King-Vaughan candidates address riding's biggest issues

Yorkregion.com
May 24, 2018
Laura Finney

We asked the candidates in the provincial election what is the biggest issue facing the King-Vaughan riding and how they would address it.

NDP - Andrea Beal

The biggest issue facing King--Vaughan is the overcrowding of our local hospitals.

The waits in health care have become painfully long. Our hospitals are overcrowded, leading to a hallway medicine crisis. For years, Conservative and Liberal governments have been chipping away at our public health care. It’s just getting harder and harder to get access to the good, high-quality healthcare that everyday families deserve. Hospital budgets were frozen by the Liberals for four straight years since Kathleen Wynne became Premier, and funding keeps falling short of what hospitals need just to stop the crisis from getting any worse.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Andrea Horwath and the NDP have a plan to end hallway medicine. We will invest in Ontario’s hospitals, lower wait times, and protect the health care the all of us are counting on.

We will take immediate steps to expand hospital capacity, starting with funding for 2,000 new beds. We will increase hospital funding right away by 5.3% with a new $916 million investment to make sure every hospital’s annual funding will be at or above inflation and population growth - also taking into account the unique needs of each community, like aging populations.

And we want to get it right for the long term, as well. We will bring together health sector partners to help us craft a comprehensive capacity plan so we can build the capacity that hospital need for our growing province. We will invest at least $19 billion in capital funding over the next 10 years to expand hospitals to meet growing capacity needs.

We can change health care for the better.

Trillium Party - Roman Evtukh

As a proud resident of our King-Vaughan riding I feel the same dissatisfaction and frustration with many aspects of our day to day life. I have chosen to pursue a political career in order to have a positive change, and transition our riding to a better place; an affordable place for young families with kids, a safe place for our retiring community, and a commercial sector development in order to attract high paying jobs, and private sector employment opportunities.
As our Province is suffering from many issues that have been caused by the current Liberal Government, and as a whole it affects all ridings and communities: such as: hydro rates, health care cuts and mismanagement, good paying manufacturing jobs are being lost, and housing affordability decreases. I want to mention a great concern specific to our riding; the gridlock. Many residents spend hours on commuting, instead spending this quality time with their families, and communities. I believe we must and can do better! Development of the arteries that will facilitate the flow through our riding connecting to highways. Limiting heavy trucks movement through certain roads to allow safe and fast commute. Winter time maintenance (especially of the rural roads of King Township) can be way better. Make the enforcement of the speed limit on the residential roads, to keep our community safe at all times. Making sure that all contractors are compliant with the timelines and the budget.

I have undertaken a commitment to be a voice of my constituents at Queen's Park, and an active listener in King-Vaughan. If you agree with my vision, please support me by electing me on your ballot.

Liberal Party - Marilyn Iafrate

Having spent the last seven years advocating for residents in King and Vaughan, I believe the most critical issue facing our residents is congestion and gridlock. I’ve advocated for road widening across the city, the Kirby GO station, and the much-needed centre-turn lane in the Maple core.  With the anticipated arrival of the new Vaughan hospital, westbound access to that facility for emergency services is critical. Although these achievements have and will continue to ease congestion on roads, I know that there is still much to be done. If elected as MPP for King-Vaughan, I will continue to advocate for continued strategic investments in transit infrastructure designed to ease congestion and remove gridlock in an environmentally sustainable and community-friendly manner. I know how important measured and sustainable development is for our community. As a results-oriented individual, I look forward to the privilege of serving as your MPP, and continuing to deliver results for the people of King-Vaughan. I have always fought for the public interest, not special interests.

Progressive Conservative party - Stephen Lecce

Under the Wynne Liberals, the cost of living is out of control in our community. Taxes have risen significantly, hydro rates are skyrocketing, auto insurance and user fees are up, all while Ontario is last in income growth in Canada. You pay more and get less. This must change. We must ensure families can live in their homes, seniors can retire with dignity, and the next generation has access to affordable housing and good-paying jobs.

This is my top priority: put more money back into your pockets and restore hope and opportunity for your children.

The Ontario PC Party will do this by reducing hydro rates by 12%, saving the average Vaughan family $173 per year. We will cut middle-class taxes by 20%, saving an average household as much as $786 per year. We will reduce gas taxes that will put 10 cents a litre back into your pockets and oppose a carbon tax that will raise the price of home heating. We will do all of this while delivering the social programs that our families depend on - including a $6,750 childcare rebate and investments in healthcare that will put an end to “hallway medicine” and rising wait-times at MacKenzie Health. We will invest in an education system that empowers our youth and teaches them employable skills, instead of closing local schools.

The Ontario PC plan believes that you, not a politician, is best positioned to spend your own money. I will be a relentless champion of lower taxes, affordability for the middle-class, and better opportunity for the next generation. After 15 years of the Wynne Liberals making life difficult, it is time for change!

Green party - Greg Locke

The biggest issue facing the King-Vaughan riding is electrical energy. King-Vaughan is a large, diverse riding, with contrasting and competing issues and interests. A paramount issue common to all residents and businesses is the rising cost of electricity, and the means with which it is generated.

My Green party has a glaringly simple solution to the rising costs of power in Ontario, not to mention the long term environmental costs associated with Ontario’s predominant source of power: We need to stop investing billions of dollars in our outdated and economically unfeasible nuclear energy program. Most urgently, we need to stop the planned refurbishment of the Pickering Nuclear Station.

I can hear readers thinking, "Are you kidding? What happens to our historically reliable supply of base load power?”

I say:  Simple.  We negotiate long term supply contracts for hydroelectric (water) generated power from Quebec and Manitoba, at rates one third that Ontario Power Generation is seeking, following its desired station refurbishment. Clean, reliable power at rates under 5 cents per kilowatt.

In addition, we create a large job-creating nuclear “de-commissioning” industry, as opposed to the “re-commissioning” industry supported by the current government and well established industrial lobby.

A better plan for electricity in Ontario is to purchase low-cost water power from neighbouring provinces. Quebec is the fourth largest producer of water power in the world and has the lowest electricity rates in North America, with a rising electricity surplus it wants to export. Purchasing this power would save Ontario more than $12 billion over the next 20 years.

For detailed information on this policy and more, see my Green party’s fully costed campaign platform at: GPO.ca/our-platform/.

Libertarian party - Yan Simkin

The biggest issue facing my riding is healthcare. Yes, we have lots of young families in this riding, but we all have aging parents, we won't stay young forever and even young people get severely ill at times - a sad fact I learned from experience. Doesn't matter how much money you pump in a broken system, that’s not a fix. We need fundamental change. Of last year’s budget of $50 billion, only $24.8 billion went to the 14 Local Health Integration Networks. The rest was spent on 5 layers of bureaucracy, so the LHIN’s are underfunded, cue the healthcare rationing, "hallway healthcare", overwhelmed nurses and patients, etc. The business plans for the LHIN’s are good but the problem is each LHIN needs more funding to meet the needs. This has occurred under each successive government, hiring more middle management has caused bloat and taken funding away from the front-line service.

Our solution is allowing non-governmental options. You decide what you want - OHIP or private. We’ll attach funding to each person and family, not to the LHIN’s. And so, each provider will have to compete for your personal funding. Want to keep OHIP? Do it. Want to use private care? Go ahead. Private care already exists in Ontario, it’s called “going south of the border” to speed up that test, or to have a surgery or even get medicine. Our solution will lighten the burden on the system and allow hiring more front-line care staff.

However, Healthcare cannot be considered in a vacuum, it’s an integral part of the Libertarian platform with which I encourage you to get familiar at the party website: https://libertarian.on.ca/2018/platform