Newmarket-Aurora’s Liberal and NDP candidates vied for voters at a climate-themed debate Feb. 12, while other candidates were absent.
Liberal Chris Ballard and the NDP’s Denis Heng talked about their parties’ positions on environmental topics at Newmarket’s Old Town Hall, with the event put on by Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora. Incumbent Dawn Gallagher Murphy, of the Progressive Conservatives, was absent from the proceedings, as was Green party candidate David Jakubiec.
About 65 people attended despite a winter storm in the area. Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora representative Peggy Stevens said they were happy with how the candidates responded to the environmental questions provided to them beforehand.
“Both candidates had obviously spent a good amount of time reflecting on the questions, (and) I felt their answers were thorough and informative and sincere,” she said. “I didn’t feel there was a spin.”
The question-and-answer session was the only all-candidates event announced for the riding thus far. According to moderator Andrew Slonetsky, Gallagher Murphy responded Feb. 11 to say she had other commitments and could not attend the event. Meanwhile, Slonetsky said Jakubiec was not attending due to “last-minute issues with the campaign.”
The debate featured candidates answering questions prepared in advance on the environment, along with submitted questions from the audience. The first round of questions touched on issues like electric vehicles, green building codes and growing green energy.
Ballard said the province needs to prioritize environmental protections.
“We need to restore and strengthen our environment protections that (PC Leader Doug) Ford dismantled. We need to make sure we get good protection for the Greenbelt and farmland. We need to restore the authority of the conversation authorities,” he said.
Heng said the NDP applies an environmental lens to issues throughout its platform.
“The environment is something we look through, as the Ontario NDP, as a lens for everything. We can’t talk about effectively resolving affordability issues without going through an effective environmental (lens),” he said. “We can’t talk about building an economy in the future that’s going to be sustainable without looking at it through an environmental lens.”
But the debate ended up featuring questions from the audience on a range of issues, including health care, education and the economy.
One audience member asked about the idea of “uniting the left.” Ballard said he often hears about strategic voting when he knocks on doors.
“I, unfortunately, would have to agree,” he said about strategic voting. “If we’re going to defeat Doug Ford … we have to do it by defeating individual MPPs all across Ontario. There are some areas where the orange party is strong enough to do it with the help of the red party, and there are areas like Newmarket-Aurora where the red party will be able to do it.
“I haven’t always been Liberal. I’ve had to make that decision a few times, and I felt like I was going against my principles,” he added. “But in order to get rid of our conservative government, we have to think strategically.”
Heng disagreed and said it is important to have a diversity of voices.
“When I think about a two-party system, I’m looking at the States … There is a Team A and Team B. That leads to narrow thinking that I’m not sure is in the best interest of everyone that lives in our community … I’m thinking about the marginalized voices within our population. They’re part of our community, too, and I feel like they need a voice at our political table,” Heng said. "They should have a strong voice there, and I think a diverse plurality of voices is what we can bring back together.”
The candidates were also asked to comment on a question posed to an absent Gallagher Murphy to justify the need for a snap election.
Ballard said it is clear that Ford felt his “Captain Canada schtick” standing up to the U.S. government’s tariffs would help him at this time.
“It’s not going to work. I’m amazed at the number of doors I’m knocking on where people are thoroughly disgusted with the snap election,” Ballard said. “Seniors are upset that they can’t get out and knock on doors with us. They feel that’s voter suppression in many ways. It’s just unnecessary when all of his attention should be on building Ontario up, readying Ontario with policy and funding so that we can weather the coming tariffs.”
“It’s a power grab. It’s as simple as that,” Heng said, adding parties across the aisle were already ready to support methods to address the threat of tariffs. “The real deplorable thing is he says one thing, ‘a mandate,’ but he’s actually suppressing the vote with a winter election … It’s that suppression of the vote that really pisses me off.”
The candidates also took questions on getting more doctors and addressing issues in the health care system.
Heng said it is about both recruitment and retention.
“It’s about allowing people who were able, who are qualified, who are ready to go, not putting barriers, not putting obstacles in front of them,” he said, adding more residency spaces are needed. “It’s part of treating them with respect … They have been burnt out the past seven years, and there are so many people that are trained are not coming back. So, we need to also treat them with respect and keep the doctors that we have.”
Ballard said a Liberal government would look to fund hospitals to open up more residency spots to get doctors into the system and open two new medical schools.
“We need to do more things like incentivizing doctors to work in smaller communities and in northern communities,” he said. “Training is key.”
Both candidates were also invited to talk about the value of these events in the democratic process.
“A friend is fond of saying, ‘When you’re applying for the job, you have to show up for the interview,’” Ballard said. “One of the candidates obviously doesn’t think enough of you folks to worry about showing up. I really appreciate these types of events … Your questions really inform me and my thinking because it tells me what’s top of mind for the folks here.”
“It’s integral to democracy. I don’t know how you can say you’re representing your residents if you’re not participating in this dialogue,” Heng said. “Otherwise, you’re just pitching election platforms and then hibernating for four years.
“You guys have the ideas. I’m not the expert here,” Heng added. “Regardless of what happens on Feb. 27, we’re still all residents of the community and need to be working together to find solutions.”