By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
On the night of the Federal candidates’ French-language debate, the Port Hope Lions’ Centre hosted a Candidates’ Night for the Northumberland-Clarke riding, sponsored by the Port Hope and District Chamber of Commerce, Northumberland Central Chamber of Commerce and the Clarington Board of Trade (which cumulatively represent more than 600 businesses) at the Port Hope Lions’ Centre.
Member of Parliament Philip Lawrence, who lives on a small farm near Orono, has been the riding’s incumbent since 2019, sharing the stage with three challengers.
Green candidate Christina Wilson is a elementary-school teacher, who was born and raised in Grafton and lives there still with her family and chickens.
NDP candidate Ava Becker was born and raised in Cobourg and is currently a Trent University student.
Liberal candidate John Goheen is an educator who has worked in schools throughout the riding
Responding to a new and unpredictable American president is on everyone’s mind. Goheen said that a Liberal government would commit to breaking down interprovincial trade barriers by Canada Day, which could stimulate the economy to the tune of a GDP boost of $70- to $80-billion. Locally, he would expand the work of the Community Futures Development Corporation and the Eastern Ontario Development Program. Some $2-billion would be allocated to help offset the impact of tariffs on the auto-manufacturing sector.
Lawrence said a Conservative government would insist on a renegotation of the USMCA trade agreement, and establish a one-stop mechanism for approvals that would expedite building and development of all kinds. Long-term, he said, Canada must become an economic fortress to strengthen our country and weather the storm.
Wilson called for economic sovereignty through creating strategic reserves of Canada’s resources through Crown corporations to protect workers and communities form trade tariffs. Should any backlog of resources result, she said, “we can trade with trusted trade partners.”
The NDP supports retaliatory tariffs, Becker said, but acknowledged they are a risk.
“We need to focus on a bigger strategy – ensuring we are a more self-sufficient country,” she said.
“While retaliatory tariffs might feel good at the moment, trade wars hurt everyone,” Wilson added.
Retaliatory tariffs need to be applied strategically, Lawrence said, so they hurt American business and help Canadian business.
“Donald Trump is a bully, and he will keep pushing us unless we stand up to him,” he said.
Goheen likes his party’s efforts to open up markets around the globe, committing Canada to working with the European rearmament process, for example, and establishing the country “as a stable, reliable partner for other countries, even though we are not currently getting along with one of our past economic partners.”
Barriers to eliminating interprovincial trade barriers were discussed. Lawrence noted the different building codes, for example. Wilson had heard that Early Childhood Educators’ training varies significantly, requiring a few months in some provinces but two years in Ontario.
Examining the housing crisis, Wilson pinpointed part of the problem as real estate being treated like the stock market instead of as a humanitarian need. She’d like to see the Federal government back in the business of building affordable housing.
“Housing is the cornerstone of our platform,” Goheen declared, referring to plans for “arguably the largest housing initiative since the end of World War II.” This means 500,000 new hones each year, incorporating methods (such as modular homes) that will get them up faster.
At the same time, Lawrence stressed, the land on which they will built should not be high-quality farmland.
“Build up,” Wilson urged, arguing for increased density.
Those homes will have to be built within the reality of 30% of today’s residential construction workers expected to retire within five years.
“We need to make sure we invest in that,” Lawrence urged – “work with our union brothers and sisters to invest in training, and give tax relief to our trade workers.”
He cited the example of a CEO who could write off travel expenses, while a trade worker who travels to Thunder Bay to work bears all the expenses. He said a Conservative government would reverse this.
Goheen spoke of an annual $8,000 grant for students interested in pursuing skilled trades, as well as additional funding for individuals in the trades wishing to pursue additional training.
Addressing the shortage of skilled workers should include nurses, doctors and teachers in that number, Becker said.
Though health care is a provincial responsibility, candidates addressed the doctor shortage, which Lawrence termed “probably one of the top five issues I have heard at the doors – individuals who don’t have family doctors.”
He called for streamlining the path of foreign-trained doctors who cannot at present practice in Canada.
Wilson said every Canadian should have access to a family doctor, nurse practitioner or community health-care team, and added that the Green party supports mobile health-are units that travel to serve rural areas.
Goheen called for more accountability on the part of provinces to ensure they spend their Federal health-care dollars appropriately.
“Private clinics are receiving three times the amount for a procedure that a public hospital receives – that is unacceptable,” he stated.
Asked what issue they would prioritize, both Becker and Wilson chose affordability. Lawrence and Goheen advocated for a strong local business and manufacturing sector.
