight: Jonas Lanz

The NDP candidate for Sussex-Fundy-St. Martins says he wants to bring a fresh set of eyes to politics.

Jonas Lanz, 38, is a red seal carpenter by trade who has worked at the Irving Oil Refinery in Saint John since 2014.

The Rothesay resident says he has always had an interest in politics and decided to put his name forward.

“I’m called a bleeding heart socialist so I think I need to, at some point, get involved,” said Lanz. “The NDP has always had a platform that I can associate with. This year, I was asked if I wanted to be a candidate, and Sussex seemed like a good spot and needed a candidate for the NDP.”

Lanz said he thinks the NDP platform sets itself apart from other parties in the province.

He said some of the key issues he is running on are workers’ rights and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

“One-third of New Brunswickers make less than $15 an hour. A lot of those people are essential workers,” said Lanz.

“I believe that it’s quite hard to make ends meet under those conditions. I don’t think that’s particularly just in Sussex, I think that’s everywhere.”

Another priority for Lanz is health care and ensuring essential services are kept for rural New Brunswickers.

After a failed bid by the Progressive Conservatives to reduce ER service at the Sussex Health Centre, Lanz said he has no plans to do that.

“My view is always that the essential services need to be kept, even for rural New Brunswickers,” he said. “It’s good to be on the forefront of some of the cutting-edge medicine but I think most people are more concerned with more basic things. Not just ER access but simply having a family doctor.”

Lanz said he thinks New Brunswick also needs to look at taxes and how government revenue is distributed in the province.

“I think we will be able to pay for things like doctor access and hospitals and everything like that,” he said.

Voters will head to the polls on Sept. 14.