The South Grey Chamber of Commerce organized a public Federal All Candidates Debate at the Durham Community Centre on the evening of 22nd April 2025. The Chamber's President, Karen Cox kept the candidates' answers in the framework of submitted questions from the Southern Grey area, and ably assisted by the Chamber's Head Office Manager, Chris Keenan who kept the times to a strict measure.

The attending candidates:

• Conservative - Alex Ruff
• Liberal - Anne Marie Watson
• NDP - Chris Neudorf
• Grey Bruce Greens - Natasha Akiwenzie
• United - Ann Gilles

Karen Cox moderator: First off, I would like to thank the candidates

for attending this evening.

We are very fortunate to have five of the six candidates running

for the writing of Bruce Gray.

Owen sound with us this evening.

I would also like to thank you, the audience for coming out to meet the

candidates, to learn more about them, to listen to the candidate's answers to

the questions, and to hear their views.

And lastly, to hear about the election platforms of each

of their political parties.

I also encourage you to get out to vote on April 28th or at the

advance polls when they are open.

But I think they're closed now, aren't they?

They're closed.

They've closed.

They closed yesterday.

Thank you.

So let me go over the format for this evening.

All candidates will be given the opportunity to provide opening remarks.

Up to two minutes.

They can be less than two minutes, but no more than two minutes at one.

Okay?

At 15 seconds, that sign's gonna be raised for the candidates when

you got 15 seconds left to go.

Okay?

So at the 1 45 mark, okay?

That sign will be raised and at the two minute mark, the stop sign will be raised.

Then I will thank the candidate and if they continue speaking,

their mic will be cut off.

Okay?

Karen Cox moderator: So for the questions, they are 90 seconds.

Okay?

So then the same for 15 seconds before that'll come up.

When you hit your 90 seconds on the questions, the stop sign will come up.

And then for closing remarks, that is two minutes.

So we're back to at 1 45 your warning goes up and then at

two minutes you'll be cut off.

So I trust everyone will res respectful this evening.

There will be no heckling or outbursts or anything like that.

If not, if you do, then you'll be escorted out.

So I trust everyone will be respectful and we'll have a great evening.

So the second part of this evening's program is the first round of questions.

These questions were formulated and compromised or comprised from the

common things that became evident from the submissions the chamber received

from its members and from the board.

The second round of questions will be from the chamber members and

the audience, which have submitted prior to tonight online and have

come in through the door tonight.

We probably won't be able to present all the questions that have been submitted.

So the chamber will review the questions to select those with maximum

impact and of maximum interest.

Then we will have the closing remarks, as I said, from each of the candidates

to finish the formal part of our program tonight of 9:00 PM From nine to nine

30, we'll have a meet and greet with the candidates at their tables, which

are just there at the back of the room.

So earlier this evening, the candidates drew numbers to randomly

set the order for this evening.

The candidate that drew number one will be the first up for opening remarks.

Then we will continue numerically until all candidates have spoken.

In the next round, we'll be starting with the candidate that

went second and continue so forth.

So the candidate will be starting off this with opening remarks

and drew the number one number.

Is Chris or Christopher Ndo of the NDP.

So I'm gonna start with you.

There you go.

This working?

No, not yet.

Karen Cox moderator: As I said, they're turned off till you get

to and you can be cut off too.

So Kim.

Hello?

There we are.

I can hear me now.

Alrightyy.

Uh, so, uh, first off, thanks, uh, for coming everybody.

Um, I wanna acknowledge that we are on the ancestral land of, um, several

indigenous nations, such as the, uh, Anishinabe, uh, and the Ojibwa.

Um, and uh, I also want to clarify, uh, I usually go by

Chris, but Christopher is fine too.

Um, so folks, I'm here because I want to build something I. And

some things I'm gonna say tonight, they might sound like big dreams.

They might sound like the Una attainable, the idealistic, but you know, that's

been our history in this country.

We have always wanted to build.

We've been told we can't do it, and we do it anyway.

We were told we couldn't build cities and homes in the wilderness of Canada.

We did it.

We were told that we couldn't build a nation at the

beginning of the 20th century.

We were a little colony, a joke, but we did it.

We built a nation in the ashes of the First World War.

We were told that we couldn't build a better future, but we did in World War ii.

We came together, we rallied together.

We worked together.

We went from a country that could barely produce a thing to the most

important source of resources and supply for Britain during the conflict.

We did that by working together.

We were told after the war we couldn't build a better country healthcare for all.

What an impossible dream.

A minimum wage.

That's absurd.

A 40 hour work week.

What are you thinking?

An ending child labor.

How absurd.

We were told we couldn't build it, but we did.

We built those things and it was the NDP that led that way.

And I'm telling you, we can keep building.

We can build a fair Canada, we can build a better Canada.

We can build a Canada that works for Canadians, not for the corporations.

Let's build this country together.

Folks.

We can build a Canada for us.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Chris.

Next up is Anne Gillies.

Thank you.

So a constituent called me this weekend and said, what kind of person decides

to open advanced polls on Good Friday and hold them over Easter weekend?

The most important weekend for the Christian family in Canada.

You know, got me thinking how far the leaders of Canada have fallen

from our founding father's beliefs.

And I'm proud to represent the UPE United Party of Canada,

UPCA party, born of conviction, courage, and a commitment to truth.

My kind of party.

The United Party of Canada is a value driven organization based on

the bedrock values that Bill Canada family classic education, religious

freedom, honoring the value of every human life security prosperity.

And reestablishing truth, justice.

Strength and freedom across this nation.

The United Party of Canada will return Canada to its lost moorings.

A peace, uh, sorry, a peace order, and good government as founded on the

supremacy of God and the rule of law.

As set in the Bill of Rights and the charter of rights and

freedoms, we will ensure Canadian.

Every Canadian is, has the sovereignty.

The Canadian people are sovereign.

We will unleash Canada's economic power.

Ensure military and border security repeal, restore and

protect firearm ownership.

Ensure responsible immigration support strong families, and

defend life at all stages.

The United Party is a movement to restore and reforge the nation

to rebuild a sovereign, free and morally grounded Canada.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Ann.

Next up is Natasha, aka

Ani.

My name is Natasha, aka.

I'm from Laville, first Nation living at ing Up just north

of uh, ton, I guess it is.

So why am I running?

Well, it's a very long story.

It's, um, but I can also remember a conversation with my

birth mother from Thunder Bay.

And we were sitting there, I was, as I was, uh, contemplating the next couple

months coming up and she had told me, she's like, we need more trailblazers.

And if it's not you, then who?

So I made a big decision and I carried on through, you know, being

the, the good daughter and listening and saying, this is what's needed.

More indigenous voices are needed to be heard and seen.

More female woman voices are needing to be heard and to be seen, and also people

who actually really care and understand the environment and future generations.

Also need to be seen and to be heard.

So that is why I am running, because the environment in our

future is so important to me.

I look out upon all of your faces and I, I can see grandchildren, I can see

children, and I wanna make sure that we actually see, they see what we have

and that we have enjoyed over the years that we, we can save some of that.

I was talking to somebody about if the earth was a huge bank

account and there was trillions and trillions of dollars that the earth

was holding, what does that mean?

It doesn't mean that we ought to spend it, it means that we are supposed to

have a very tight budget and limited so that it lasts for many, many generations.

Because I wanna be able to come back and, I don't know, in a few thousand

years and look down and see that my grandchildren are enjoying it.

So, with that, again, regret for having me here.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you Natasha.

Thank you Natasha.

Next up, Alex Ref.

Good evening everyone.

Uh, first off, I want to thank the chamber for hosting this this evening.

It's great to see everybody.

The last time I was in here with the stage up here, those when Minister Bill Blair

was here, uh, speaking about firearms.

And this place was completely packed and it did get a little loud 'cause he

got a bit of an earful when, uh, he was speaking here, uh, taken away, uh, gun,

lawful gun, uh, owner's rights here, here in Canada when the first sort of it

all started back in the 2018 timeframe.

So, who am I?

I'm Alex Ruff.

I grew up in the farm in Terra Family of seven.

