Richmond Hill Ward 5 and Ward 6 candidates discuss campaign finance, pot store and safety

About 200 residents gathered for one of the most contentious races in this election

Yorkregion.com
October 22, 2018
Sheila Wang

It was probably not as crowded as expected but the Ward 5 and Ward 6 councillor candidate meeting Wednesday night did bring to light several key and controversial issues.

Some 200 residents filled Richmond Hill Christian Community Church at the two-hour candidate meeting where Ward 5 councillor candidates and Ward 6 councillor candidates answered questions from a two-person panel and the audience.

The candidate meeting, hosted by the Richmond Hill Board of Trade, covered a wide range of topics from housing, traffic, mental health, developer’s donations to private cannabis stores which drew rounds of applause, boos, cheers and even whistles.

Three candidates for Ward 5 — which is arguably one of the most contentious races in this election — attended the meeting with the absence of Nima Shashi due to family matters.

The Q&A session proceeded peacefully for most of the night as candidates responded to several prevailing questions in this election such as subway, growth and housing.

It wasn’t until the latter part of the night when one resident asked whether they have accepted developer’s donations that audience members started grilling candidates for a definite answer.

Karen Cilevitz, incumbent Ward 5 councillor, said she has never accepted any donations from developers, trade unions and corporations for her campaign.

She said she does accept developers’ contribution when it comes to events. “The money goes right back to the community. We use that money to fund our festivals or our events.”

Her challenger, former Ward 5 councillor Nick Papa, who lost his seat to Cilevitz in the 2014 election, did not directly respond to the question.

“Whoever said that the money is back to the community, it is the same thing as it was four years ago. The question was ‘Are you into the developer’s pocket when you take the money from them?’ That was the real issue at that time, and now that is another case.”

Some mumbles were heard from the audience following his response. One resident muttered, “So? What’s the answer?”

The answer is not hard to find.

Papa admitted that he had accepted donations from developers for his campaign at a candidate meeting in 2014, as yorkregion.com previously reported.

"Developers have given me money, but I have voted against their development even if they contributed to the campaign. It’s up to the individual’s integrity to ensure he will abide by the law," he told the audience at an all-candidates meeting at Langstaff Community Centre four years ago.

Cilevitz received over $11,000 in donations for her campaign in 2014, according to the town's 2014 candidate financial statements. She received all her donations from candidates and individuals, as yorkregion.com previously reported.

The statements also showed that Papa received close to $33,000 in his campaign contribution in 2014, including $22,331 from corporations and $10,600 from individuals.

In his 2010 campaign, Papa also accepted over $19,000 donations from corporations including developers such as Metrus Development Inc, Baif Developments Limited and Garden Home Inc, according to the Town of Richmond Hill.

Both Papa and Cilevitz mentioned a new provincial law which prohibits municipal election candidates from accepting contributions from corporations and trade unions starting from this election.

Another Ward 5 contender, Mahnaz Shahbazi, with a strong small business background, said she has never accepted money from developers and took the opportunity to extend her gratitude for those who have contributed to her campaign.

The topic of cannabis came up again as the candidate meeting took place on Oct. 17, the same day when recreational cannabis became legal in Canada.

Ontario is going to allow private cannabis retails by April 1, 2019. Municipalities are given a one-time window under which they can choose to opt-out of permitting physical cannabis retail stores within their boundaries, according to Ministry of Finance.

In Ward 5, the three candidates provided three different answers.

Noting his concerns about public safety, Papa took a firm stance against the retail stores in Richmond Hill, which secured the biggest applause for himself at the meeting.

His answers on some other topics did not go well. Papa shocked quite a few when addressing a question related to mental health.

“If you look at this room, we all have some kind of problems,” Papa said.

He then explained that mental illnesses are a widespread issue which requires specially-trained professionals to come up with good solutions.

Shahbazi, who was well-prepared and stayed mostly on script that night, said she would like to have public consultations to find out what people want before making a decision.

She pushed for public consultations on a few other topics as well.

It took Cilevitz longer than her fellow candidates to get to her answer about private sales of cannabis in Richmond Hill. She eventually said she supported cannabis retail stores in Richmond Hill which was met with applause from some audience.

Ward 6

While panellists and residents were required to direct each question to all candidates, not all candidates answered every question.

Julie Maxey, a longtime resident in Richmond Hill and also a first-timer in municipal election, did not respond to a couple of questions at the meeting.

She is running for the seat of Ward 6 councillor against incumbent Godwin Chan.

“I must be very brave,” Chan said as he offered to answer a question which no one else seemed to be interested at first.

On many issues like subway, traffic as well as arts and culture, the two Ward 6 councillors shared similar views.

It was on the visions for the future of Richmond Hill where the two were clearly divided.

In Chan’s vision, Richmond Hill will be “a good place to live in and an excellent place to do business in” as it continues to move forward to grow in population and businesses with a vibrant town core at Yonge and Major Mackenzie.

“We could be dream place and smart city of not only Ontario but of Canada,” Chan said.

Maxey, who is an early childhood educator, said she wanted to bring back the sense of community which Richmond Hill has lost over time, noting the importance of programs for youth, seniors and physically challenged.

“Just somewhere peaceful. You can just walk down the street and smell someone’s rose and come in to have dinner. That’s what we used to do.”

Safety has been an issue around York Region these years, and Richmond Hill is no exception.

York regional police responded to more than 1,000 home break-ins in 2017 in Markham, Vaughan and Richmond Hill combined, as yorkregion.com reported.

Richmond Hill alone saw 306 break-and-enters last year, up from a low of 263 in 2013.

“It’s certainly a safe place,” Chan said in his response to the safety concern in Richmond Hill.

As a board member of York Regional Police, Chan said he would like to address the issue through increasing police presence in the community and with neighbourhood watches.

Maxey drew on her own experience in dealing with safety issues in Richmond Hill when neighbours watched out for each other.

“We need more policing, we need more patrol officers, we need more patrol on foot and in vehicle,” she said. “Believe it or not, there are areas in Richmond Hill that aren’t safe.”

For more information on candidates' campaign finance, please visit yorkregion.com for its past coverage.