Federal Liberal candidate Tony Van Bynen retired from municipal politics in 2018 after serving on Newmarket council for 18 years, including three terms as its top political boss.
Before Van Bynen jumped into local politics in 2000, he worked in the banking industry as a branch manager for three decades.
Van Bynen counts among his accomplishments that he is a 'community builder' who helped to revitalize Newmarket’s downtown Main Street and build Riverwalk Commons, establish emergency women’s shelter Belinda’s Place, and restore historic Old Town Hall.
A permanent art installation known as the Newmarket Community Living Room, and the naming of a square at Riverwalk Commons, Van Bynen Square, was rolled out this year as a tribute to Van Bynen’s nearly two decades-long political career.
The longtime Newmarket resident, Newmarket Food Pantry volunteer, and former mayor was the only candidate to seek the Liberal nomination. He was acclaimed in July 2019.
Van Bynen lives in Newmarket with wife, Roxanne, while their two daughters and grandchildren continue to have strong ties to the community.
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NewmarketToday has interviewed each candidate in the Newmarket-Aurora riding, asking them the following questions about themselves and the issues. Here's how Liberal candidate Tony Van Bynen responded.
Why are running to be Newmarket-Aurora MP?
Van Bynen said he spent 18 years as an elected official, working to build community and he believes the Liberal Party’s outlook on building a better future for the community are the values that best align with his own.
“It’s important for me to carry on what I’ve been doing at the municipal level and finding some federal support to do that as well,” Van Bynen said.
How does your background and experience make you the best candidate?
For Van Bynen, it’s about knowledge of the community and he said he’s demonstrated that over the last 18 years working in municipal politics.
“I think it’s my perspective for innovation and being future-focused,” he said. In addition to that, after 30 years of banking, I understand that a good business case doesn’t just involve finances, but community impact. Those are characteristics, I think, are what the community should look for in their candidate.”
Van Bynen adds that he’s done a lot of work in the community, from Belinda’s Place and Inn from the Cold, to the Newmarket Food Pantry.
“I’ve rolled up my sleeves to try to make Newmarket a better community and I think that’s something that shows my commitment,” he said.
What’s the most pressing issue in the 2019 federal election campaign?
“The No. 1 has to be the environment,” Van Bynen said. “I think the Liberal plan has far more substance than the Conservative plan. The Liberal plan is progressive, and focused on making things happen going forward.”
Van Bynen said other issues are top of mind for him, including “making it better for everyday families to make ends meet”.
“We’ve made a lot of progress there and created a lot of jobs. Those are all good foundational things that we need to build on,” he said.
Mostly, he’s concerned about government cuts. Van Bynen said the community has seen provincial cuts to health care, education and social programs, which alone could cost York Region about $14 million.
“We need to invest our way into a positive future, rather than cut our way back into a recession,” he 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?
“For a start, we’re putting a price on pollution and returning that money back to everyday Canadians,” Van Bynen said.
He also mentioned a “significant undertaking to designate forests and parks so that the trees, which are the lungs of this country, will have a broader exposure”.
“We’ve phased out coal and single-use plastics will be banned, as well,” he said. “Those are all things that will help us get to the goal.”
From a municipal point of view, Van Bynen pointed to a few examples, such as Canada’s first green subdivision in town, as progress. As well, he touts progress made at the local level with regard to stormwater management “that gives people an opportunity to be more conscious about how they manage stormwater”.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress at the local level and also at the federal level,” Van Bynen said.
What’s your message to the many young people in York Region 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?
This is a challenge and it’s the key question that’s coming up in this election, Van Bynen said.
“No. 1, I’d like to remind them that the Liberal Party is the only party that’s put together a national housing plan,” he said. “There’s a very substantial investment being made in the national housing program. And, we’ve modified the home ownership plan to make that more reachable.”
“The Liberal Party is the best solution for (young people) because we’re focused on all of those issues, we’ve made a lot of progress on those issues, and this is not the time to be cutting back and undermining all of the progress that we’ve made,” he said.
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 recent 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?