I'm the oldest of five brothers, grew up there on the farm, lifeguarding,

working at the hardware store, joined the Canadian Armed Forces.

Spent 25 years in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Six operational deployments.

One during the, uh, ice storm, two in Bosnia, two in

Afghanistan, and one in Iraq.

Left Iraq and jumped into federal politics in under two weeks.

I've had the privilege of being elected twice as your member of Parliament

to be your voice in Ottawa, and it's a privilege that I really take

and hold sincerely, uh, important.

I might be one of the least partisan mps in the House of Commons.

I really believe in getting things done and working collaboratively.

I've had the privilege of the last two and a half years to sit on the National

Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, where we co-authored

the report on foreign interference.

And everything on that committee was done unanimously with no votes,

all parties, all people present, uh, a hundred percent agreement.

I was part of an all party group that, uh, really focused on getting former Afghan

women mps out of Afghanistan into safety.

Again, working behind the scenes to, to make that happen.

Look, my priorities for our area haven't changed really since day one.

We gotta support our agriculture.

It's the driving economic factor here in our area.

We gotta support, support small business.

We gotta support our seniors, and I will always support our military and veterans.

I'm doing this because I think I can still make a difference and I'm asking

for your support and I'll share more of the platform as the night goes on.

Thanks.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Alex.

And next is Anne-Marie Watson.

Ann-Marie: Thank you, Karen.

And thank you to the South great Chamber of Commerce for hosting this event.

As you heard, I'm Anne-Marie Watson and I'm the liberal candidate

for Bruce Gray Owen Sound.

I have almost 30 years of experience working in the not-for-profit sector and

living on our family farm in West Gray.

I recently retired from my position as the executive director of

the Derma Hospital Foundation.

After 10 years of raising funds and recruiting doctors, I am committed

to protecting this rioting from the fallout of the US triggered trade war.

Small business and farms are often the hardest hit and will need

help to thrive in a new economy.

As a retired healthcare nonprofit professional, I bring a unique

perspective on accessible healthcare for rural residents.

I. Rural hospitals and emergency rooms are closing and many

residents don't have a doctor.

There are too many roadblocks to bringing in new doctors, even

Canadians who were educated abroad.

I wanna eliminate the barriers.

Increased medical school spaces cut the red tape to getting a

doctor certified in Canada and get people to healthcare they need.

I see too the need for affordable housing and wanna ensure that some of the promised

500,000 new homes per year promised by Mark Carney end up in Bruce Gray.

These houses will provide homes, create jobs, stimulate the

local economy, and attract young people to the skilled trades.

I'm committed to supporting families access to programs like the Child Tax

Credit, dental Care, and PharmaCare.

Over 60% of Gray Bruce families bring home less than $90,000 a year making

them eligible for those benefits.

Those benefits provide.

Affordable healthcare and financial relief for families.

Otherwise, they would be forced to go without and or add to the already

stressed numbers in emergency rooms.

My campaign also focuses on agriculture and rural development.

I will work to ensure Bruce Grace exceeds in an open Canadian economy and

receives the support it needs to do that.

I believe in building a future where rural voices are heard and respected in Ottawa.

I wanna give you the voice and representation you deserve.

Thank you,

Karen Cox moderator: Annmarie.

Okay, we're now moving to the first round of questions.

Just wanna remind the candidates it's 90 seconds, not two minutes.

For these, um, the candidate will be starting off with the

first question is Ann Gilles.

So the first question is, interprovincial trade barriers disproportionately

impact rural businesses by limiting their growth potential.

What concrete actions will you take to reduce or eliminate these

barriers to benefit rural economies?

Thank you for that.

Question.

Am on?

Yep.

There we go.

So, as your representative, I'm committed to addressing these issues

with practical, actionable solutions.

First, I will push for standardized regulations across the provinces.

We need that, especially in the sectors such as agriculture,

manufacturing, and small business.

This will eliminate the confusion of different rules with each province.

So streamlining.

It's all about streamlining, and it's going to make it easier for

local businesses then to expand and operate across the borders.

This is also going to include supporting agreements like we already

have with the US CMA, which is the US Canada, Mexico agreement, but

especially tailored to the provincial, uh, trade, interprovincial trade.

We'd like to create a centralized, user friendly digital platform where businesses

can quickly access uncomplicated information quickly and uncomplicated.

Let's remember those words, so on the intervention, interprovincial

regulation, and I'd support the creation of an interprovincial trade task

force, bringing together government representatives, business owners, and

experts to identify the specific barriers and I will fight to reduce and eliminate

interprovincial tariffs and fees.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Anne.

Next up is Natasha.

Okay, thanks.

Okay.

Um, so the.

The borders between the provinces.

I think that we all need to really consider what does that mean?

Um, I think we all need to look at them as being that we need to

figure out ways of working together.

I was just talking to somebody this morning about how a di a dental hygienist

has different rules in BC compared to Ontario and has to take all this

testing to be able to work in Ontario.

So we need to be able to figure out ways of working around this to be

able to bring these things that we need here in Ontario and vice versa.

If our staff want to leave here to go to bc, how do we make this work?

So we need to be able to figure out how and negotiate and share with each

other our struggles that we're having in each community, in each province,

and how we can actually work together to be able to share our strengths

and our knowledge and our skilled people to be able to make this work.

We.

Very good in communities, we're very good in communicating.

We're very good skilled people.

We just need to be able to talk with one another and talk about how

to work together as a, a country.

Um, my ancestors at one time didn't really have a border.

We were able to travel from side to side and north to south, so I think that

is maybe something we can learn from.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Natasha.

Next up is Alex.

R.

Canada's first conservatives will bring home free trade within Canada.

We're get Mr. Paul's committed to doing this, that within 30 days of forming

government, he will get all the premiers around the table to remove those

trade berries as quickly as possible.

He's gonna create, uh, one standard set of trucking rules.

It's ridiculous.

We got different trucking rules as, uh, truckers go across this country.

He's gonna create the Blue Seal Professional licensing standards so

workers can work in all provinces.

This is specifically targeted to healthcare workers.

I'll get into more details on the healthcare question to get this done.

The government will, or a conservative government will offer

the provinces a free trade bonus.

Every time a provincial government removes a barrier, the government, uh,

the, uh, the conservative government will calculate the resulting boost

in GDP and give that increased federal tax revenue to the provinces

for schools, hospitals, or whatever else the province chooses as well.

We need to get more skilled trades workers, uh, across this country.

He's committed to funding 350,000 apprenticeship positions across the

country, including restoring the, uh, $4,000 grant that used to exist, uh,

that, uh, make sure that stays in place.

It's kind of ridiculous that trade barriers within the Canadian provinces

are more costly than trade barriers between Canada and other nations.

As is a result now we do more trade outside of Canada than within.

This needs to change and it's something a conservative

government's committed to doing.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Alex.

Next up is Annmarie Watson.

Ann-Marie: Interprovincial trade barriers divide Canada's economy

into 13 separate entities.

Regulations and barriers prevent Canadian business from benefiting

from trade within Canada.

While Canada did not ask for a trade war, we are in one and must respond

in ways that strengthen Canada's sovereignty and economic position.

Carney wants to create one economy.

The economic benefits from eliminating our internal trade

barriers can more than offset the adverse effects from current US.

Tariffs a critical element of the plan.

Agriculture and food products, wine and other alcoholic beverages

and more will be allowed to move freely from coast to coast to coast.

This cannot be just directed by the federal government.

However, the premiers must agree and work together to accomplish it.

Mr. Carney has had meetings and says that the Canadian premiers have

agreed to develop a national trade strategy, and several provinces

have already reached agreement.

Carney said too, he intends to have free trade in Canada by

Canada today at a federal level.

Removing barriers to the free movement of workers goods and services would

increase the size of Canada's economy by $250 billion, equivalent to more than

$6,000 for every Canadian if elected.

I would work to resolve any local issues from with the elimination and find

solutions to those areas that prefer to keep them, such as large bins of apples.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Ann-Marie, and the last candidate to

speak to this question is Chris ndo.

Uh, look, I think everyone on the state agrees that we need to

take down interventional trade barriers and establish Canadian free trade, but

at the same time, I think we need to be cautious of moving to recklessly.

