New Democratic Party candidate Yvonne Kelly is an anti-poverty and affordable housing advocate with more than 25 years of experience working in the fields of education and social service.
She is currently employed with the York Region District School Board as a community and partnership developer, and serves as co-chairperson of the Social Planning Council of York Region, and chairperson of the Social Planning Network of Ontario.
Kelly ran federally in the 2015 general election, finishing third of five candidates with 8.5 per cent of the popular vote. She was also campaign manager for the provincial Newmarket-Aurora NDP candidate in the 2011 election.
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The mother of three sons and stepmom to two daughters is an active community volunteer and has been an outspoken advocate for quality public education, food security, adequate incomes and affordable housing, and was a co-author of York Region’s first social audit, which examined the struggles faced by low-income families.
Kelly lives with husband, Rick, and their family in York Region.
NewmarketToday has interviewed each candidate in the Newmarket-Aurora riding, asking them the following questions about themselves and the issues. Here's how NDP candidate Yvonne Kelly responded.
Why are running to be Newmarket-Aurora MP?
Kelly said she is running because she feels inequality is becoming an “even more pressing issue for people”.
“Whether they’re living below the poverty line, are middle class or working class, we can’t just continue to accept this as normal,” she said. “I want people who are considering their choices in this election to know they don’t have to lower their expectations, that we can do things differently.”
Kelly said she knows “first-hand a lot of folks who are really struggling, more than they were even four years ago,” and that compelled her to run.
How does your background and experience make you the best candidate?
“I have a strong, long history of working in the community,” Kelly said. “I’ve been a community development worker for almost 30 years. I’ve worked primarily in communities where people are struggling, newcomers, low-income, working class, and they used to be in certain places, and now they’re everywhere.”
Her work within the local school boards gives her an opportunity to meet and work with students and families who are struggling. Kelly said they are “worrying about the future, even if they may not have thought the future was a worry five years ago”.
“I’ve got a pretty unique perspective because of all the areas I’ve worked with and the groups I’m involved with, even from a social policy point of view,” said Kelly. “I’m fortunate, I’ve got great networks that I’m involved in and that informs a lot of what I know and what I’m compelled to change.”
What’s the most pressing issue in the 2019 federal election campaign?
It’s inequality, Kelly said, because inequality isn’t just about who is making more money, it’s about, in general, the fact that those at the top have seen increases in wages, and those below, the five or 10 per cent, are struggling more and more.
“We were actually told that when (we became) part of the global economy ... we could aspire to a better life and that our children would always have a better life than the previous generation, and that’s just not the case,” she said.
“So, it’s not just a matter of people’s income, it’s a matter of the lack of affordable housing, which determines your quality of life, your ability to be able to make a living, raise a family and see them go on to have a better experience,” she said.
Multiple election polls show that Canadians are placing climate change as a top concern in this election for the first time. What specific actions will your party take to address this issue?
Climate change is absolutely the critical issue, and one that we don’t have another two, three, or four years to address, Kelly said.
“The NDP has laid out a bold, progressive platform to tackle climate change, to increase our targets to be able to reduce the impact on Canadians and the planet,” she said.
“The other thing, though, is that we realize there is no one strategy that’s going to get us there,” said Kelly. “The other thing we can do is build the infrastructure necessary to convert to a green economy, so it’s our green new deal, which does take into account that even while you’re fighting climate change, you’re putting new things in place to do that, you can create the types of jobs that we lack right now.”
Kelly said Canada has been lagging on the innovation side, and the obvious next step is to create the structure to address the biggest problem facing the country, but also to improve people’s lives.
“There’s a number of strategies and steps that are involved, but what we really want people to know is it’s a comprehensive approach and a long-term sustainable approach,” she said. “It’s saying no to pipelines, no to the types of things we’re seeing other governments invest in.”
The ideas are there, there needs to be political will, and that’s usually what’s missing, she said.
“Whether it’s climate change, homelessness, housing, poverty, any of the things we know are huge problems, solving them creates a ripple effect that makes everybody’s lives better, but it takes a commitment that’s longer than four years, political will, an investment, and that means we have to pay for it and that’s where things come to a grinding halt,” Kelly said.
What’s your message to young people feeling disenfranchised — unable to afford to buy a home of their own, living with their parents after graduating from college and university, and concerned about the impact of climate change on the environment, the economy and their future?
“My message to them is that they can think bigger and bolder and when adults try to convince them that their ideas are idealistic, they need to keep thinking in a way that is progressive and bold, they shouldn’t settle for excuses like it’s always been this way,” Kelly said. “You have to work and you have to hope that you find the right job in the right place. Their parents, our parents, didn’t have that same struggle. It is different now at a time when it should be better.”
The NDP will invest in affordable housing, which means it will build affordable housing units to meet the needs that are out there,” Kelly said.
“We’ll listen to people who have good ideas about how to innovate even small-scale solutions in communities, tiny houses are an example,” she said. “There’s people with great ideas, but until the bigger decision-makers and developers, who seem to be driving most the agenda around the housing we build, until we say we have to put the needs of the larger number of people first, nothing’s going to change.”