“We’ve made a lot of progress in turning around from the recession that we inherited from the Conservatives,” Van Bynen said. “We’re focusing on programs where people can learn new trades, we’re investing in those, investing in education, and we’ve been the party that lowered the taxes on the middle class and we’ve asked the wealthy one per cent of the country to pay more of their fair share.”
Van Bynen spoke of other federal programs that he believes contributes to improving the economy, such as the Canada Child Benefit and improving access to daycare.
“We’re going to be increasing the Canada Child Benefit, and there’s also relief for seniors,” he said. “We need to make sure we take a balanced approach and focus on the most vulnerable first, that’s been a priority for this party and that’s why I signed on to this.”
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?
“This is all the substance of what the Liberal Party’s priorities are,” Van Bynen said. “We don’t need to look too far to see what the impact of the cuts to health care has had here in Ontario.”
Van Bynen said his party’s pharmacare plan “is a plan that’s been developed and will be brought forward”.
“Probably, we’ll hear more about pharmacare as we get into the platform coming forward. But it’s been a priority for the Liberal Party,” he said.
“I’ve been on the (Southlake) hospital board for the last nine years. I understand and genuinely believe that hospitals are working hard to be as efficient as possible, and when you cut back on hospital and medicare funding, you’re cutting into the bone, you’re not just cutting fat. That’s a concern of mine.”
What needs to be done to improve voter turnout? (68.5 per cent 2015)
Van Bynen said he thinks a lot of people are discouraged with some of the aggressive behaviour that takes place on social media, and they may be tuning out because it’s not a productive conversation.
“We need to spend more time focusing on what our ideas and options are as opposed to spending time dissing things,” he said. “We need to recognize that all politics is local and we need to make sure that, locally, we need to get to the front door and let people know what we stand for.”
Voters should take a look at what’s important to them and make an informed decision, Van Bynen said. That’s in the best interests of democracy, he added.
“It’s important for people to read local news to understand the issues, parties, etc.,” he 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?
“I can’t speak for the party, but I can certainly say that as a municipal official, I’ve seen the impact of homelessness, and I’ve done a lot of things to help abate that with Belinda’s Place and volunteering with Inn from the Cold,” Van Bynen said. “ But I can say, without question, that municipal governments are mature governments and should be treated as such, not as a child of the province.”
“Local politicians have the ability to make the right decisions that are specific for the issues in their community,” he said. “So, the extent to which the federal government enables municipalities to respond to their community needs, I fully support that, and it’s something I want to take to Ottawa on behalf of Newmarket-Aurora.”
What one leadership quality does the leader of your party have that will allow him/her to strongly represent Canada on the world stage?
“It’s (Justin Trudeau’s) focus on building a good economy and building a just society for the vulnerable,” Van Bynen said. “There’s too much polarity and the prime minister is focused on doing things right and helping people that need it the most.”
What does your party’s campaign slogan mean to you?
“To me, going forward is that there’s an important future decision that we have to make in this election,” Van Bynen said. “I think we’ve made a lot of progress in building the right foundation, community, and economy, and going forward means that we shouldn’t go back to some of the cuts and recession-causing decisions that were made before.”
Van Bynen said the Liberal Party’s ‘Choose Forward’ slogan is about “thinking about the future, the environment, the children, and the generations that are going to inherit our decisions”.
“We want to make sure we think long-term as opposed to short-term,” he said.
Should the minimum voting age be lowered?
“If we think that people are mature enough to drive a vehicle, than those individuals would probably be just as conscientious in their responsibility in making an electoral decision,” Van Bynen said.
Do you support a universal basic income program?
Van Bynen said he’s seen the original business on the basic income pilot project when it was proposed and implemented by the provincial government, and it seemed to have merit.
“But the sad part is, that program was cancelled before we could get the facts to support that,” he said. “It seems that it’s something that could be explored and it’s sad that it was slashed by the current provincial Conservative government.”
Here's how you can get in touch with Liberal candidate Tony Van Bynen:
Campaign office: 12 St. John's Sideroad, Aurora
Telephone: 289-802-4415
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://tonyvanbynen.liberal.ca/