We will accomplish this, we're going to work to accomplish it, but we

need to work with the provinces and we need to create task force working

with provincial organizations as well.

Think about accreditation.

If we tear down accreditation systems without considering how they protect

employees and how they protect clients, we may have situations where

there's no accountability for services like therapy or veterinary care.

We have to think about this seriously.

In addition, this is going to be a massive economic overhaul, and that

gives the potential situation where small businesses might be consumed by larger

ones when they face new competition.

To mitigate this, we need to prepare to give federal transfer support not

to big corporations, but to small businesses, co-ops, and other small

community systems to maintain them.

I am 100% in favor of taking down the potential trade barriers, but it

concerns me when we approach situations so cavalierly, this is going to be

a massive transition, and we need to be putting workers first, co-ops

first, small businesses first, and the interests of the little guy first.

We've got local breweries in Ontario.

We've got local breweries right here in our, in our Bruce Gray Owen sound.

We need to make sure that they are not gonna be go gobbled up by the big guys.

So we tear down the barriers, absolutely, but not at the expense of the little guy.

That part matters too.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you Chris.

The candidates will be starting us off with, the second question is Natasha aka.

And the question is, rural communities face distinct housing

challenges, including shortages in affordable and market rate housing

impacting workforce attraction.

What measures will your party undertake to improve housing affordability

and availability in our community?

Thank you.

So, I understand this question.

I, I work with a lot of indigenous youth.

My three sons all live at home, um, and they're close to 30 years old, and I

don't know how to get them to move on other than to stop cooking with cheese.

Um, so yes, affordable housing is so important and it's so important to

every single one of these communities.

First Nation communities, small towns, large cities.

Every single community needs housing.

But we also need affordable rent.

We really need, um, places that youth can move, young people,

young families can move to and actually be able to put money away.

To be able to save for a mortgage, to be able to be able to save, to be able

to put a nest egg away for the future.

It's so hard to pay rent right now and pay your hydro and your insurance and car

payments and I don't know what else, but a lot of other things and it's difficult.

So we also need to be able to offer skilled trades in schools and different

kinds of training so that they can go out into the, out into the great wide world

and bring a, a trade right from high school and have at least a step up and to

be able to make a future for themselves.

With that on end.

Thank you me.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Natasha.

Next up is Alex Ruff.

Thanks.

So a new conservative government will build 2.3 million homes

over the next five years.

We will ax the GST on all new homes under 1.3 million.

That would be a savings of $20,000 in a new 40 or $400,000 home.

We'll incentivize cities to reduce development charges with every dollar

of relief and municipality offers and development charges reimbursed

by 50% up to a maximum of 50,000.

We'll scrap the underused housing tax that costs more to administer

than it is collected in taxes.

We'll eliminate the liberal's new tax on home renovations to support

homeowners, or move the requirement to report the sale of your home to CRA.

We'll establish a 60 day standard that the CMHC executives must meet

for approving or rejecting affordable housing financing applications.

We'll remove the onerous CMHC program eligibility requirements to make it

easier for home builders to access the benefits of affordable housing funding.

We will simplify and harmonize the national building code to make it

more affordable to build safely with a maximum flexibility for new

materials and new building methods.

We'll increase housing density around federally funded transit stations.

We'll require plain language in the housing regulations to

eliminate gatekeeping and delay.

We'll return to a housing first approach to eliminating homelessness so that

individuals experiencing homelessness can have a stable place to live and will build

6,000 new homes on Canadian forces basis.

And as I mentioned earlier, the apprenticeship program will help get

these houses built right across Canada.

Thanks.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Alex.

Next up is Anne-Marie Watson.

Ann-Marie: Thank you.

We are in a housing crisis in Canada.

Past governments neglected their role in building housing for decades, and the

market failed to build houses at a pace that kept up with our growing country.

This has left younger generations facing rents, down payments, and mortgage

payments so high that housing is a barrier instead of an opportunity.

I have two adult children that worry if they can ever own a home.

Well, I'd like to see them get there.

A new liberal government will build more homes with Canada's

most ambitious housing plan.

Since the second World War, it will double the pace of construction

to almost 500,000 new homes a year with a housing plan that will build

Canada Homes, get the government back into the business of home building.

Provide over $25 billion in financing to innovative prefabricated home builders.

Provide $10 billion in low cost financing and capital to affordable home builders.

Catalyze private capital, cut red tape, and lower the cost to home building.

Cut municipal development charges in half for multi-unit residential housing.

Reintroduce a tax incentive which will spur tens of thousands of

rental housing units, facilitate the conversion of existing structures

into affordable housing units.

Liberals will eliminate the goods and service tax for first time

home buyers on homes at or a wonder under a million dollars.

This plan will provide employment for many thousands of construction workers and

increase the demand for skilled trades.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Annemarie.

Next up is Chris ndo.

Um, I wanna highlight a few things that some of my

fellow candidates have said.

Um, Ms. Watson stated that, uh, it's time to get government back into housing.

It's an interesting statement.

Jean Cian, liberal prime Minister 1992 said, we have to get government

out of housing, which is what actually caused this crisis.

Alex r referred to the 200,000, uh, homes.

Pve, uh, proposes to build well considering he sold 800,000 as housing

minister under Stephen Harper that were affordable houses to private interests.

That puts him 600,000 under.

Look, I'm sorry, the liberals and conservatives caused this problem

and I don't trust them to fix it.

Lemme tell you our plan.

We're gonna put $16 billion directly into building affordable homes.

We're doing this by building Canadian, by buying Canadian.

I told you we're building.

This is gonna create millions of jobs and houses that people can actually buy.

Cutting.

The GST is only gonna allow a tiny portion of people to buy new

houses, and it's gonna just drive up the cost of privatized houses.

We need to get by 20, 35, 20% of all houses in every

community in Canada as affordable non-market, not-for-profit homes.

And that means building not 200,000 in the next couple of years.

It means building 3 million and at affordable rates, not-for-profit.

But folks, rent is a problem too, because a rent is outta control.

People can't afford to buy houses.

So from now on, what we're gonna say is this.

If you want to use the federal transfer to build homes in a province, you're

gonna have to use unionized labor.

You're gonna bring in rent controls and normal rent evictions.

We have to make a fair housing policy for those buying homes and those renting.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Next up is Anne Gilleys.

Thank you.

Young families can't afford to buy and seniors struggle to downsize.

Businesses are struggling to attract workers who have nowhere to live.

It's more than a housing issue.

It's an economic roadblock.

The United Party of Canada is ready to change that with practical

community first solutions.

First, we'll cut red tape and return real zoning control to our

municipalities so we can build what we need, not what Ottawa developers or

uh, people in Toronto think we need.

Second will empower.

Landowners and local builders through tax relief and low interest loans to

develop affordable housing on unused and underutilized land, not farmland.

Third, will embrace innovative housing models like modular homes, tiny

homes, and convert vacant commercial buildings into affordable apartments.

And also we want to incentivize generational housing.

I think that's a really important thing to look at in our re region.

Fourth wheel revive skilled trades so that young Canadians can train, work

and build right here in our community.

Housing is a human need, not a financial product.

It's time to take back control.

Build a future where families can afford to live, work, and

thrive right here at home.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Anne.

We're now gonna move on to question number three, which is, rural communities

have limited access to healthcare services impacting their ability to

attract residents and businesses.

What steps will you take to improve rural healthcare delivery and access to medical

professions professionals in our area?

First off is Alex Ruff.

Thanks.

First off, the conservative party believes that all Canadians

should have reasonable access to timely quality healthcare services

regardless of their ability to pay.

The provinces and territories should have maximum flexibility to

ensure the delivery of the medical necessary health service within a

universal public healthcare system.

Secondly, Mr. Polly have announced over almost two and a half years ago the Blue

Seal program offering it up to the liberal government to basically pla plagiarize

and take on, uh, which is basically taking, I believe, almost 20,000.

Current healthcare workers from other countries that are in Canada and

recognizing their foreign credentials.

Uh, this is done obviously not by politicians, but working with

the provinces and territories to get those credentials recognized

immediately and freeing up those people, uh, as quickly as possible.

