Guelph MPP candidates: In their own words
Lawn signs are out in full force, election coverage is all over the news, and freshly printed voting ballots are just waiting to be marked by eager voters. It’s election season. As a province, we are currently in the 42nd Ontario general election — and the day to vote is fast approaching. So remember to grab your voter information cards and IDs and get ready to head to the polls on Thursday, June 7.
For those who will be voting in electoral district 033, otherwise known as the City of Guelph, The Ontarion is providing you with an overview of the four most popular candidates to help you become an informed voter. There are eight official parties and candidates who will be represented on the ballot, including the Ontario Party, Communist Party Ontario, Ontario Libertarian Party, and None of the Above Direct Democracy Party. The Ontarion spoke with representatives from the Ontario Liberal Party, Ontario PC Party, Green Party of Ontario, and the Ontario NDP to create a brief profile of each candidate and a summary of their party’s campaign.
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Leader of the party: Kathleen Wynne
Slogan: Care over Cuts
Core values: Equality, democracy, publicly funded health care
Plans and commitments (according to the Ontario Liberal Party website):
- Care: Better access to child care, health and dental care, mental health care, seniors’ care and women’s health care, support for those with disabilities and income security reforms
- Opportunity: Helping students achieve their full potential, boosting apprenticeship and training, free college and university tuition for more students, a $15 minimum wage, record infrastructure investments, better retirement security and more jobs and opportunities to get ahead
- Making life more affordable: Help with the costs of caring for children and seniors and with household costs
- A green Ontario: Continuing to be a leader in the fight against climate change and protecting our water and natural spaces
- Vibrant and safe communities: Investments in arts and culture, justice reforms and promoting equity
- Northern Ontario: Investments in regional economic development, infrastructure and improved services
- Rural Ontario: Supporting farmers, investments to create jobs and opportunity and better services for rural communities
- Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples: Continuing our journey of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and working to remove the barriers they face
- Francophone communities: Investments in French-language education and strong francophone communities
- Better government: Easy-to-use online services and better customer service
In Sly Castaldi’s own words:
On being nominated as the Ontario Liberal candidate for Guelph: “It was a pretty big honour. I was overwhelmed with the support that I received.”
On the Liberal Party: “The really important piece that I’d like to share [with the U of G community] is the free tuition for people who would otherwise not be able to attend university. That’s a pretty big platform piece that I’m incredibly proud of.”
On the U of G community: “I’ve been in this community for a really, really long time. I was raised and educated and worked here most of my life — I am a Gryphon. I think that we have a pretty incredible community and I’d like to be able to continue the great work that [former Guelph MPP] Liz Sandals has done.”
On being co-chair of the premier’s Roundtable on Violence Against Women: “Part of that work that I was extremely proud of was the sexual harassment action plan; now Canadian colleges and universities all have to have sexual violence policies and harassment policies and training and know how to deal with disclosures, and that was a direct result of that work.”
“I think the impact of the work that I have been doing at a provincial level has far-reaching, positive outcomes for young women across this province. That’s a really big deal for me. Without that sexual harassment action plan, people in universities and colleges would continue to struggle. I’m not wanting to say that things are perfect, but it is a really good start to shifting culture on campuses.”
On Kathleen Wynne: “I think that there is no other premier in the history of the province of Ontario that has done more for women. And I can say that with certainty.”
On voting: “We’re super engaged as a [Guelph] community, but people need to get out and vote. So vote on June 7.”
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Leader of the party: Doug Ford
Slogan: For the People
Core values: Freedom of speech, economic freedom, entrepreneurial spirit, right to private property
Plans and commitments (according to the Ontario PC Party website):
- Put more money in your pocket: Scrap the carbon tax, reduce gas prices by 10 cents per litre, and give real tax relief to lower and middle class families
- Clean up the hydro mess: Fire the $6 million man running Hydro One and lower your hydro bills by 12 per cent
- Create good jobs: Send the message that Ontario is ‘Open for Business’ and bring quality jobs back to Ontario by lowering taxes, stabilizing hydro bills, and cutting job-killing red tape
- Restore accountability and trust: Order a line-by-line audit of government spending to bring an end to the culture of waste and mismanagement in government
- Cut hospital wait times: End hallway health care by creating 15,000 new long-term care beds over the next 5 years and adding $3.8 billion in new support for mental health, addictions, and housing
Bob Coole, campaign manager, on behalf of Ray Ferraro:
On the U of G community: “We are connected to the university through the PC campus board. We believe in helping students and are supportive of education for all.”
On the PC Party: “No provincial tax for anyone making minimum wage.”
