NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh stopped in Barrie on Wednesday afternoon to meet supporters, while standing alongside Barrie–Innisfil candidate Pekka Reinio and Barrie–Springwater–Oro-Medonte candidate Dan Janssen.
The visit came after Singh’s announcement Wednesday morning that an NDP government would extend full public dental coverage to households making less than $70,000 a year.
“Our plan is one that is very clear. We’ve laid it out, we’ve costed it and we have a path to achieve it,” Singh told reporters Wednesday regarding the dental care announcement.
“It’s something we can do in the first 100 days. It’s something that can be used and accessed right away.”
On Wednesday, Singh also responded to questions regarding concerns about vaping.
“I’m really disturbed to hear any time that a product on the market is causing illness,” the NDP leader told reporters.
“I think we’ve got to be very careful in making sure we’ve got evidence and make an evidence-based decision around any new product.”
Singh said it’s important to ensure that people know the information they need to so they can make informed decisions. He also said behaviour that can hurt people should be discouraged and that positive health behaviour should be encouraged.
WATCH: Federal Election 2019: Canadians should be given information on product safety, says Singh on vaping
“I would promote a healthy lifestyle, which would mean curbing the use of nicotine, curbing the irresponsible use of alcohol,” Singh said.
The federal NDP leader recently pledged to build 500,000 new affordable homes in 10 years.
“We know we’ve got limited resources, and we’ve seen what previous governments have done with those limited resources. They’ve cut corporate taxes,” Singh told Global News.
“I would use our money responsibly and seriously and invest in things that people need, which is affordable housing.”
When it comes to water protection — including bodies of water like Lake Simcoe — Singh said: “One of the things that I find really troublesome is that we don’t have the right infrastructure to ensure when there is massive rainfall that water that shouldn’t be in the lake ends up in the lake.”
Singh said he wants to make investments where no water ever makes it untreated into lakes, rivers and oceans. “That has to be a starting point. There’s no way we should ever be poisoning the life that’s around us.”
This past spring, many Canadian communities were inundated by floods.
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Currently, Singh said, our response to disasters like flooding is reactive, when it should be more proactive.
“We put in place a mitigation fund, which is a significant investment, so cities and municipalities that are being flooded can actually get access to funds to put in place the right infrastructure to prevent those impacts, to mitigate those impacts,” Singh added.
Singh made a stop in Toronto Wednesday evening. In the meantime, while the NDP leader visited Barrie, Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau was campaigning throughout Atlantic Canada, while Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer made stops in Hamilton.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, meanwhile, visited Vancouver on Sept. 18.
The federal election will be held on Oct. 21.
WATCH: Federal Election 2019: NDP’s dental care plan would cost $560 million in first year
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