And that's whether or not they're told that they need to take additional

training, uh, what they're allowed to practice, what additional

exams they need to do, et cetera.

But it needs to be done as well.

We'll provide small loans to help new Canadians complete

that Blue Seal certification.

We'll bring home Canadian students studying medicine abroad by

expanding residency spots for them here where they wanna work.

Within our healthcare system, we'll rapidly recognize the US

board certified professionals to bring more qualified physicians to

meet Canadians healthcare needs.

This will all add 15,000 doctors by 2030 as well.

We're, uh, going to.

Bring forth a seniors national, uh, senior care strategy

that's important for seniors.

This is especially important here in Thank you,

Karen Cox moderator: Alex.

Thank you.

Next up is Annmarie Watson.

Ann-Marie: I recently retired from my role as executive director of

the Derma Hospital Foundation.

I work daily with doctors and nurses and work to not only raise

funds, but to recruit doctors.

And I saw firsthand how important a hospital is to its community

and the impact a challenged healthcare system has on people.

A Mark Carney led government will invest in the public healthcare

system to add thousands of new doctors, build new hospitals, and

deliver better mental health services in partnership with provinces,

territories, and indigenous peoples.

A Mark Carney led liberal government will have thousands of new doctors.

Increase medical school spaces, build new medical schools, expand residency

programs, recruit qualified doctors from around the world and streamline

credential recognition for internationally trained doctors and nurses.

Build hospitals, clinics, and community care centers.

Invest $4 billion to construct and renovate community healthcare,

including long-term care homes and community clinics.

Increase access to team-based care, mental healthcare, and expensive

machinery such as MRIs, modernize Canada's public healthcare system.

Cut wait times in half for life-saving medications and treatments.

Launch a task force for public healthcare innovation.

Implement a national license for physicians and nurses.

Reduce the administrative burden on doctors.

Improve mental healthcare and support to address the overdose crisis.

Invest in women's health.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Anne-Marie.

Next up is Chris ndo.

Uh, once again, I wanna refer to something said

by one of my fellow candidates.

Uh, Anne-Marie referred to the, uh, dental care benefits that are now being extended

under the current, uh, liberal government.

And I'd like to congratulate the government on this action that

the NDP frankly forced them to do.

The liberals did not want to pass that benefit.

The liberals did not want to expand.

PharmaCare.

Indeed, the further expansion of dental care for all individuals making

$90,000 a year should have happened in January, but they dragged their

feet till it's only happening now.

I'm extremely proud of my party for forcing that, but folks,

we need to be on the lookout.

Creeping privatization is happening in Ontario and in Alberta, and when

Mark Carney was asked if he would prevent this, he prevaricated, he

would not commit to stopping it.

And of course, why would he?

He made a great deal of money for Brookfield running private hospitals.

Folks, we're gonna change things.

We're gonna increase federal transfers for support for healthcare and provinces

on the condition that they publicly report its spending to ensure that

none of it is going to private hands.

We're gonna keep expanding PharmaCare and dental care and protect it from a

cons, uh, to a almost a conservative from a liberal government, which has

promised $28 billion in austerity.

Cut.

Which would necessarily include further dental and pharma care.

Expansion times are getting tough, folks.

You guys need support.

We need support.

That's how we make it happen.

Finally, I wanna say that we're gonna streamline accreditation for doctors

and we're gonna have a $5,000 tax credit for nurses because folks, nurses work

every day like you couldn't imagine, and they are not paid adequately.

We're gonna use this credit to fix that.

We're gonna make nursing attraction again.

Thank you, Chris.

Karen Cox moderator: Next up is Anne

Gilleys.

Thank you.

Well, I think the liberals have had eight years to implement

their healthcare policies and it hasn't been very effective.

The United Party of Canada believes rural healthcare must be a prime

priority, not an afterthought.

We're committed to attracting and retaining doctors, and I really

agree with much of what Alex says.

But we're going to expand local health clinics and urgent care centers and

ensure small hospitals are not closed like the one in Durham, but are

appropriately staffed and funded to stay open and serve their communities.

That's what it's all about.

Investing in mobile health units will ease the burden of ER visits

and will improve rural broadband.

So telehealth becomes a reliable way to connect with specialists

and mental health professionals, saving time, money, and stress.

And finally, we'll support, uh, access and funding to holistic

and preventative healthcare.

Nobody wants to talk about this, including natural, natural op, naturopathy,

chiropractic care, physio, physiotherapy, and nutrition based approaches.

What we eat matters, folks.

These approaches have been shown to be effective and cost saving.

We will fund a rural healthcare task force and let's create a system that's

accessible, compassionate, and rooted in the values of our rural communities.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Ann.

Next up is Natasha Zi.

So healthcare, I, I know it's an important issue.

So I, I believe in building a team without a team, I wouldn't be up here

right now without our healthcare.

They wouldn't be up here without a team.

So I think we need to help them s strengthen their team,

ask them what they need.

Do they need more doctors?

Do they need more support?

Do they need more administrators?

So having those very important discussions.

'cause I know what it's like to have a career and trying to balance

family, uh, time down, self-care, and also taking care of your patients.

And I also understand the long list of a to-do list that never ends.

So we have to remember that they also have lives and that they

have to hold them in balance.

So what do they need?

I don't know what they need.

I would love to have more conversations with this.

Do they need more doctors?

They more staff.

And it's important.

It's so important to be able to talk with one another and

share these important issues.

And I'm very sure we can come up with solutions for this.

If we can communicate and work as a community to come up with solutions

and with bringing in doctors and nurses and other healthcare.

It's a beautiful area.

This whole area is absolutely stunning.

I think we should ex, you know, have them come up and explore and go hiking with

us and maybe they'll stick around mi.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Natasha.

Now we're gonna move on to question four.

Rural tourism and cultural industries significantly

contribute to our local economies.

How will you support rural communities to strengthen and diversify their

tourism and cultural sectors?

First off is Anne-Marie Watson.

Ann-Marie: In 2024, tourism in Canada contributed 1.78% to the

country's gross domestic product.

The tourism sector also supports a significant number of jobs with

704,000 Canadians working in the sector, or 3.4% of total employment.

Our area ranks tourism as number one in revenue generating activities,

followed closely by agriculture.

The Canadian government funds tourism through various programs and

initiatives including the Tourism Growth Program and Destination Canada.

These programs support communities, small and bus and medium sized businesses

and not not-for-profit organizations.

In developing local tourism products and experiences, it's important

that we come together government, industry, and communities to power

the economic engine that is tourism.

That's why too, we've created the federal tourism growth strategy.

Rural and remote tourism provides opportunities to experience the

full measure of Canada's regions.

Tourism provides billions of dollars in revenue and accounts for

10% of local jobs in rural areas.

Visitors can stay at a working farm or ranch and learn about the

rigors and rewards of rural life.

They can gaze at the Northern Lights or join a dog sled excursion.

They can attend agriculture fairs, purchase local goods, and enjoy historical

settings and cuisine, country environments and opportunities for rugged adventures.

Together we can bring tourism to new heights and soar together.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Anne-Marie.

Next up is Chris ndo.

So, oh, oh, there we are.

Uh, so, you know, um, my mom's actually going on a, uh, trip

to Greece, uh, this Friday.

Uh, she, she booked this before the election.

Um, and, uh, you know, I, I'd love to go with her.

Uh, uh, I'm not doing that because I don't have $8,000.

Uh, and look, this is the reality of tourism folks.

Tourism goes down, people don't have money.

I'm speaking as I think I can say to say the youngest person sitting up here.

I would love to travel more.

I would genuinely love to travel more throughout Canada.

I've been as far as, uh, just the, uh, the cusp of, um, uh,

just the cusp of New Brunswick.

Uh, I saw some whales.

It was cool.

I want to see more.

I'd love to see Western Canada.

I would adore traveling across the country.

I can't afford it.

This is the reality.

I cannot afford it.

And we talk about how young folks, especially my age, are killing this

industry or killing that industry.

We don't want to kill industries.

We can't pay for them.

How do you get tourism back?

You put money in people's pockets.

When people don't have financial security, they're not thinking

about places to travel.

