{"id":11920,"date":"2015-09-16T08:38:18","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T12:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=11920"},"modified":"2015-09-30T16:24:40","modified_gmt":"2015-09-30T20:24:40","slug":"newmarket-aurora-candidates-set-out-social-priorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/newmarket-aurora-candidates-set-out-social-priorities\/","title":{"rendered":"Newmarket-Aurora candidates set out social priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was a packed house last week as five of Newmarket-Aurora\u2019s Federal candidates laid out their priorities on social issues in an all-candidates\u2019 meeting hosted by the ecumenical KAIROS and Holy Cross Lutheran Church.<\/p>\n

Addressing issues on the minds of Canadians across the country, each candidate set out different agendas, but some presented similar concerns, particularly when it comes to reducing and eliminating poverty, addressing the plight of indigenous peoples, and increasing access to affordable housing.<\/p>\n

First up was NDP candidate Yvonne Kelly, who cited public healthcare not only as a top priority, but also as a \u201cflagship\u201d of Canadian life. Her party has a \u201creal commitment\u201d to work with the provinces to extend and improve health care, something she claimed has been \u201cneglected\u201d over the past decade by the Federal government.<\/p>\n

Tied in with healthcare was priorities two and three, namely boosting the income level of Canadians to help them make ends meet, and supporting affordable housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncome determines the kind of housing we can afford and it determines what level of education we can pursue, which obviously impacts our life, and influences the amount of stress we endure on a daily basis as we try to make ends meet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Addressing this, the NDP has proposed a $15\/hour minimum wage, investment in employment insurance, reducing the retirement age to 65, investing in local infrastructure, introducing a $15\/day childcare strategy, and \u201cclosing tax loopholes\u201d for millionaires.<\/p>\n

Conservative candidate Lois Brown\u2019s top three social issue concerns included climate change, violence against aboriginal women, and the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis.<\/p>\n

Climate change, she said, has to be addressed in a \u201cmultifaceted way,\u201d balancing environmental stewardship and economic development. <\/p>\n

Ms. Brown said she has investigated violence against aboriginal women both on and off reserve, and is particularly proud of $200m committed to funding shelters, combatting family violence, and providing increased economic and leadership opportunities for women.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no question the deaths and abductions of these women are a tragedy and this has caused deep pain for many families,\u201d she said. \u201cThese crimes are completely unacceptable and the only real solution is to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Escalating violence in Syria is also a cause of \u201cdeep concern,\u201d she added, noting the Government has committed to resettling 42,000 refugees from Syria, Iraq and Turkey \u2013 and 30,000 of that commitment are already here. In addition, $400,000 has been committed in humanitarian development and security assistance. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to help the most vulnerable people around the world and to help them lift themselves out of poverty,\u201d she said.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next up was Dorian Baxter of the Progressive Canadian party, who focused on poverty, healthcare and justice. Poverty, he said, \u201cgives birth to myriad serious dastardly issues\u201d including domestic violence and child hunger, he said. <\/p>\n

The fight against poverty begins at home, he added, noting he has pledged half his salary if elected as Member of Parliament to fighting poverty locally. There should also be an increased focus on recognizing foreign credentials so doctors currently driving cabs can practice. <\/p>\n

The \u201cgreed\u201d of developers should also be tackled, mandating them to dedicate a certain percentage of their units for people desperate for homes.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not the size of the dog in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the dog,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Similarly, topping the list of priorities of Green Party candidate Vanessa Long was implementing a National Housing Strategy to end homelessness. It is a top priority to \u201cend the inability to afford the homes they live in, which is a particular \u201ccrisis\u201d in York Region. <\/p>\n

Tax havens, tax loopholes, and systems that protect the \u201cultra-wealthy\u201d need to be eliminated so income can be redistributed to end poverty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a plan to end poverty, period,\u201d she said. \u201cIt isn’t a pie-in-the-sky, we-pulled-it-out-of-our-butts kind of idea; it is a fully costed platform to introduce what we call a guaranteed livable income, which means we take all the programs that redistribute income and we make it so every Canadian gets a standard set income you can then build on. Nobody will be living under the poverty line. You hear that and you\u2019re probably thinking it can\u2019t be true or else somebody else would have done it. But it has been tried, it worked, and we have a plan to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liberal candidate Kyle Peterson\u2019s three priorities in this forum focused on the Syrian refugee crisis, indigenous populations, and poverty.<\/p>\n

To tackle poverty, Mr. Peterson said it was a choice between jobs and growth, and austerity and cuts. Investing significantly in public infrastructure boosts the economy and benefits communities, he said \u2013 and this includes social infrastructure and affordable housing, early learning and child care spaces, and a Canada Child Benefit to \u201chelp raise 315,000 children out of poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Investments must also be made in indigenous communities to establish partnerships for education and economic opportunity. In order for Canada to succeed, all must succeed, he said, and it is crucial Indigenous peoples have the same economic and educational opportunities as everyone else.<\/p>\n

As a dad of two young sons, he said he was particularly moved by the images coming from the Syrian refugee crisis and more must be done, including boosting intake of refugees by a further 20,000 by the spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the Canadian thing to do,\u201d he said. \u201cI know 25,000 refugees isn\u2019t going to save everybody\u2026but even if we prevent one, isn\u2019t that worth it? It must be done and the political will needs to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a packed house last week as five of Newmarket-Aurora\u2019s Federal candidates laid out their priorities on social issues in an all-candidates\u2019 meeting hosted by the ecumenical KAIROS and Holy Cross Lutheran Church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vote2015"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/2015-09-17-09.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-36g","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-18 08:20:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}