King-Vaughan and Richmond Hill - Election Issues

NRU
Sept. 30, 2015
By Leah Wong

Residents in the York Region ridings of King-Vaughan and Richmond Hill have told candidates they are concerned about jobs, gridlock and being able to afford to stay in the area.

While these concerns are consistent with other municipalities, residents in King-Vaughan and Richmond Hill have the opportunity to elect new MPs October 19, as both races are open. King-Vaughan is one of the region’s new ridings and no sitting MP is running in the area. To the east in Richmond Hill the riding is open as the area’s current MP Costas Menegakis (Conservative) is running in the new riding of Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill.

The candidates in King-Vaughan are engineering consultant Ann Raney (Green Party), former Toronto Catholic District School Board student trustee Natalie Rizzo (NDP), former Vaughan regional councillor Deb Schulte (Liberal) and real estate broker Konstantin Toubis (Conservative). Running in Richmond Hill are professional engineer Adam DeVita (NDP), businessman Majid Jowhari (Liberal), former Iranian- Canadian Congress director Michael Parsa (Conservative) and Dalhousie University student Gwendolyn Veenema (Green).

As candidates have been out knocking on doors, one of the biggest concerns raised by residents in both ridings is the lack of employment opportunities and the limited transportation options that will get people to work.

Jowhari told NRU Richmond Hill relies heavily on its small businesses when it comes to job opportunities and it is important these businesses are well supported. He said the Liberal’s plan will reduce the small business tax, reduce EI premiums for employers and employees and provide funding for small businesses to focus on innovation and creating green jobs.

Raney told NRU, youth in the riding in particular -even those who have finished apprenticeships and post-secondary education-are having more difficulty finding jobs nearby.

“We need [good] local jobs so people don’t have to have such a long commute, so their lives are easier,” said Raney.

As with many other municipalities in the York Region residents are also concerned about the amount of traffic and the lack of public transit services. While there have been investments in public transit many communities continue to be underserviced and commutes by transit are long.

“[Gridlock] is becoming a real issue with the amount of time people are spending on the road,” Schulte told NRU. “There’s a negative impact that comes with it to peoples’ quality of life.”

She said the Liberals will invest $20-billion in public transit across the country, which is key to being able to move more people around the region. She said this funding will be beneficial to municipalities such as York Region, which has plans for transit but is being held back by a lack of money.

“Richmond Hill is one of the growing municipalities,” said Jowhari. “We need to make sure that funding gets appropriately channeled through a multi-lateral discussion bringing together all levels of government to meet the needs of the community.”

DeVita told NRU that the NDP plan, which gives money to municipalities to invest in infrastructure, will allow for more local control over infrastructure.

“This allows Richmond Hill to choose what Richmond Hill needs, whether its roads, bridges or transit infrastructure, rather than some guy in Ottawa deciding what will look nice next to a sign,” said DeVita.

From her experience as a regional councillor, Schulte has seen how municipalities struggle to get federal funding so that municipalities can invest in infrastructure needed to keep up with the level of growth. She said the Liberals will invest almost $125-billion over the next decade.

“The federal government has an important role [in infrastructure]. They are there to ensure economic vitality across Canada,” said Schulte.