They're not thinking about how beautiful our beaches are or how

spectacular the Bruce is, or the extraordinary shipwrecks at Tober Maori.

They're not thinking about that.

They're thinking about keeping a roof over their head and food in the table.

So I'll tell you what we're gonna do.

We're gonna make life more affordable.

That's how we do it.

We put money in people's pockets than they start to travel.

Beyond that, folks, I say we want more culture.

We gotta make art cool again.

And that means helping students.

Students don't wanna study the arts because they can, can't afford to.

Folks.

Thank you, Chris.

Karen Cox moderator: Next up is Ann Gilleys.

Thank you.

Well, as the oldest person here, um, I wanna say I don't think I, we

really started traveling until we were in our late fifties, so take heart.

Um, and that's because we couldn't afford it.

Nothing's changed, folks.

It's hard to save money for traveling, but it's a privilege

to live in Bruce Gray own sound.

Don't you agree?

It's a privilege.

And our local economy is significantly supported by tourism.

Our area is a natural wonderland, so let's enjoy it.

It's there for outdoor enthusiasts and we also have rich and

historical sites such as Gray Roots.

And I love going to Big or yeah, to Big Tub Harbor.

What a great place to be.

We can encourage people to come, but we have to recognize

that we need to protect our.

Rural riding.

We're blessed with year-round tourism and we also need to invest in some

infrastructure like public transit that would encourage young families in the

city who can't afford to get up here.

What a great way to encourage them to come up quick, in effect,

in very inexpensive transit.

I think we need to preserve our heritage by educating individuals with our national

resources and tourism must benefit both community and the tourist without.

Thank you, Anne.

Karen Cox moderator: Next up is Natasha, aka.

So this is the topic I can actually get, uh, you know.

Excited over.

This is totally my field.

I love tourism.

I train in indigenous guides to take people out hiking and

canoeing and paddling and camping and birding and uh, like I said,

I can go on for hours about this.

So when I was driving up here and driving through this area, I was, uh, you know,

you, you have the mighty sine here.

You have, uh, these rolling hills.

You have this magnificent forested area.

So many different birds, like just standing outside and listening to them.

I was just, you know.

Taken in by all of that magic you have here.

Enjoying your local cuisine tonight was absolutely spectacular.

I'm a, a foodie by heart.

I'm a fisher.

I used to sell to some of the topnotch restaurants in Toronto, so

you guys have so much here to offer and it's absolutely magical up here.

I've walked the Boost Trail, I've hiked it, I've paddled in Algonquin.

There's so much to share up here and I have camped in people's

backyards and everything else.

And waking up to hear the fogs ripper wheels at two o'clock in the

morning on, it's slightly annoying, but you know, we can work with it.

But tourism training people, getting people up here safely, having people to

show them a really good time, showing them all the little secret places to go.

Spectacular, exciting, make.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Natasha.

And next up Alex Ruff.

So I'm gonna start out by just agreeing with some of

the points that already made.

Uh, Anne made some, Emory made some great points about some of the federal programs.

I mean, a conservative government's not touching those.

Those are all essential programs to keeping tourism across our country,

especially in our rural communities.

I. Uh, Anne and Chris both talked about affordability and, and the

importance that, uh, we need to, to be able to be able to afford to

actually experience what we have.

And one of the ways we're gonna do that is cut those taxes to make

sure that people can afford as well.

We can encourage things.

It's one of the actual pluses that there wasn't many, but there was a few pluses

that came out of the, the, the pandemic.

One of it was the stay vacation kind of idea.

And we actually seen in incredible growth here in our neck of the

woods in Bruce Gray Owen sound.

One of the things that I do almost monthly, I haven't done it the last few

months and I didn't do it this morning, considering the campaign is there's

actually monthly RTO seven meetings that.

I am quite frequent, the only elected official out of both, uh, municipal,

provincial, or federal representation that attends that meeting on a monthly basis.

Mainly, I don't have anything to stay, but it's, it's mainly

county representatives that are, uh, staff that are speaking at it.

But it's keeping me in the loop, uh, along with, uh, key tourism

sectors to understand some of those key challenges that tourism is

facing right here in Bruce Gray.

Owen Sound, and I just wanna finally say is, yeah, we do need to continue

to promote things like our national park and, uh, the Bruce Trail and, and

Phantom five because the yard treasures that we have right in our own backyard.

Thanks.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Alex.

Now we're gonna move on to question number five.

Many rural businesses and communities struggle with insufficient

transportation infrastructure.

What concrete steps will you take to improve rural roads,

bridges, rail, and public transportation services in our area?

And first up is Chris ndo.

So folks, when I look at a problem like this, I look to

history for the uh, for the solution.

It's amazing how many great ideas you can find in history.

In the 1930s during the Great Depression, the United States realized that it could

rebuild its infrastructure and expand it while simultaneously employing workers.

This was called the Civilian Construction Corps.

Later they called the WPA.

If you really want to get in the nitty gritty of the historical details,

folks, we have a similar plan.

Buy Canadian.

Build Canadian.

We're prepared to invest billions of dollars, infrastructural improvements,

building roads, bridges, dikes, everything we need to keep the transport moving.

But we have a couple conditions to do this.

First off, it's gotta be Canadian products.

Second Canadian businesses that support Canadian unions.

'cause we're making good jobs when we do this.

We can create millions of jobs as we directly invest.

In the infrastructure of local communities, working with local

workers, local businesses to expand.

We cut the corporation needs out of it and we focus on hiring union labor.

We can do well folks by doing good, but to do this, we're gonna need to

raise revenue and that means we're gonna have to tax the ultra rich

in order to pay for the rest of us.

We can do it.

Folks, like I said before, we can build a better and fairer Canada.

We can make good jobs to make strong Canada in the process.

That's how we're gonna do it.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Chris.

Next up and Gillies.

Thank you.

Well, the roads are cru crumbling around us, aren't they?

It's Spring.

As your representative with the United Party of Canada, I will fight for

dedicated rural infrastructure funding money set aside specifically for our

roads and bridges, not just what's left.

After big cities are done, we'll partner with municipalities to

prioritize repairs and we will investigate a renewed investment in

rural rail to support local industry and explore passenger service options.

Once again, we need practical public transit, like regional bus

routes, community shuttle services to help seniors, students and

workers get where they need to go.

Most importantly, we'll create a rural transportation advisory

council made up of local voices, your voices, so people who live here.

Are the ones guiding the solutions, let's build a better road forward.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Anne.

Next up, Natasha, AKA.

Transportation.

So I live in the Sticks and Well Nation, I mean is kind of off the

beaten path and, uh, to get to town by taxi, if you don't have a license

or a vehicle, it costs $60 one way.

So that's an additional $120 to just go buy groceries.

And I've also experimented with going down to Guelph because I've worked

with a lot of people down in Guelph, uh, because of my not-for-profit and

my land trust to go and try the Ghost Train, which is absolutely fantastic.

It runs twice a day.

It gets me from Owen Sound, it gets me to downtown Guelph.

In a couple of hours I'm able to catch up on my emails.

Uh, have my breakfast on the bus and you know, just enjoy the trip.

So I think a lot more of that would be lovely.

I can remember when I wanted to go visit my dad who's in Penang.

They used to have a bus that used to go that way or a van.

It doesn't go that way anymore.

So I think those, those connections of vans and buses and, uh, communities

coming up together with maybe, you know, fundraising or something

to be able to come up with a van.

'cause I know that's what our community does is they have a van that goes

around and collects the elders once a month to take them grocery shopping.

So I think there are ways and roads.

Yes, we need more funding for roads because we're getting very

tired of fixing our trucks and cars every couple of months mere.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you Natasha.

Next up Alex Ruff.

So look, I'd agree.

One of the things that I hear lots of about, even though it's uh, mainly a

municipal issue with some of the local bridges, it's, I've heard it impacting

farmers and so many small businesses.

All the municipalities really across our riding are, are facing that.

How would a conservative government fix this?

Well, first off, we're gonna pre, uh, pre permit shovel-ready zones

for development to eliminate delays in red tape so we can start building

this infrastructure again as well.

