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CANDIDATES Q and A: Is public transit important to you?

Local candidates tell us if they think public transit is important in Cambridge and how they think it should be improved
ION 8
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Over the next week, CambridgeToday will continue its series of articles in which candidates in the Kitchener South-Hespeler and Cambridge ridings will address key issues in the upcoming election.

We have asked each candidate to provide answers to 10 questions which will then be shared with our readers, one at a time, in the days leading up to the election.

In Cambridge there are five candidates, including incumbent Belinda Karahalios. 

In Kitchener South-Hespeler, which does not have an incumbent in the running, there are six candidates. 

Candidates whose answers do not appear below did not respond to our request.

Here is our seventh question of candidates:

What are your thoughts on the province supporting improved public transit? If you think more provincial funding for public transit is a good thing, how will projects like the ION LRT expansion in Cambridge and an inter-regional transit network benefit the region?

Carla Johnson - Green - Cambridge

The memories of people in Cambridge are long. We know there was an electric train system through many parts of our city years ago. There was a train between Preston and Hespeler years ago that created connections and good will between those two communities that lives on today.

When Greyhound bus ceased operations, it was a very sad loss to our city. People in the Cambridge riding can not get to outlying communities without a car. The ION LRT is a very important for travel within the Waterloo Region.

The Green Party of Ontario sees the need for even more. The GPO has a plan to build a regional transit system that will connect the Grand River watershed area. We need an affordable and accessible way to get to outlying communities like Ayr, Brantford and Guelph.

Brian Riddell - PC - Cambridge

I support public transit and LRT expansion to Cambridge. This will allow us to revitalize our downtown cores and concentrate housing development where services exist.  

Surekha Shenoy - Liberal - Cambridge

I support improved public transit. A strengthened transit network benefits drivers and commuters alike, by getting more cars off the road and getting more people moving around the province.

We want to save people money and move more people on transit – especially right now, as ridership is still a fraction of pre-pandemic levels.

That’s why we will slash all public transit fares across the province to $1 until January 2024, taking 400,000 car trips off the road, reducing pollution and congestion.

Projects like the ION LRT expansion in Cambridge and an inter-regional transit network benefit the region by providing safe, reliable transportation for our community and reducing pollution into the environment.

For too long, changing governments in Ontario have ripped up or ignored existing transit plans, delaying progress and contributing to more gridlock and pollution. We’ll put an end to political games by maintaining all existing funded transit plans – getting shovels in the ground quickly.

We’re reversing Doug Ford’s cuts to electric vehicle rebates by providing up to $9,500 in support so that we can meet a target of only selling zero-emission vehicles by 2025.

For families who want to get where they’re going safely, affordably and efficiently, the choice is clear.

Marjorie Knight - NDP - Cambridge

The province has an important role to play in providing funding for public transit. Everyone in Ontario deserves access to affordable, reliable transit that gets you where you need to go. Transit should be convenient, accessible, and affordable. Investing in our transit is an investment in the people in our community and our environment. 

Years of cuts to public transit and service has led to fare hikes, long construction delays, and privatization which means transit isn’t there when Ontarians need it. 

We need to fix transit so that it works for people. Our goal should be to create a system that gets people out of their cars and onto public transit. The Ontario NDP is calling for the government to improve two-way all-day GO service between Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto. We will restore provincial funding for municipal public transit and paratransit systems to 50 per cent of their net operating costs – a funding boost that will immediately improve service in our community.

As MPP for Cambridge, I will advocate for improvements to inter-regional travel across South-Western Ontario to improve our connections with neighbouring municipalities.

Belinda Karahalios - New Blue - Cambridge

Government spending of taxpayer money on public transit projects must ensure it is based on the public using such transit options and not based on ideology or political parties looking to buy votes just prior to an election while respecting that many Ontarians prefer to drive their own cars as their mode of transit.

We also have to grow the Cambridge economy and promote job growth in Cambridge so that fewer Cambridge residents will have the option to live and work in Cambridge rather than being forced to travel to the Greater Toronto Area for employment.

Joanne Weston - NDP - Kitchener South-Hespeler

As a growing urban center, we need to invest now in the development of sustainable and affordable transit within our community. Transit should be convenient, accessible, and affordable for everyone. Ontario used to fund 50 per cent of municipal transit operational net costs – a successful funding formula that helped make the TTC and other municipal transit agencies the envy of the world. 

The NDP will restore the funding to public transit cut by successive governments by providing 50 per cent of transit operating costs for municipalities. We will also expand and electrify the GO bus and rail network so more Ontarians can get around conveniently, comfortably and affordably and we will bring two-way, all-day GO service to Kitchener-Waterloo. This will allow people to remain in the community they grew up in and love while also being able to get to work on time and in a convenient way. 

Investing in transit is an investment in our future. As Cambridge continues to grow we will need a reliable transit system to get people where they need to go. We need to get to work building the infrastructure for these today and not 5 to10 years down the road when we need them. Investing in transit is also an investment in the environment, LRT is a green solution that will reduce our environmental footprint and reduce carbon emissions.

David Weber - Green - Kitchener South-Hespeler

I support the federal and provincial formula of funding all major mass transit operations, and that they should be a network that ridership can use one pass to travel inner-city and with inter-city connections. It must be efficient and reliable in order to have optimum acceptance and ridership. Calgary is a great example of a community that proceeding with an efficient rail system, despite public opinion resistance, and it has since been accepted as the jewel that allowed their economy and quality of life to be vastly improved. LRT should be balanced with BRT, when electrified bus options, perhaps of various carrying capacities, are used with more flexible route and passenger capacities to accomodate special events and respond to construction or emergency situations.