Candidates discuss hot election topics during local forum

The Flamborough-Glanbrook-Brant North candidates participated in a forum held at the Paris Fairgrounds on April 15th. Pictured left to right are Nikita Mahood, PPC, Dan Muys, Conservative, Chuck Phillips, Liberal and Peter Werhun, NDP.

By Casandra Turnbull

Managing Editor

The Flamborough-Glanbrook-Brant North Candidates shared their party views on a range of key election topics during an All-Candidates Forum held at the Paris Fairgrounds on April 15th. Hosted by the County of Brant Chamber of Commerce, the Brant County Federation of Agriculture, the Paris Agricultural Society and the Grand Erie Elementary Teacher’s Federation, the two-hour long moderated forum gave residents the opportunity to understand the thoughts and views of local candidates. Dan Muys of the Conservative Party, Chuck Phillips of the Liberal Party, Peter Werhun of the NDP and Nikita Mahood of the People’s Party of Canada had two and a half minutes to answer questions provided to them ahead of the forum. Green Party Candidate Anita Payne was asked to participate but declined the invitation. 

Editor disclaimer: The Paris Independent has summarized each candidate’s response to the five of the nine questions posed by the moderator relating to the economy, environmental, healthcare, housing and Indigenous relations.

Economy - What ideas do you have to create greater economic independence and find new trade avenues for Canada?

 Dan Muys – Canada’s abundance of resources is the envy of the world. With ample lithium, oil, gas, uranium and natural forests, we should be diversifying our trade partners beyond the United States. “There is no reason we should be 77% reliant on the US for trade particularly as an unreliable partner. We have everything the world wants.”

Nikita Mahood – While diversifying trade options for economic independence is important, Canada also needs to focus on rebuilding the trade relationship with the US. “Only Canada and China have failed to come up with trade agreement with the US. We can never win a trade war with a country 10 times our size and we never should have tried.”The PPC would abolish all carbon pricing schemes and encourage federal efficiencies so new products can be made in Canada. 

Chuck Phillips – Canada needs to deal with structural inefficiencies to ensure trade is done internally within provinces. To make up some difference in the loss of trade with the US, “Our leader, Mark Carney, has spent time meeting with the President of France, and has gone to the UK, and so he’s already starting to reach out and form trading relationships that could replace some of the lost trade from the United States as well.” Liberals would also enhance the EI program and protect businesses impacted by tariffs. 

Peter Werhun- The NDP believes we need fair trade not free trade. “We need a build Canadian movement, investing in infrastructure made by Canadians with Canadian materials.” There should be a focus on paying our workers fair wages, something that isn’t calculated when looking a company’s productivity.

Environmental - How will your party protect agricultural land, wetlands and water sources given the need for expansion of our natural resources as an economic driver?

Chuck - In Brant north we have beautiful wetlands, despite rapid growth. “I will work to make sure they are protected and maintain.” The Liberal platform has a climate policy that involved developing clean technologies, removing the consumer carbon tax and continues to focus on reducing greenhouse gases. 

Peter – Locally, there’s a huge issue in Brant County with land use and “I know you don’t have protection of the Greenbelt.” He feels the province should address all the urban sprawl that comes from the Golden Horseshoe and is encroaching on agricultural land. The NDP will also keep the Carbon Tax in place for larger polluters to directly deal with climate change concerns. 

Dan – He vowed to protect Class 1 farmland in Brant County, noting that 27% of the lands Doug Ford was trying to remove from the Greenbelt were in Flamborough and he stood against it. He also noted from personal experience when he worked on the Trans Canada Pipelines project, that the environmental bid aspect was taken very seriously. 

Nikita – She believes Canada needs to utilize our natural resources, oil is valuable, and pipelines need to be built. “Agriculture is very important, especially in this area. I would defer to consult with farmers in local municipalities.” She’d also work alongside the GRCA to do what’s best for the municipality. 

Healthcare - Do you support dental and PharmaCare programs for adults, youth and children?

Peter – The NDP is in full support of PharmaCare and dental care programs in Canada. “If the last thing we do as NDP is make sure they (Liberals) kept their promise in dental and PharmaCare, it was worth it,” he said in reference to the NDP supporting the Liberal minority government throughout the last term. “On dental care, more than one-and-half million Canadians have received dental care because of the NDP… On PharmaCare, nearly one in four Canadians are splitting pills, skipping doses, or are deciding not to fill or renew prescriptions due to cost.” The NDP plan to continue to hold the government accountable on these important programs. 