And that’s something we’re willing to do: stand up to those that have made excuses for why we can’t expect better,” she said. “So, we’re in this for those who have felt left behind and the future doesn’t look hopeful. It can be hopeful, it just requires decisions by people who believe that we can make a difference.”
According to statistics, the economy is flourishing with 421,000 new jobs created last year and employment increasing by 2.3 per cent. Yet, many Canadians say they are not better off, or feel they can’t get ahead, which is confirmed by multiple polls indicating a top concern for Canadians is the cost of living and the economy. How do you explain that? What’s your party’s plan to improve the economy?
One of the pieces to improving the economy is through a major paradigm shift around dealing with the climate crisis, said Kelly. And just because the gross domestic product (GDP) is good, just because there are new jobs, doesn’t mean good-paying jobs are being created that support families and provide benefits, she said.
“York Region, for example, has the highest and fastest growing rate of precarious employment in the entire GTA,” Kelly said. “We know that people here are suffering, they might be employed for 10 hours a week, or working three jobs, and that’s not sustainable and not giving anybody quality of life.”
“We don’t just want to say that as long as the employment statistics say everybody is working, that’s sufficient,” she said. “It has to be working in a capacity that you can actually maintain your livelihood, and when you’re paying 50 per cent of your income on housing which, again is a statistic where York Region takes the cake, renters and people paying mortgages at a higher per cent of their income here than in another part of the GTA is surprising, but it’s true.”
According to a poll commissioned by the College of Family Physicians, the top health care issues for Canadians are: ensuring there are enough health care providers; universal pharmacare; and improving access to mental health services. Can you briefly explain where your party stands on each of these issues?
“We have a term that we use which is head-to-toe health care, which means that no longer do we only see a health-care system being universal and free for everyone, it must include a pharmacare plan so people can access the medications they need,” Kelly said. “Otherwise, they become a cost to the system because they end up using hospitals and more expensive interventions.”
And pharmacare is a big one for the NDP, Kelly said, adding health care is the party’s legacy.
“Head-to-toe health care includes dental care, eye care, pharmacare, with an emphasis on mental health care, all under a universal program,” she said.
What needs to be done to improve voter turnout? (68.5 per cent in 2015)
“Voter turnout is a tough one because I feel that the global place we’re in right now, especially when we look at the United States, for some political parties it’s to their benefit to suppress voter engagement, especially with groups that are typically marginalized, and have become disenchanted as nothing ever gets better for them,” she said.
“For us, we really feel the need to get involved in community, not just during election time but between election time, to be there and hearing what people need, and working with them as a party,” said Kelly. “There’s lots we can do around civic engagement in terms of voter literacy, different events that bring people out to help understand the benefits of that.”
For example, Kelly said there’s a need for more information in high schools, where there’s a move away from civics.
“It’s important to engage young people in these conversations so they understand how the process works and also what’s at stake,” she said.
Canada’s cities are asking federal parties to add more than $800 million a year to the 10-year housing strategy and fill gaps in the plan over its remaining eight years to make renting more affordable and keep people from going homeless. Will your party commit to that?
“We have a very comprehensive strategy around housing, and one of the main tenets is the building of 450,000 new affordable units, so that would probably be more than that amount,” said Kelly. “And that means alternatives like co-op housing, building reasonable-sized homes, different types of housing.”
Housing has been an NDP issue since the 1990s, she said, because the federal Liberals decided to give housing to the marketplace.
“Now we’re in this crisis,” she said. “We’re absolutely committed to doing whatever it takes. We need to say housing is a human right. But we were building affordable housing many years ago and we gave it to the marketplace. A lot of problems came from that decision.”
What one leadership quality does the leader of your party have that will allow him to strongly represent Canada on the world stage?
“Jagmeet (Singh) is a leader of conviction, humility and vision. I’ve often said to people who don’t know him, or heard him speak or work with him, that he reminds me of Jack Layton,” Kelly said. “He’s got the courage of conviction, he inspires hope, but also a practical optimism. And I think all those characteristics are important. But he’s authentic and sincere to the core. He understands the struggles of growing up in poverty and dealing with family challenges. He’s the real deal. And I really appreciate that about him.”
What does your party’s campaign slogan mean to you?
Kelly said the NDP has a few slogans, but the national slogan, ‘In it for You’, means the party is “really trying to focus on the fact that people are struggling and that can mean a lot of things to different people”.
“And that’s who this is about,” she said. “It’s not about corporations, the polluters and the big pharma companies that have had their say for a long long time. This is about individual people, whether they’re Canadian-born, or here now living in Canada, the folks who are running a small business, anyone who’s participating in life here in Canada we need to make this about them, about people, not profits.”
At the local level, Kelly’s campaign features the slogan, For the love of people and planet.
“We don’t see any contradictions between people and planet,” she said.
Should the minimum voting age be lowered?
Yes, Kelly said she and the NDP believe in lowering the voting age to 16.
Do you support a universal basic income program?
“Jagmeet has come out strongly saying that it was a travesty that the provincial government cancelled the basic income pilot project in Ontario, half way through,” Kelly said. “He also implored the federal government to pick up the costs so that it could continue.”
Here's how you can get in touch with NDP candidate Yvonne Kelly:
Campaign office: 17817 Leslie St., Unit 45, Newmarket
Telephone: 289-366-5004
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.ndp.ca/
