NewmarketToday sent a series of questions to each of the candidates in the Newmarket-Aurora riding on a wide range of issues.
Candidates were provided the exact same questions, the same amount of time to respond and a limited word count for each question. None of the candidate's responses have been edited, only cut where word count limits have been exceeded. NewmarketToday will publish each response received by deadline.
Here is how New Blue candidate Iwona Czarnecka responded:
1. What do you want voters to know about you? (50-word limit)
I am not a career politician, nor do I plan to be. Nor am I or have been part of the “old boys” political establishment. Newmarket-Aurora riding is my
home. I am a mother of two, a wife and an entrepreneur. I stand for accountability, transparency and government that is responsible to the people. I represent the change we need.
2. What’s the most pressing issue in the 2022 provincial election campaign and why? (50-word limit)
Government is not the solution; it is the problem. Deficit spending over the last 15 years has resulted in increased taxes directly impacting the cost of living. Government has expanded at a greater rate than both our economy and population. We need to start exercising fiscal restraint and responsibility, not just talk about it. Actions speak louder than words and the “gravy train” keeps chugging along. We are spending over $13 billion in interest charges per year to service a $420 billion debt – and it is growing.
3. What’s your party’s plan to address housing affordability? (200-word-limit)
Housing affordability is a complex issue. This crisis level did not occur overnight and a resolution won’t be had with a wave of a wand, let alone a four year term, despite promises to the contrary. The root of the problem is a basic lack of housing to meet the demands of a growing population. This will require every level of government to work in co-operation with the industry.
There are a number of issues that will need to be addressed starting with:
1) reducing government fees and taxes
2) reducing red tape
3) increasing the supply of rental units
4) finding ways to reduce taxes associated with building goods
5) balancing green belt & the environment with urban growth
6) mass transit options to disperse urban development
7) foreign and investment guidelines
Our party will seek to tackle this issue with long term solutions to ensure that housing can not only become more affordable but can promote prosperity for future generations. We will work with both municipal and federal leaders to create effective and sustainable solutions to this issue.
4. The Upper York sewage plant has remained unresolved at the provincial level for years, under both Liberal and Conservative governments. Municipalities have highlighted it is needed for upcoming growth and says it would have enough offsets for the environment, but critics are still concerned about watershed impact. What’s your position? How would your party handle this file? If elected, when would your party finally decide on this, one way or another? (150-word limit)
The consult for the facility cost a whooping $100 million and projected another $715 million to build the facility.
Currently the existing capacity takes us to 2028. After that new capacity needs to be created if the expansion of the community is to proceed.
The twinning of the lines to the treatment facility at Duffins Creek operated by the York and Durham Regions is the alternative solution. At a budget of $121 million it is a far more cost-effective solution. Needless antagonizing of our community groups is counterproductive. Government’s job is to listen to the will of the people and manage its tax dollars to deliver services.
The twinning solution, expected to be completed this spring, will save the taxpayers $594 million dollars and provide the needed capacity to meetexpected needs.
It’s a Win, Win, Win solution.
5. What would your party do to address the continued issues in the long-term sector? What is your party’s stance on keeping, or removing, privatization there? (200-word limit)
New Blue is only interested in solutions that work. There is a growing crisis in LTC. We promise not to kill thousands of seniors in LTCs. The LTC sector will require a variety of approaches to tackle the current and future strain on the system as the Baby Boomer generation ages. All options will have to be considered due to the staffing and financial demands this wave will create.
Our first responsibility is to ensure quality care for the elderly.
This could entail programs that offer subsidies and tax incentives to make it affordable to keep family members home longer thereby lessening the strain on the resources.
We will consider viable public and private-public partnerships (PPP) as a way of meeting these needs in a way similar to that used in the building and
running of some Ontario hospitals.
Studies show that 80% of healthcare resources are consumed in the last 20 years of life. Our government would initiate a variety of screening and preventative programs aimed at both health and nutrition as a preventative measure to lessen the demand for LTC spaces.
6. How would your party handle the ongoing challenge of COVID-19? What is your stance on re-implementing mask mandates or vaccination passports in the future, depending on pandemic trends? (150-word limit)
We need to approach the Covid-19 and future pandemics with common sense. The government abdicated responsibility to a non-accountable, non-elected Science Table who provided widely inaccurate estimates of cases, which in turn lead to bad policy decisions. The only benefit from COVID case forecasting was it made astrology look respectable.
In this case government was not the solution, but the problem. Mandates, vaccine passports, lockdowns, all had severe consequences. The government crippled the economy, created an arguably larger health care problem through cancelled treatments and surgeries, increased cases of suicide, drug abuse, caused a mental health crisis among our youth and managed to kill 4418 residents of LTC facilities. On top of this they damaged the fabric of our democracy by undermining our rights and freedoms.
New Blue would implement the emergency plans that were developed (at great taxpayer cost) after SARS 1. We would not implement lockdowns, mandates, passports etc. We would focus efforts to protect the most vulnerable without destroying the economy and creating even bigger healthcare problems.
7. With inflation rising and some struggling, what would your party do to make life more affordable? (150-word limit)
A provincial government can only do so much when it comes to inflation, as the primary cause is the printing of money in excess of real growth in the GDP. In
2020 the Bank of Canada increased the M1 money supply by 16%, while GDP fell by over 1 % due to lockdowns. This 17% spread is what is translating in to the
inflation we are seeing now and is likely to continue into the foreseeable future.
Affordability is defined as the ability of an individual or family to purchase goods & services to maintain or increase their standard of living through overall prosperity.
New Blue would achieve this by:
- Keeping the cost of government and the resulting taxes low
- Utilizing resources and power to stimulate sustainable growth to attract and grow high value added businesses and jobs to the province.
- Increasing prosperity is the only way to maintain and improve our standard of living and the quality of life it provides.
8. What is your position on the Bradford Bypass and Highway 413?(100-word limit)
We need to ask ourselves do we want an infrastructure that is an enabler of commuter traffic or a builder of communities. No by-pass provides a direct
economic benefit to the community, as by its very definition it takes traffic away, not to, a community. It may save a couple minutes of transport time, help developers sell new subdivisions, but it doesn’t economically benefit our community; it just enables an economic transfer to another community
quicker.
Further, we need to consider the loss of arable land; do we want more or less green space?
Finally, how much further should we go into debt? Over the next 3 years we will accumulate another $55 billion in debt on top of the $420 billion currently. The Bypass will add another $60 billion.
9. What is one specific issue you would personally champion or private-members bill you would introduce, given the opportunity as an MPP? (100-word limit)
I would introduce a private members Bill that guarantees Parental Rights. Parents and parental guidance is critical in ensuring the perpetuation of family values, beliefs and the right to raise our children accordingly. It is not the responsibility of the state nor should they interfere. Introducing a Bill of Parental Rights provincially not only protects parents, but more importantly children. Children deserve to be raised in an environment that protects them, provides good values, respects freedom and honours their parents and family unit as the primary caregivers.
10.What does your party’s campaign slogan mean to you? (50-word limit)
“Standing up for you” encompasses the Party’s mission to bring accountability, transparency and responsibility into Provincial Government. The slogan attests that elected MPPs will stand up for local concerns and represent local voices in Provincial Parliament. We have seen that the top-down approach has left us with a crumbling economy, healthcare, and education system. We need to ensure that community voices are heard and represented in order to move this province forward in the right direction and the public is able to assess our progress by being transparent in our decisions.
