Over the next two weeks, CambridgeToday will be running a series of articles in which candidates in the Kitchener South-Hespeler and Cambridge ridings will address some of the 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.
After the May 13 cutoff for registered candidates, Elections Ontario had a list of 900 candidates and 25 parties running in the election.
In the last provincial election in 2018, there were 825 candidates and 28 parties on the ballot. It represents a 9 per cent increase in the number of candidates in the running and a 10.7 per cent decrease in the number of parties participating.
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 first question of candidates:
1. What do you see as the single biggest issue in this election for voters?
Surekha Shenoy - Liberal - Cambridge
Affordability for Ontario citizens is the single biggest issue for voters in this election. Everyday life has gotten more expensive for Ontario families. The Ontario Liberals have a balanced, progressive, and fully costed plan to help families with rising costs.
As a cornerstone of this plan, we’re slashing all public transit fares across the province to $1, saving many commuters hundreds every month. We will remove the provincial harmonized sales tax (HST) off of prepared food under $20, allowing you to save every time you pick up a soup and salad, grab a breakfast sandwich or rotisserie chicken for dinner.
We will pay for this initiative with fairer taxes for corporations with over $1 billion in profits and individuals with taxable income over $500,000.
We’re bringing forward an ambitious plan to tackle the housing affordability crisis by prioritizing people living in those homes – not speculators.
Ontario Liberals will also help those who need it most, with a 20 per cent increase (over two years) to those on Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), $1,000 pension top-up for seniors who need it most, and increased minimum wages that transitions into a real livable wage.
In every part of our plan – housing, economic growth, health care, education and climate action – we’ve thought about how to drive down costs and create an Ontario that people can afford to live in.
Brian Riddell - PC - Cambridge
Affordability. Our plan will keep costs down for families and rebuild Cambridge's economy, creating good paying jobs.
Carla Johnson - Green - Cambridge
Voters are looking primarily at the impacts of Covid. The impact on both our physical and our mental health. Plus the set-backs to our economy. Small businesses had to unfairly carry the bulk of the cost. And even though things are now open, we have long term supply and demand challenges ahead.
Sadly, the needs of our environment seem to have have taken a back seat.
Belinda Karahalios - New Blue Ontario - Cambridge
Regardless of your political position, Ontario voters can no longer rely on their member of provincial parliament representing them and being their voice at Queen’s Park and voting with their conscience. The establishment political parties have hijacked the democratic process and expect their MPPs to toe the party line. Working from inside has resulted in my family being on the receiving end of repeat retribution.
Because of my vote against Doug Ford’s lockdown bill (Bill 195), I was removed from the PC caucus and then, along with 18 others on the Cambridge PC riding association board, I was removed from the PC Party. Prior to that, we had successfully defended and won a lawsuit levelled against my husband by the PC Party that was designed to inflict financial harm on us for speaking out against voter fraud that decided internal PC Party nominations and for leading the Axe the Carbon Tax campaign. My husband ended up being a victim of voter fraud himself at the 2018 PC convention.
And the PC Party was not happy with my advocacy against a drug injection site in Cambridge. Ontarians who want to participate and influence the political process at a grassroots level are no longer permitted to do so by the establishment political parties at Queen’s Park, whether that is the PCs, Liberals, or the NDP. That’s why my husband and I co-founded the New Blue Party of Ontario, to stand on principle, and to stand up for you.
Marjorie Knight - NDP - Cambridge
Affordability is a key issue for people in our community. For many families in Cambridge it is getting harder to pay the bills and make ends meet. Over the last four years, the cost of buying a home in Ontario has doubled, rent has gone up by $200 a month, and prices keep climbing at the grocery store. Under previous governments we’ve seen the cost of living go way up, but our wages stagnate. People in our community can’t save for a rainy day, let alone their future.
We urgently need a plan to make life more affordable. As part of an Ontario NDP government I will work to help people in our community get ahead. We will work to fix the housing crisis and ensure every Ontarian has a decent, affordable place to live. The Ontario NDP will build 100,000 affordable homes and help you buy a home by giving you 10 percent of the purchase price for your down payment. We will expand public health coverage so that every Ontarian mental health care, drug and dental care, paid for with your OHIP card, not your credit card. The Ontario NDP will raise the minimum wage to $20 in 2026, with stable, predictable $1-an-hour increases annually, and fix how workers are treated and compensated to guarantee jobs with better pay, benefits and security.
Joanne Weston - NDP - Kitchener South-Hespeler
The cost of living and housing is the biggest concern I’m hearing from people across Kitchener South-Hespeler. People are worried that they won't be able to pay their bills or find a home they can afford. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Annual report on the rental market found that in Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo, the average rent for a two-bedroom unit in a purpose-built rental apartment increased 3.2 per cent in 2021 to $1,356 per month. With a minimum wage set at just $15/hr it is nearly impossible to work a minimum wage job and live within the Region without the help of roommates or a second or third job.
As the cost of housing, living, and basic essentials rise, families living in the Region need a government that will put their needs first. The NDP housing plan includes policies to rein in speculation and accelerate the construction of new homes that are affordable.
We will reinstate rent control and increase the minimum wage. We will make life more affordable by reducing auto insurance by 40 per cent, push to regulate the price of gas to stop goughing at the pumps and reduce costs by expanding OHIP to include mental health care, pharmacare and dental care.
David Weber - Green - Kitchener South-Hespeler
Affordable housing is a pressing issue on everyone, whether they wish to buy a family home or live in an apartment.
Jess Dixon - PC - Kitchener South-Hespeler
In this election, the single biggest issue for voters will be rebuilding Ontario’s economy and investing in key infrastructure.
I am incredibly proud to be running as part of Doug Ford’s team, a team with a demonstrated track record for taking action and delivering results.
This includes key investments in critical infrastructure that delivers for our community, including building Highway 7 and delivering two-way all day GO service. We’re also making major investments in hospitals and health care right here in our community, with expansions to Grand River Hospital and Saint Mary’s Hospital.
I’m asking for your support and your vote in this upcoming provincial election. As your representative, I’m committed to using my voice and my history of service to build on the strong work of the last four years. I’ve served the community for eight years. Now, I’m asking you for the honour to serve you on a larger scale.
Ismail Mohamed - Liberal - Kitchener South-Hespeler
No response
David Gillies - Ontario Party - Kitchener South-Hespeler
No response
John Teat - New Blue - Kitchener South-Hespeler
No response