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Leader of the party: Mike Schreiner
Slogan: People Powered Change
Core values: Efficiency, sustainability, respect for diversity, nonviolence
Plans and commitments (according to the Green Party of Ontario website):
- Leap into the clean economy: Create jobs in the clean innovation economy
- Make our homes and businesses more energy efficient: Save money by saving energy
- Support jobs in your community: Lower payroll taxes on small, local businesses and nonprofits
- Unlock housing so everyone has a place they can afford to call home: Require new developments to have a minimum of 20 per cent affordable homes
- Provide everyone access to mental health services: Make mental health services part of OHIP+
- Make sure no one falls through the cracks: Implement a Basic Income Guarantee for all Ontarians
- Getting the basics right for our province: Protect air, water, and farmland
- Develop a Long-term Energy Plan: Set Ontario on a pathway to 100 per cent renewable energy
- Getting you home faster: Paying for the public transit infrastructure and services we need
In Mike Schreiner’s own words:
On being nominated as the Ontario Green candidate for Guelph: “I was very excited. I love Guelph, and it would be a real honour to serve Guelph as our community’s MPP. So many of the things that I believe in and so many of my values align with the issues that Guelph is really led on.”
On the Green Party: “I think the Green Party is the one party that’s really fighting for a liveable future for ourselves and our children and future generations. I want Ontario to embrace the clean economy — that’s where the 21st century job growth is, and I want all students to be able to graduate from university and be able to have well paying, meaningful work that contributes to a liveable future.”
“I want to then invest that prosperity into more funding for education — secondary and postsecondary — and better health care services for people, better transit for people, and making sure that we have affordable housing for people, especially young people accessing the housing market.”
“And then making sure our laws are in place, that we have a climate change plan that meets our climate obligations, and also that we protect our water and our farmland so we can continue to grow food and have clean drinking water.”
On the U of G community: “[The Green Party] wants to make sure postsecondary education, in particular, is accessible, affordable, and high quality. That’s why we want to freeze tuition rates, increase per student funding for universities and colleges, and make sure that we have interest-free loans so students aren’t graduating with huge debt loads.”
“Another thing that we’re really pushing hard on is more co-op programs, apprenticeship programs, and paid internship programs that help young people gain valuable work experience and transition into careers that are meaningful and well paying.”
On the Infiltrate the Debate event in Guelph on May 27: “I just wanted to be pushing positive solutions and be honest about the challenges that we face, and not spend my time tearing down the other leaders and the other parties.”
“I think we desperately need to change the political culture in Ontario — it’s so adversary. I mean you’ve seen that with the leaders’ debates. They spend more time tearing each other down than talking about how to build Ontario up.”
On voting: “My hope is that I can inspire young people to vote for the future they want and for a party that they really believe in.”
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Leader of the party: Andrea Horwath
Slogan: Change for the Better
Core values: Extension of freedom, abolition of poverty, elimination of exploitation
Plans and commitments (according to the Ontario NDP website):
- New services that make life better for everyone: Provide drug and dental coverage for all Ontarians
- Better health care: End hallway medicine and fix seniors’ care
- More affordability so everyone can build their best life here in Ontario: Cut hydro bills 30 per cent by bringing Hydro One back into public hands
- Better schools, better education: Take on student debt by converting loans to grants and creating thousands of student jobs
- Fiscal plan: End the squeeze on families, get our finances on track: Protect middle class families by having the wealthiest people and most profitable corporations pay their fair share
In Aggie Mlynarz’s own words:
On being nominated as the Ontario NDP candidate for Guelph: “I felt honoured about it. I feel that the members of the riding association wanted a change as well. They believed that this would be the best thing for the Guelph NDP — to put forward a younger, more ambitious candidate. I was glad that they supported that.”
On the New Democratic Party: “The NDP has a great platform for [students]. For those who qualify for OSAP, turning loans into grants will be hugely helpful. It’s really difficult when you leave university and you have that debt — it almost feels like you’re always paying a second rent on it.”
“As well, partnering with universities to open up those 27,000 new jobs and co-ops — that includes the arts as well, if they want to do so. I think that would be such a great opportunity for the University of Guelph in particular.”
On the U of G community: “I know that the university has been making big strides on environmental policy in banning single use straws and other plastics, which I was really excited to hear about. I’m sure the University of Guelph is also passionate about water, and I want students to know that we have a very comprehensive water strategy that puts water first, water as a public trust — that we don’t support putting private interest first. It’s something that we’ll be looking forward to taking advances on when we’re elected on June 7.”
“A shout-out to the aggies too and the agricultural sector because our agricultural program moving forward is also quite exciting. We want to see that funding get increased again by 75 per cent, we want to ensure that we’re putting forward safe food strategies that work for the City of Guelph, and for the agribusiness as well. So there are quite a few initiatives that we’re doing there from an environmental and business standpoint.”
On Guelph: “I’m proud to be a Gryphon!”