Conservative party will, uh, allocate a portion of the federal retail gas,

gasoline taxes to the provinces and territories to fund infrastructure.

We'll create a one stop shop to safely and rapidly approve resource projects

with one simple application and one environmental review within one year.

This will make sure we can rapidly approve the projects Canadians need

more of now, which is mines roads, LNG terminals, hydro projects, and

nuclear power stations as well.

We'll create a national energy corridor, which will be a pre-approved transport

corridor for pipelines, transmission lines, railways, and other critical

infrastructure to rapidly build the projects our country needs and move

our resources from coast to coast, bypassing the US and making us less

reliant on the American market, and that'll drive more money into our

economy and which will allow more federal funding for other infrastructure,

even in areas like us as well.

A key thing as the labor, I already mentioned the apprenticeship program.

We need the youth trained to actually build this infrastructure.

And finally, we need to work collaboratively, public and privately

to get this infrastructure built.

Thanks.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Alex.

And last one up Annmarie Watson.

Ann-Marie: Well, it's spring.

Who hasn't had to dodge around a pothole or beget faced with a bridge

close sign, that's our reality.

While the responsibility of the maintenance and repairs for those

infrastructure items are ultimately the municipalities or even the

provinces, the federal government contributes to funding road and bridge

repairs through cost sharing programs.

Provincial and territorial governments are primarily responsible

for planning, building, and maintaining their road networks.

The federal government provides financial assistance for designated

highways and specific projects.

The federal government also provides some funding assistance through

cost share programs for important maintenance and expansion products.

It has.

We have various infrastructure programs such as investing in Canada Plan, which

includes funding for infrastructure projects like Roads and Bridges.

The Canadian Community Building Fund provides stable funding to provinces

and territories, which they then allocate to their communities for

various infrastructure projects.

The Kearney LED budget just announced $84 million through the

Rural Transit Solutions Fund to enhance and improve rural transit.

If elected, I would be happy to provide whatever support I am able to to provide,

to promote funding applications and to promote Gray and Bruce projects checks.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Ann-Marie.

So that's the first round of questions that we got from

our board and our members.

We're now moving into the second round of questions that came

in from our members and from.

The community.

So Chris, you've got some more questions for me?

I've got a pile here.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay.

Okay.

Karen Cox moderator: Question number six.

What is your party's ID ideas to ensure healthy and sustainable

Bruce Gray owned sound communities?

This includes access to family, doctors and ER services, approval processes for

innovative medicines and medical devices, prioritizing investment across the

life sciences ecosystem and speeding up efforts to address health human resources

shortages across our healthcare system.

And first up to answer this question is Ann Gilles.

That's a very loaded question.

My goodness.

There's a lot of things in there.

Well, let me just say, um, with the healthcare particular, and I think

we've discussed that quite a bit, but, um, I think for me and particularly

looking at our environment and looking at things coming together

for people in this community, I go back to the whole holistic.

Um, healthcare initiative, and I think we need to stick with that.

I need to, I think we need to initiate it.

I think we need to help people understand it.

And I think that by doing that we are going to actually help people make

wise decision for their own healthcare.

And I mean, there's so many as aspects of that question.

I'm not sure I'm grasping it all, but, um, I think we've, we've really

dealt with healthcare and we're all committed to really making sure rural

healthcare flourishes in this community.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Ann.

Next up is Natasha, aka.

So that was a very long question,

so.

I'm not too sure if I grasped it all.

Um, but I, what I do know is what it feels like when you ask for an alternative

care or medication that's not covered or a treatment that's not covered, or

if it's only covered partially or if you would think about something alternately.

Um, it because it's just a little bit too different.

Um, I recently heard because we do a lot of hiking, um, that you now

can get a prescription, uh, for, to, to take a two hour hike a week.

So there's, it's slowly coming.

Around.

And I would like to see that to be approvals a lot faster.

'cause there are different ways that everybody would like to be able

to heal and feel better and to be able to take care of themselves.

And each person is on its own, their own path, their own decisions.

And when we are given that control over how we want to heal and how we wanna

feel and how we wanna care for ourselves and our family, I think that's really

important and it should be supported mere.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Natasha.

Next up Alex Ru.

I'll do my best to address most of it.

So we talked about the health sciences, the research and development innovation.

The conservative party recognizes the importance of health sciences,

research, and enhancing health.

The health of Canadians is a dynamic, uh, sector onto its own.

I already mentioned the importance of the Blue Seal program and getting,

uh, more qualified doctors that are already here in Canada actually working.

Uh, as well spec.

Something that I didn't mention earlier is drug reform and innovation.

We, we've lost so many 50,000 Canadians to opioid overdoses

over the last number of years.

Uh, Mr. Polly have in a conservative governments c committed to funding

50,000 Canadians and for recovery and treatment right across this country.

We will, uh, create a dashboard to ensure that transparency of data and allow the

provinces to better track best practices.

We believe in compassionate intervention which would allow judges, descendants,

offenders to mandatory treatment for addiction to help people struggling

with severe addictions as well.

One of the key things too is support, uh, family caregivers and Canadians

with special needs in particular, making the caregiver tax credit refundable,

renaming and streamlining the disability tax credit to a certification of

disability and make access automatic for related benefits and funding.

1000 autism support worker training spots annually to better support

students, families, and schools.

And we'll double the reach of the ready, willing, able program,

which will help 4,000 Canadians with autism or intellectual

disabilities to find and keep jobs.

Thanks.

Karen Cox moderator: Next up is Annemarie Watson.

Ann-Marie: Um, so.

In a nutshell, I wanna do this in bullet form.

We need to hire more doctors.

We need to educate more doctors.

We make it easier to bring doctors here.

We need to build more hospitals and community care centers.

We need to cut red tape to certification process.

We need to reduce paperwork for doctors.

We need to integrate nurse practitioners into their role

as a primary care provider.

We need to improve the capability for telehealth medicine.

We need to improve drug and mental health program delivery, and we need

to strengthen women's health access and make their rights permanent.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you Ann Marie.

And last one to answer this question is Chris ndo.

So, um, there are a number of things that have already been

addressed that, uh, I would agree with.

I think we do need to streamline the process for, uh, doctors,

especially for migrant doctors.

Uh, I think that also includes a federal subsidy to help, uh, doctors,

uh, who are coming from other countries to reach accreditation in Canada.

Simplifying that with the Pan-Canadian licensing system, which will help

Canadians, doctors in Canada and migrant doctors to actually work in this country,

as well as grading residencies for doctors who want to come and work here.

Um, but I think there's more to it than that.

We talk about investing in health science.

We've been cutting investment in health science and our relentless

efforts to cut taxes for the ultra wealthy, and we gotta bring that back.

Covid was a huge lesson for this.

We couldn't manufacture our own vaccines, for goodness sake.

And the relentless austerity of the liberals and the

conservatives haven't helped.

We need to start putting money back into public health.

Back into science.

Health.

And I wanna say one of the thing.

Mental health is health too.

We talk about the opioid crisis.

I have to be honest.

Mandatory rehabilitation.

Look, I like the idea of the conservative supporting government

funded rehabilitation programs, but you cannot force someone to do that.

It is as much a mental health issue as a physiological issue.

And we need to have mental health supports available to all Canadians, which the

NDP is committed to do, to create mental health supports for all Canadians whose

insurance programs do not cover it.

This is a bigger issue, folks.

We wanna invest in science, health, again, invest in mental health.

We wanna bring nurses and doctors.

We wanna make things better for 'em and streamline the process.

Thank you so much.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Chris.

That was a long question.

Many put together I think.

Um, question number seven is shorter candidates.

So I think you'll appreciate that.

Um, it is what will replace the carbon tax rebate for people of low income.

And starting us off is Natasha aka.

So what will we replace it?

So with the carbon tax, wouldn't it be nice to be able to take some of

the oil and gas subsidies and actually putting it into something else, like,

you know, helping lowering the cost of groceries and helping lowering

some of the other costs so that we could actually save some of the money.

I know that's not a, a really favorite, uh, topic, but it's, you know, we

keep putting money into oil and gas subsidies, and it should be going into

a, maybe a po, possibly a different pocket that's needed out there.

And, uh.

