{"id":24962,"date":"2019-10-17T14:10:58","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T18:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=24962"},"modified":"2019-10-25T16:33:13","modified_gmt":"2019-10-25T20:33:13","slug":"newmarket-aurora-candidates-speak-directly-to-voters-at-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/newmarket-aurora-candidates-speak-directly-to-voters-at-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Newmarket-Aurora candidates speak directly to voters at Library"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

All seven\ncandidates vying to be Newmarket-Aurora\u2019s next representative in Ottawa stood\nbefore a packed house at the Aurora Public Library on Tuesday night, October 8,\nto make their final pitches to local voters on their home turf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the\nsecond all-candidates meeting of the day for candidates from Aurora\u2019s north\nriding, having started the day in King Township participating in a debate\nhosted by the Newmarket Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the\nmorning event was an altogether more contentious affair, the Library\u2019s\nmeet-and-greet was just that, an opportunity to put debate points aside and\nspeak directly to voters on the issues that matter to them \u2013 and why they\nshould have their vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stepping\nup, in speaking order, were Yvonne Kelly of the NDP, Walter Bauer of the Green\nParty, Tony Van Bynen of the Liberal Party, Lois Brown of the Conservative\nParty, Andrew McCaughtrie of the People\u2019s Party, Dorian Baxter of the\nProgressive Canadian Party, and Laurie Goble of the Rhinoceros Party.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excerpts\nfrom their respective pitches are included here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

YVONNE KELLY (NDP)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canadians are facing many challenges today. We need to\nbreak away from the old way of doing things that has brought us to this place.\nUnder previous Federal governments, we have seen an exponential growth in\ninequality, with the richest households seeing income grow six times faster\nthan the bottom 99 per cent. The profit of banks and corporations have\nexpanded, while 46 per cent of Canadians are 200 dollars away from insolvency.\nWe also face a housing crisis because Federal governments in the 1990s decided\nthat this wasn\u2019t the business of government to ensure that people had a safe\nplace to call home. We also have a younger generation that is not going to do\nas well as the older generation and that is the first time in history that has\nhappened. We have a crisis of our climate that needed our attention, much\nearlier than today. These are not individual problems. They will not be solved\nby a tax cut, by a rebate here or a tax credit there. We can only begin to\ntackle these problems once we implement bold, progressive investments and\nprogressive taxation measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As New Democrats, we are not about proposing quick fixes.\nIt took decades to get here. But [it took] previous governments turning a blind\neye to income inequality, tax evasion, an aging population, homelessness and a\nclimate crisis to bring us where we are. To embrace the collective challenges we\nface as a society, it will take forward thinking, sizable investments in health\ncare, child care, long-term care, indigenous rights and a bold plan to\ntransition to a green economy. It will also take leadership that is willing to\nstand up to you and willing to stand up to big pharma, oil companies, cellular\nmonopolies, speculators and money launderers. We\u2019re at a crossroads; we can\ncontinue on as usual or we can be bold and make a new choice. Which will you\nchoose?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WALTER BAUER (GREEN)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Green Party is a complete platform and I invite you\nto go to the website to explore. I will focus on climate change this evening.\nMy sister lives in Alberta where they have a successful business that\u2019s\nindirectly dependent on the oil and gas industry. Alberta is looking for an\nalternate customer [for oil and gas from previous US sales] in China. China\u2019s\ncoal is one fifth the cost of Alberta\u2019s oil is as dirty as China\u2019s coal. The\ncost to extract and ship over this bitumen is $74, which exceeds the world\u2019s\nmarket selling price of $72. The future for Alberta oil is bleak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After hearing Greta, my sister declared she was going to\nvote Green. Today I got a text from my sister saying, \u201cScary to think that by\n2030, all gas vehicles will be eliminated. What\u2019s going to replace oil?\u201d\nGreta\u2019s urgency has clearly worn off. My response is, \u201cYou\u2019re asking the wrong\nquestion. You need to be asking, \u2018What happens when we don\u2019t replace oil?