Nikita - She would not alter the Canadian dental plan at this time so long as it was run efficiently, it would continue to be an asset in Canada. “My support for PharmaCare would be more cautious. Diabetes medications should have been funding a long time ago.” She also said she is against coverage for puberty blockers or hormone therapies, believing it is a form of child abuse. 

Dan – He supports PharmaCare program to target Canadians who do not have coverage, in conjunction with other provincial programs. “I spoke to dentist in our riding who works with national dental program. He was very complimentary that it has helped in oral health and preventative measures in general.” Overall, he said it’s important to have a strong economy that will allow us to invest in health care and social programs. 

Chuck – He said he’s proud to be part of a government that implemented dental care in Parliament and extended that plan to provide coverage to even more Canadians. “The PharmaCare program reduces cost of diabetes medication by $1,700 and also provides reproductive or contraceptive care.” He said the Liberal government will work with provincial and territorial partners to ensure people in this riding don’t have to choose between filling prescriptions or buying groceries.

Housing - What initiatives will your party implement to speed up housing starts and ensure the mix includes more affordable and deeply affordable housing stock, for both rental and purchase?

Nikita – The biggest issue with housing is the mismatch between supply and demand. “The leader of the People’s Party, Maxine Bernier, has been advocating since 2018, that mass immigration was not going to help our housing market for our economy.” She supports sensible provincial and municipal measures to devise affordable housing solutions, such as the city of Hamilton’s new permit system to allow the building of a second dwelling unit on residential properties.

Chuck – He noted our riding is a hot bed of growth with Brant County being one of the fastest growing communities in the country. “So obviously the need for housing is quite significant in our riding.” He said he’s proud of the Liberal platform that has an aggressive plan to double new home construction and affordable housing by working with private sectors. 

Peter – He feels the government needs to be in the business of building affordable houses outside the private sector, which is making homes unaffordable for many Canadians. “It’s the only way to get homeownership and rentals back to acceptable levels.”

Dan – He noted the average single detached home rental in 2014 was $1,432 and today it’s over $3,500. The average unit rental in 2014 was $973 and not it’s $2,100. “We need a mix of housing,” he said, noting that is why he spoke out on the development of the Greenbelt. “We need townhouses, semis and purpose-built rentals.”

Indigenous Relations - If elected, how will your party address Truth and Reconciliation and ensure Indigenous people share in economic benefits and aboriginal rights are respected?

Dan – He noted Conservatives, including his colleague Larry Brock, have been active on Indigenous issues, as well as my colleagues all over Ontario. “We’ve been calling for a number of years for the government to get serious about moving faster on clean water in Indigenous communities, it is now 2025, and it’s an international embarrassment.” He also noted that when he worked on the Capital Gaslink project in 2010 the pipeline went through 36 Indigenous communities all of which were consulted and “those communities wanted this because they want the opportunity to prosper on their traditional territories and no longer be dependent upon Ottawa.” 

Peter – He is appalled that Indigenous people are denied clean drinking water, something he believes is a human right and every community should have access to. He also noted the Liberal government was only implemented 13 of the 94 calls to action and the NDP would work hard to fulfil all the calls to action to live up to the commitment to Truth and Reconciliation. The NDP will also put more focus on investigations into all missing and murdered Indigenous woman. “It is on all of us to find more grace when dealing with indigenous people in this country.”

Chuck – He credits the Liberals for the bold initiative to start the Truth and Reconciliation committee ad commit to implementing their recommendations in consultation with First Nations communities. Mark Carney demonstrated his commitment to First Nations and Indigenous Relations when elected in his first week in office as Prime Minister he went and visited leaders of these Communities. He also noted the Liberals are committed to doubling the acceleration of Indigenous loan program. 

Nikita – She noted Indigenous issues are very complex and won’t pretend to be an expert. She believes tangible services are essential and brining clean drinking water to all communities would be her priority. The PPC would promote equal rights and responsibilities and favour a grassroots approach to programs that enable First Nations communities to make their own decisions rather than ‘talk-down programs from Ottawa that promote dependencies.”

Approximately 100-150 people attended the forum and stayed after to meet the candidates and discuss issues of concern. The Federal Election Day is April 28th. Voter cards started arriving the mail last week.