Because the gas and oil, you know, one of these days the tap will all

turn off and it won't be there.

So we might as well start adjusting to it now.

So it's a difficult decision to cut the carbon tax.

I, I understand that and, and I know it hurts a lot of families, but I think we

can also reinvest it reallocated into other things to be able to help us save

some funds and some money in the long run and maybe make groceries and other

things a little bit more accessible.

With that me rich.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you Natasha.

Next up, Alex Ruff.

Well, well, first off, I'd, I'd remind everybody out there that the

carbon tax rebate was revenue neutral.

So it was money that the, uh, liberal government was taking from you and just

giving back to you in a bit of a wealth redistribution plan, in my opinion,

because most of the money was coming from rural Canadians and going to Urban Canada.

So there's no rebate to be given because ultimately they were taking

that money from you in the first place.

But ultimately, what are we gonna do to make life more affordable?

We're gonna cut the lowest personal income tax by 15%, so from 15% down to 12.75.

That will sa save the average Canadian $900 or $1,800 per year for a dual

income family will acts the carbon tax in its totality, including the

industrial carbon tax, which does get passed on to us as consumers.

We will raise the tax-free income threshold for those working seniors that

still are capable of working, uh, after 65 without having any impact on their

old age GAS or CPP earning up to 30.

If you may earn up to $34,000, it would be tax free.

We'll acts the planned food packaging tax on fresh produce that drives up uh,

can, can drive grocery costs up by 30% and will end the new wavering requirement

for natural health products that will raise costs and we will never hike taxes.

In fact, Mr. Paul EVs is gonna pass the Tax Payer Protection Act, which will

make life more affordable for everyone.

Thanks.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Alex.

Next up, Annemarie Watson.

Ann-Marie: Well, Alex said the rebates were originally there to provide

refunds to people for the amount that they were charged in carbon taxes in

various items that they purchased, including groceries and gas at the pump.

With the carbon tax gone, costs will go down even more than they have

already, so therefore your savings out of pocket will replace what you are

getting with the carbon tax rebate.

Incentives are gonna replace the, um, punitive measures of the carbon

tax in a manner to earn, to encourage people then to use more green

energy and be more conservative.

Excuse me.

We will be reducing income tax for the middle class, which will provide a

savings of approximately $850 per family.

There's gonna be a 25% reduction in the, on the minimum

required amount taken of a rif.

We're also gonna increase the payments of OAS and CPP.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you Anne-Marie.

Next up is Chris nor Ndo.

Sorry.

That's okay.

Alright, I really like this question.

Um, I wanna talk about taxes for a second because it is true that $900

could be saved under the conservative tax plan for working Canadians.

And it is true that Inner 50 could be saved on the liberal plan.

With the NDP plan, it's 1400 and the reason for that is simple because only

working Canadians are getting a tax cut.

I'll be honest, folks, if you make more than $1.4 million a year,

you should not vote for me because I am gonna increase your taxes

if you make $1.4 million a year.

But if you don't make $1.4 million a year, I'm actually gonna bring your taxes down.

Whereas the liberals and the conservatives will actually reduce

taxes for those making 1.4 million.

And Mr. Ruff said that he's not gonna raise taxes.

I am for folks that are making millions of dollars.

Millionaires are gonna pay more taxes under me.

Billionaires are gonna pay more taxes under the NDP because we believe

that the rich have gotten enough tax breaks and it's time for the

tax cut to go to working Canadians.

But you know what folks we're doing more than that.

We're gonna build a east west electrical grid that's gonna bring

green energy to Canada and create millions of good unionized jobs.

Folks, a rising tide lifts all boats.

If we create more good unionized jobs, that means that competitors

in turn have to create better pay for their own employees or risk

them going to our union jobs too.

That's how we increase overall, uh, revenue for Canadians

with a green New deal.

And I also wanna mention, we're gonna take GST off of essential goods.

No one should be paying GST on goods, like, uh, needs

for groceries or baby care.

And on top of that, we're also gonna be putting rent, uh, putting price

controls on critical groceries.

Folks, we're gonna make affordable by helping you.

Thank you,

Karen Cox moderator: Chris.

Next up is Ann Gillis.

Well, I wanna clarify something.

The carbon tax is not gone, as our liberal candidates suggests.

It is still being applied to industries.

It's just gone.

For the short term, and I can probably guarantee you that, um, it will be

implemented full force once again.

But we wouldn't need refunds if we didn't have a carbon tax, which

our government has placed on us.

So let's get this right.

We need to unleash Canada's economic power, utilize our natural resources

to restore our economic prosperity.

We need an east to west pipeline because it creates prosperity

and we can do it with good, good environmental strategies put in place.

The United Party of Canada would scrap all net zero restrictions,

eliminate emission caps, and revive our energy and resource sectors.

We need to put our people to work and we need to utilize the energy.

That we have in this country.

We need to use it to trade and we need it for our people.

So let's cut the taxes where they need to be cut, but let's

energize our economic resources.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Anne.

Okay, we're gonna move on to question number eight.

Agriculture and AgriFood businesses are the pillars of our local economy.

How will your party support farmers in addressing the rising input costs, labor

shortages, and market access issues?

And first up is Alex Ruff.

Always good going first on these longer questions.

So first off, processing capacity is something we need here.

I've talked about that for the last five years.

Uh, especially for meat processing.

It's kind of ridiculous that we don't, we we don't have more of it

here, and that there that really, the control rests with only a couple, uh,

processors in here in the Ontario region.

Uh, as well.

We need to, uh, that comes back to the apprenticeship program

that I already talked about.

We need to get more people interested into these programs and fund them and make

sure they understand how important it is.

Um, what else on the, uh, on the ag side of the house, we,

we need to shop local, right?

We, we can produce more.

It's kind of ridiculous that we have local restaurants and local businesses

or us that it's more expensive to buy local beef or local sheep or local pork

sometimes than it is, uh, food that's coming in from around, uh, the world.

We need to stop the liberal fertilize, uh, fertilizer tariffs, those input costs

that are driving up the cost of foods.

We gotta lower input costs.

Our farmers are the most environmentally, economically, fiscally,

conservative, driven people out there.

They understand that they're not gonna waste money putting extra

inputs into our ag production, uh, to, because they're just, they're

not, that's not the way they operate.

They understand they gotta make everything good.

All that keeps prices down.

And we need to, uh, support our farmers right across not only Bruce

Gray and sound, but across Canada.

Thanks.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Alex.

Next up Annemarie Watson.

Ann-Marie: So, um.

Number one is we also are gonna create more rural and remote processing capacity.

Too much of our, our processing is being shipped to the United States right now.

So we're selling our animals, or we're selling our food and we're buying it

back in shrink boxes or bottles of ketchup and similar things like that.

We can do that at home.

We have the knowhow, we have the technology, we have the smarts.

We have the product.

Let's do it here.

We are gonna provide financial assistance to farmers to help adjust to the the

realities of interprovincial trade.

We are gonna provide financial assistance for equipment purchases.

We are gonna incentivize and provide rewards for green technology, both the

use of it and their creation of it.

We have one program right now, and there actually are two flattering

or co complimenting each other for the use of foreign workers.

There has been no cap on the use of foreign workers right now.

The challenge to finding labor for farms is with Canadians.

Farmers can get all of the foreign workers they want.

It's whatever they can afford.

And what they can afford is determined by how much money

they get back for their product.

So perhaps we need to look at increasing the cost of their product at the market.

We need to increase the revenues for farmers to be successful in this way.

We need to make the transition for transition for temporary workers

a little bit smoother and we have to make it easier for farmers to

access and use green technology.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Ann Marie.

Next up is Chris nrf.

Well, how are you gonna keep 'em on the farm?

You know, look, uh, it's a World War I joke.

Uh, folks, one of the biggest problems we have when it comes to the

agricultural community is that young people are not staying on the farm.

Um, and I think it's because a lot of young folks, uh, just

see the overwhelming costs.

And that's why one of my strategies for keeping our farms

strong is to help young farmers.

So I want to expand the CALA in order to give loans at a hundred percent

repayment for co-ops and smaller farms to adopt green technology.

