Ahead of this year’s federal election, Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte candidates have been knocking on doors, campaigning for their respective parties.
The Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte riding, which started in 2015, consists of north Barrie, the Township of Springwater and part of the Township of Oro-Medonte.
Here’s what candidates say they’re hearing from residents in the area so far.
Doug Shipley, Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte’s Conservative candidate
Shipley told Global News that he started knocking on people’s doors at the beginning of the summer. Since then, he said, the top issue he’s heard about is affordability.
“People are concerned with making ends meet, and I’m hearing that over and over again,” he said.
To help make life more affordable, Shipley said the Conservatives would remove the five per cent GST on people’s home heating bills.
“It’s obviously cold weather in Barrie, and we want to make sure people can afford their heating bill, so we’re going to remove the five per cent GST.”
Shipley said the Conservative government also wants to bring back the $1,000 per year child tax credit toward recreation and kids’ sports activities.
“We implemented an $850 less taxes, a tax credit that was just discussed on Sunday,” Shipley added, referring to a tax cut that will reduce the rate of the lowest income tax bracket.
The Conservative candidate also told Global News that he’s heard concerns regarding the SNC-Lavalin scandal involving Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.
Shipley also addressed environmental protection, particularly regarding Lake Simcoe.
“Many years ago, under the Conservative government, we started the Lake Simcoe cleanup fund,” Shipley said.
“The Trudeau Liberal government completely scrapped that Lake Simcoe cleanup fund. We have put in our platform that we will be returning the Lake Simcoe cleanup fund.”
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Brian Kalliecharan, Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte’s Liberal candidate
Kalliecharan told Global News that he started knocking on doors in the community about three weeks ago.
He said the number one issue he’s hearing from people is protecting the environment.
“When they speak about the environment, they’re talking about pollution, air quality, clean water and plastic wastage,” Kalliecharan said.
Kalliecharan pointed to the fact that the Liberal Party’s goal is to ban single-use plastics by 2021.
“Using, for example, clean electricity to power homes, automobiles, workplaces, industries across the board,” he added.
Another issue Kalliecharan said he’s heard about is affordability. “The Liberal team has launched Canada’s first national housing project, which has created 100,000 new housing units.”
Kalliecharan said he’s also heard from residents wondering about job creation.
“There’s always the question from students about their skill training and job opportunities,” he said. “We have been able to double summer job opportunities through our Canada Summer Jobs program.”
The Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte riding has a large commuter population, Kalliecharan said.
“The $180 billion that we’ve invested in infrastructure, especially for the commuters — better transit, roads, bridges — is truly focusing on getting our commuters to their destinations safer and faster.”
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Dan Janssen, Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte’s NDP candidate
Janssen told Global News that he started introducing himself to people around the beginning of May, but that he started canvassing more seriously in about June.
He said one main issue he’s heard about is regarding affordable housing. “That’s been a big one that people have been talking about, especially in Barrie’s east end.”
Janssen said an NDP government would address the concern by building 500,000 affordable housing units within the next 10 years.
The candidate said he’s also heard from people who have been concerned about health care.
“Our plan has been resonating in talking about our head-to-toe healthcare, and that includes universal pharmacare, vision, dental, as well as mental healthcare and addiction services,” Janssen said.
The Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte candidate told Global News he’s also been hearing concerns regarding reliable cellphone service and broadband internet, specifically in rural areas.
“The NDP is saying we’ll expand cell service to rural communities all across the country, not only like rural communities that are close to cities and towns but also northern communities,” Janssen said.
Another issue Janssen said he’s heard from residents is regarding the environment.
“The NDP, I know, has been fighting for years to put through an environmental bill of rights, and we’ve been championing it,” the candidate said. “The way that plan would work is that it would give local people and local organizations that are already doing this work more support.”
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Marty Lancaster, Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte’s Green Party candidate
Lancaster started campaigning in the summer and said he’s heard a lot about local issues that affect people’s daily lives.
“In previous elections, we go out and we try and tell people what we want to do for them, and this time, we learned to listen to people,” Lancaster said.
The Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte candidate said he’s heard a lot about the daily struggles in residents’ lives. “It’s the mental health and addictions, it’s taxes, … it’s the housing crisis, it’s the cost of living.”
Lancaster said the Green Party’s guaranteed basic income strategy would address those concerns. “Once a month, you get a cheque for whatever it is. In Simcoe County, the poverty line is $1,800 a month,” he said.
“Let’s say every single person in Barrie, in Simcoe County, gets $1,800 a month. … You can now go find a place to live, get your food and whatever you do from that point on is yours.”
Lancaster said the Green Party also wants to fully cover pharmacare, dental, mental and preventative healthcare.
Once people aren’t worried about the daily struggles, Lancaster said, then people can look toward protecting the environment.
“We’re the only party that’s following the science to have the targets that they tell us by far,” the Green Party candidate said.
“The targets are hard. They’re going to cause a struggle for us, but a shift in how we get our energy will require massive numbers of jobs.”
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David Patterson, Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte’s People’s Party of Canada candidate
Patterson told Global News he’s been campaigning for the past three weeks.
He said the most common concern he’s heard about is regarding the cost of living.
“We’re going to phase out supply management, and that’s the system that makes dairy products, eggs and chicken more expensive,” Patterson said. “That would save each family $300 to $400 per year.”
He added that the People’s Party would also lower taxes.
“We’re increasing the basic personal exemption to $15,000, and then taxation on the amount from $15,000 to $100,000 would be 15 per cent, and above $100,000, would be 25 per cent.”
Patterson said he’s also heard about rising immigration levels.
“Our position is that we need immigration but the current levels of immigration are too high and unsustainable,” he said. “Our policy is to have between 100,000 or 150,000 immigrants.”
Patterson told Global News that the environment has also been brought up by residents.
“Our position is that there is climate change but that we’re not facing an imminent disaster,” he said, adding that the issue is being addressed by technological changes, such as increased electric cars and solar panels.
“Government incentives are not going to have much of an impact, so it’s better we leave that to the private sector,” Patterson said. “Our policy is to go back to basics, which is conservation and protection of our water and prevention of pollution.”
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