Four voices and varying views on a myriad of issues.
That’s what awaited visitors to Southside Community Church Thursday night, as the Downtown Milton BIA hosted the community’s only candidates meeting for the upcoming provincial election.
Liberal Kristina Tesser Derksen, NDP Katherine Cirlincione, John Spina with the New Blue Party and Centrist Party of Ontario’s Mohsin Rizvi shared their individual and party stances on both local and province-wide concerns.
Absent were Green candidate Susan Doyle and PC incumbent Zee Hamid, whose fellow Conservative candidates have been largely missing from public election debates across the province this month – opting instead for a door-knocking approach to constituent engagement.
“He (Hamid) owes it to us to be here,” said one upset meeting goer Thursday.
Roughly 40 residents heard responses to a wide variety of pre-arranged questions put forth by moderator/co-host Pastor Andrew Wood.
Addressing housing and development, both Cirlincione and Tesser Derksen stressed that sprawl is not the answer.
“Bonnie Crombie has committed to not develop the Greenbelt. In fact, she’s committed that if elected, she will be triggering an investigation into the current issues that Doug Ford has with the Greenbelt,” said Tesser Derksen, adding that the Liberals’ Affordable Homes For You plan would reduce taxes – including land transfer taxes – and provide higher density and connected neighbourhoods.
Noting that the RCMP investigation into the Ford government’s Greenbelt development was prompted by a complaint from NDP Leader Marit Stiles, Cirlincione said more focus on density is needed.
That, she said, requires different types of housing such as fourplexes and mid-rises near our transit “so that people stay connected and our communities are stronger because of it.”
Rizvi said because the Centrist is a new party, “we would try to produce solutions,” while Spina sees the housing crisis through a different lens.
“We believe the housing and development issues are really at the federal level here. Let’s face it, increased immigration has put a large amount of pressure on the supply that was in existence.
“We don’t believe that population intensification is a solution. It causes other problems; there’s other costs that come along with that. The thing that we would look at doing, as a province, is push back on the federal government and their immigration policies.”
On the local scene, opposition to the CN intermodal hub was a prevailing sentiment among all candidates.
In addressing his frustrations, Spina pointed to the distribution centres in the James Snow Parkway and Derry Road area that are already creating “ridiculous” traffic.
He said a more forceful stand against CN rail is needed by the provincial government, and that if the hub is moving towards a certainty, clearly defined and enforced trucking routes must be established to “keep some of our roadways safe.”
Cirlincione said that the fight against the terminal must continue, and nearby residents must be protected from noise pollution and the environmental impact.
Along with sharing her long-held stand against the project, Tesser Derksen said, “When you’ve got someone like CN coming in and saying that none of those local bylaws apply to them, not only are they violating our local bylaws, they’re essentially violating the provincial bylaws as well, the provincial-delegated authority we have to make those laws.”
Healthcare and education were areas that faced plenty of criticism by all Milton MPP hopefuls.
Cirlincione said her party would commit $830 million to the budget to repair Ontario’s schools, and questioned how projects like the proposed $100 billion 401 tunnel can be considered when student support is lacking.
“We cannot do anything if we’re not supporting our education,” she said.
Echoed Rizvi, “Our party believes in higher education and our children should be treated better.”
Ontario students, voiced Tesser Derksen, should be getting a “world-class education every single day," while Spina said his party is committed to reforming the school system.
That was revisited during his response to healthcare, where he said more money needs to find its way to the front lines to hire back nurses and doctors.
The “fracture of hallway medicine," said Cirlincione, began with the Liberals and has been worsened by the Conservatives. She said her party wants to hire at least 3,800 doctors and nurses to get the province up to a baseline.
Cirlincione also questioned why surgical rooms sit unused on evenings and weekends when there’s a backlog for many procedures.
“Under Doug Ford we have emergency rooms closing, we have hospitals closing, we have doctors and nurses leaving the province,” said Tesser Derksen, adding the Liberals would open two new medical schools and focus on team-based approaches to fixing the system.
On the ever-growing concern over the U.S. tariff threats, Rizvi said “We don’t have a strong enough leadership to face Trump. Somebody should come forward.”
Spina said the New Blue Party favours working with Ontario’s U.S. counterparts, but that a push towards greater self-sufficiency is vital.
“We have the resources. All we need to do is develop our final products. We tend to operate as a supplier to the rest of the world. What we need to do is manufacture those products and have more trade between the provinces.”
Cirlincione said a more diversified supply chain and a collective support structure for local businesses – an ‘Ontario is First’ mindset – is needed.
Noting her Liberals’ Fight Tariffs Fund proposal, Tesser Derksen said the issue is essentially a federal matter.
“The American president is not sitting down and negotiating directly with the premier. We saw last week the premier going down to Washington and was met with some junior level staff. They didn’t really get to talk to anyone all that senior,” said the Liberal candidate, adding that the focus should be kept on what we can do in Ontario – pointing to her party’s plan to incentivize doctors, nurses and small businesses to return or remain in the province.
“We need to rely more on ourselves,” she said.
Other questions raised centred on local business support, transportation, education curriculum and – closing out the evening – why each party is a more viable option to the existing government.
To that, Cirlincione said she and the NDP are “poised and ready to make Ontario and Milton better” and invited voters to “fight alongside us.”
“We need a change, and return to traditional values,” said Spina.
Said Rizvi, “The economy is in tethers. We need good steps to be taken. Please vote for us.”
Feeling the Liberals’ values were aligned well with her own, Tesser Derksen said “Bonnie Crombie listens, she knows what people need. She’s someone I can work with.”
Two previously-scheduled candidates meetings were cancelled due to lack of participation.
Election day is Feb. 27 and advanced polls are open today and tomorrow.