I also wanna revisit the land transfer tax.

I wanna reduce that for small farmers to make it more affordable for small farmers

and young farmers to actually inherit the farms of their parents rather than feeling

forced to sell it off to big corporations.

Beyond that, I also want to commit.

That the NDP will support risk management through federal transfers

and expand those if necessary.

We are prepared to do so at a provincial level.

We've already advocated for that expansion.

At a federal level, we'll support that expansion with federal transfers.

AgriStability is also gonna require our support.

Uh, Mr. Ruff mentioned, uh, the expansion of processing and so did, uh, Ms.

Watson and I completely agree with that, but I think we need a build Canadian

by Canadian approach to build it.

I wanna build abattoirs here with good union labor and local

workers who are unionized.

I don't want to do it through big corporations, but I definitely

think we can and we can make ourselves richer for it.

We can do well by doing good.

Thanks folks.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you.

Chris.

Next up.

And Gilley's,

just thought I'd steal yours.

Karen Cox moderator: Hey, there you go.

Yeah, sure.

Well, I don't know.

I'm just listening.

Um, and thinking.

Wow.

Can we not just use some common sense and why do we hear the same

thing over and over and over again?

Yes.

We need local processing who closed it all down?

I mean, the communities didn't wanna have to transport their

produce to other centers.

I mean there's, there's certainly some transportation and all of

those things, but you know what?

There's so much that we can do ourselves and that we've been, you

know, eliminated from doing so.

We need some common sense with young people.

I think we need to train, I need think we need apprenticeships.

I think we need four H to be taught in our schools.

Why not start with the young children and really have them have programs

that excite them about farming and animal care and crop growth.

Like why not do something that's going to really grab hold of them at

a young age and say, I wanna do this.

I wanna find a farmer and I wanna app apprentice with that person.

We need the housing initiatives.

Um.

Um, yeah, we just need so much in our own community, so let's bring

it back and let's have field to fork programs that are going to

help our community and our families.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Anne.

And last candidate to speak on this question is Natasha Koen.

So I come from a fishing background, so I'm used to processing

fish, a lot of fish, and I know what it's like to look at hundreds and

hundreds of pounds of fish and try to figure out what to do with it and how

to get it to Toronto from ne Shiming.

So 268 kilometers is one way.

268 kilometers is back.

So I understand even the legislation, the rules, the public health, all of

that criteria that goes into that.

So yes, we need it locally, but I think we also need to mentor people

of all ages because this is a hard industry to get into by yourself

because you don't know the rules, you don't understand what you need.

I didn't understand I needed plastic walls and stainless steel

tables and to purposely slant the floors of a house so it goes to a

floor drain, I didn't understand.

Uh, you know, having to get things swabbed and get things tested constantly.

So a lot of education, mentoring, encouraging each other, talking to

one another, sharing each other's skills and the produce that you can

bring and the supplies that you have.

So it's a lot of caring and sharing within the community.

'cause I think it can be done as a community comes together.

So yes, fishing's a little bit different than a lot of agriculture,

but it's very similar sore.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Natasha.

We're gonna move on to question number nine.

Many students in Bruce Gray, old sound struggle with anxiety,

depression, and other mental health challenges, yet schools often lack the

resources to properly support them.

What will your party do to improve mental health services

in schools, including access to onsite mental health professionals?

And first off is Anne-Marie Watson.

Ann-Marie: S So part of the liberals, um, healthcare platform

does include good mental healthcare.

It's right out there with drug and addictions because they are suffering.

So my son actually suffered from anxiety and some depression,

and yes, it was a struggle.

He didn't get the help he needed in school and we had to go and

find outside help with that.

And he ended up, um, I think he's, I think he's doing very, very well.

But it was a struggle.

So through funding the healthcare system that's gonna provide mental health

issues, my suggestion, and I would strongly follow this up, is let's take

some of those specialists to the schools, or let's bring the students that are

suffering in the schools with their families to the mental health experts.

And I would like to target a lot of that money towards youth mental health

caregivers and specialists and programs, because if we don't get this treated when

the kids are young and give them a future that they can count on, then I really

worry about the length of their future.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you, Anne-Marie.

Next up is Chris ndo.

So, uh, folks, it's, uh, an undeniable reality that mental

health is rapidly becoming a crisis, especially for our young people.

We've seen mental health in the young community, at least reports

of mental health concerns, mostly being anxiety and depression

increase by about 300% since covid.

Um, I don't usually talk about, um, my own job as a teacher, but I can

say that I see it when I'm at work.

Um, and whenever a student talks to me about it, I, I, I always

wish that we had more to offer.

And the reality is this is a, this is a major problem because we have not

taken mental health seriously as a part.

Of the Canadian Health Service really ever since its inception, and it is

not enough to say that, well, we want to do more good mental health now.

We have to actually commit to it, and I'm proud to say the NDP has committed to it.

We are going to extend mental health insurance to all Canadians who do not

currently qualify under their jobs insurance program because we believe that

mental health is just as important as physical health, which we also believe

includes your teeth and your eyes.

Radical notion, I know, but we need to expand this insurance program because

the infrastructure in our school systems just isn't logistically enough.

Kids need to be able to access through family insurance as well, and only the

NDP is committed to making that happen.

We have to put the money in folks.

That's how you fix problems.

You make the sacrifice.

Thank

you.

Karen Cox moderator: Next up is Anne Gilles.

So this is my area.

Um, I was a marriage and family therapist, but dealt specifically

in the area of complex trauma.

Throwing money at the problem is not what we need.

We need to identify the causes and the number one cause, uh, for children.

And we do have a mental health crisis in our, in our nation.

The number one cause, two things, cell phones, social media, and confusing our

children with gender ideology confusing them where they think that they don't

even know if they're a boy or a girl.

If you don't think that creates a mental health problem, then

you've got another thought.

So throwing money isn't going to resolve it.

Cleaning up.

And looking at the problem and finding solutions and doing something with

our education system is going to go a long way into helping schools

aren't mental health clinics.

They're there to teach our children if they need help, it's up to the parent

to help them get the help they need.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you Ann.

Next up is Natasha, aka.

So I believe a community raises children and I believe that

a community also supports children.

And I also believe that, uh, children should be celebrated when they're asking

for help because I know how difficult it is to ask for help, and I know.

It's hard to do.

So when a child asks for help to deal with whatever it is that they're dealing

with, they need to have that support.

They need to be given that support.

They need to be helped to find that support in a very private, gentle,

caring, respectful way so that they're not scared to ever ask for help again.

And that's, it's so important to do because you want that child to turn into

an adult that can also ask for help, and also know how to support other children

that they see for the next generation, and how to be able to offer help to the next

generation with as much care and as much love and as much respect as they received.

There's no judgment.

Everybody needs help.

And as a community we can help each other.

So if we need to put more social workers, more people that care

in classrooms, let's do it.

And please help the children first because they're our future.

Me, Gretchen.

Karen Cox moderator: Thank you Natasha.

And the last candidate to speak to this question is Alex Ruff.

So the first thing is we gotta all acknowledge the mental health is health.

Uh, and it's more than just our students actually that need, need this.

We've seen this a lot over the last little while, uh, with it's, it's not

the, it's the students, it's our seniors, it's our farmers, it's our military,

it's our emergency, uh, management.

Our police, um.

You know, everybody needs help.

This is why I was so proud to support and luckily it did go through unanimously my

conservative colleague, Todd Doherty's, uh, motion to establish 9 8 8, which

is now a simple three digit number that anybody in Canada can call and get access

to a mental health worker immediately.

And you don't gotta dial some one 800, you know, long number.

It's something that everybody can access to get those more qualified professionals.

I already talked about the Blue Seal program, and that includes all healthcare

workers, so your mental health workers, et cetera, that if we have people that

are trained to deal with mental health, um, we need to get them here into Canada.

Look, this is personal to me.

Um, most of y'all know my military background.

Uh, you know, I've seen, uh, you know, soldiers unfortunately take

their lives because of dealing with post-traumatic stress.

It's something we need to address.

It's something I've spoken at in schools 'cause I think education's important

and we just gotta encourage everybody.

If you're feeling that you need help, ask for help.