Kanata-Carleton residents prepare for by-election
Posted Jul 26, 2023 04:48:43 PM.
Last Updated Jul 27, 2023 01:37:48 PM.
Voters in Kanata-Carleton are heading to the polls today to elect a new member of provincial parliament (MPP).
This comes after the resignation of former MPP for the west end riding, Merrilee Fullerton.
During advance polling dates on July 19, 20 and 21 of last week, Elections Ontario said preliminary numbers showed that 6,664 voters (or 7.3 per cent of registered voters) in Kanata-Carleton cast their ballots.
Preliminary figures indicate that 6,664 voters (or 7.3 per cent of registered voters) in Kanata—Carleton and 2,565 voters (or 3.6 per cent of registered voters) in Scarborough—Guildwood cast their ballot during advance voting. Our latest media release: https://t.co/5HcqfNix5A pic.twitter.com/1my96FWM92
— Elections Ontario (@ElectionsON) July 22, 2023
Ontario NDP leader, Marit Stiles, told Wake Up With Rob Snow on July 26, Kanata-Carleton voters are calling for change, with some of the biggest issues Ontarians are facing – including healthcare and housing affordability.
According to Stiles, NDP has fresh solutions to the issues residents are most concerned about, from physician shortages to long wait times in emergency rooms (ER) and affordable housing availability.
“We have a healthcare system that’s falling apart and the Ford Conservatives are taking public dollars that should be spent on our public healthcare system and moving that into private shareholder pockets,” she explained.
NDP candidate for the provincial byelection, Melissa Coenraad, is a front-line health care worker for 20 years – and Stiles describes Coenraad as “an excellent candidate who’s ready to deliver for the people of Kanata-Carleton.”
While Kanata-Carleton has historically been Conservative, provincially, Ontario NDP leader warns the Premier Doug Ford should be concerned. She explained many residents are unhappy with his handling of provincial issues – like healthcare.
Stiles added, around 150,000 people in the Ottawa region don’t have access to primary care – either a family doctor or nurse practitioner – and this number extends to 2.3 million across Ontario.
“I’ve looked at polls and research over the years and healthcare is often the number one issue for people,” said Stiles. “It’s always something that people worry about but nothing like we’re seeing now, it’s never been this bad.”
Karen McCrimmon, Ontario Liberal candidate and member of parliament (MP) for Kanata-Carleton from 2015 to 2021, told The Sam Laprade Show with guest host Derick Fage ensuring all Ontarians have a family doctor will end up saving money, as this can prevent chronic conditions from turning into emergencies.
“We need to pay our physicians better and give them a better quality of life,” said McCrimmon. “We’re burning them out, and demanding they run their practices like a small business but doctors didn’t become doctros to become businessmen.”
Solutions she proposed to improve physician retention include funding the addition of nurse practionners to family healthcare teams and reducing administrative load by hiring more staff.
Premier Ford said earlier this week, while in Ottawa, Stage 3 of Ottawa’s LRT won’t get started until Stage 1 Stage 2 are more reliable. Ottawa’s light rail transit system remains shutdown until further notice, and OC Transpo said they’re aiming to resume service on July 31.
“We have to fix this mess, people need to be able to rely on the LRT and instead they’re waiting, waiting, waiting,” she explained. “Premier Ford is pointing fingers at the City of Ottawa and every other level, and he needs to take some responsibility here.”
Stiles said fixing the system should begin with stepping away from the current model (P3 car) and rethinking how we do things, including Metrolinx, a provincial agency that oversees the Presto electronic fare system.
“At the end of the day, the priority needs to be the riders. It’s not about giving contracts to your friends or donors,” she added. “It’s about getting those transit riders moving again, their livelihoods depend on it.”
Ontario’s Liberal Candidate gave her take on public transit challenges in the Nation’s Capital – saying it’s key we not only fix our LRT system but expand transit for residents.
“Between Moodie and Kanata is where there will always be two-way traffic,” explained McCrimmon. “Not only do we have people in Kanata commuting to work downtown and elsewhere but people coming to work in Kanata in our high tech sector, and this (public transit) is an efficient use of tax payer dollars,”
While McCrimmon said she agrees our LRT system must first be improved, she emphasized Kanata-Carleton needs better access to public transit.
“Both Kanata and Stittsville are growing faster than any other part of the city and deserve the same access to high quality public transit,” she added.
With discussions on the possibility of a new Ottawa Senators arena in the city’s downtown core, Stiles pointed out that residents in Kanata-Carleton are not considering this a priority.
“While they’re (Ontario) making deals to benefit donors, instead they should start thinking about the priorities of people in the Ottawa region – and it’s healthcare, the housing crisis and affordability,” she expressed.
Cities across the country, including Ottawa and Toronto, are seeing soaring levels of homelessness and inflated housing prices, she added. Fixing these issues requires that all levels of government step up and discuss new deals for those cities.
“We need to talk about how we’re going to build more affordable housing and fast enough to address the number of people needing it right now – and real rent control so people don’t risk losing their homes,” said Stiles.
McCrimmon sheds light on housing intensification and said more affordable housing should be built on light rail lines and public transit routes in areas where there are jobs, rather than established neighbourhoods.
“We should work on intensifying affordable homes and they need to be sustainable and environmentally responsible,” she said. “In Kanata, we’re going to destroy greenspace and wetlands that we rely on to put housing and people want to protect that.”
Six candidates are running in Kanata-Carleton, including Jennifer Boudreau (New Blue Party), Karen McCrimmon (Ontario Liberal Party), Josh Rachlis (Independent), Steven Warren (Green Party of Ontario), Sean Webster (PC Party of Ontario), and Melissa Coenraad (Ontario NDP).