\u2019\u201d\nAfter that exchange, I began to think of the dynamics. Those that think about\nclimate change fall into three categories: deniers, fence-sitters and the\nconvinced. The deniers, the Conservatives, believe that climate change is real\nbut cyclical and not caused by humans. The fence-sitters, like the Liberals,\nthink the economy is more important than anything else. Among the convinced, we\nhave strategic voters that either are anti-Scheer or anti-Trudeau and fear that\nvoting Green will support the wrong party. The NDP party, burdened by legacy,\nhave voters who are more focused on potential job loss than impending crisis.\nThen we have the committed Green voters. As an engineer, I know the numbers, I\nbelieve in the science. The message is simple; to prevent irreversible climate\nchange, we have to act now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TONY VAN BYNEN (LIBERAL)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My family immigrated to Canada when I was two years\nold\u2026with ten kids in tow\u2026arrived in Canada with what might be the equivalent of\n$500 today with eleven kids. We settled into an old farmhouse and within the\nfirst five years we had our farmhouse burn to the ground at a point where fortunately\nall the kids were in school and my parents were working, but we didn\u2019t have a\nshred with us when we returned home. What strikes me and what has influenced my\nlife is the fact we had five neighbours take in kids, saying, \u201cStay with us\nuntil you can find a place to stay.\u201d Within six or eight weeks, we found an old\nframe house that the neighbourhood all helped repair and we could finally move\nin. These are the values I have known to be in Canada, the values that have\nbrought me to become involved with the Liberal party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Liberal Party\u2019s focus is on supporting the most\nvulnerable in our society. They have focused on what is referred to as\nmiddle-class families. Middle class families are families with incomes between\n$50,000 and $125,000 and here in Newmarket-Aurora we are very, very fortunate\nthat many of us have incomes beyond that. If you believe in the Canada I\nbelieve in, where we should help people who need our support when they need it,\nthen you would be supporting the Liberal party. I have been a banker for 30\nyears, I understand the importance of a balanced budget. I have been involved\nas the Mayor of Newmarket for 12 years and I understand what the community\nissues are. I understand very clearly what Federal policies and Provincial\npolicies\u2026how they effect our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LOIS BROWN (CONSERVATIVE)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every election is important to every Canadian and this\nelection is no different. I bring three attributes to this position: I have\nserved as the Member of Parliament for Newmarket-Aurora for seven years,\nincluding six of those as Parliamentary Secretary for International\nDevelopment. I am a person who believes in the value of hard work and when I am\ndoing something that I love to do, it is not work. I promise to be there for\nyou. Long before politics, I have been engaged in this community in so many\nways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constituents have a choice in this election. It is a very\nclear choice. It is a choice between ongoing, double-digit debt for the next\nfour years, or a government that is going to live within its means, make life\nmore affordable for Canadians, and leave the money in your pocket. My\ncommitment to you is to put you first and put the needs of Newmarket-Aurora\nfirst, as I did when I was the Member of Parliament before. On October 21, I am\nasking or your vote to put me back in Ottawa as your strong voice for\nNewmarket-Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ANDREW McCAUGHTRIE (PEOPLE\u2019S PARTY)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re running on a platform of lower, simpler taxes for\nall Canadians. We plan to balance the budget within two years. We will be\nending corporate welfare. We have a plan for sustainable immigration. Thank you\nall for coming out tonight. I really appreciate everything the community has\ndone while I have been running, from getting me on the ballot, to engaging with\nme at your doorstep or at the debates. It has been a great learning experience\nfor me and I have really enjoyed talking to you being able to give you the\nopportunity for something new to vote for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DORIAN BAXTER (PROGRESSIVE CANADIAN)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you give me an opportunity to serve you, you will have\nthe strongest voice you have ever had. There will be no shill in my voice and I\ncan assure you of this: in terms of the value I can give you, I am the only\ncandidate in all these 16 years I have been running, that has legal documents\ndrawn up to show I will return 50 per cent of my salary into this riding to\nfight poverty. I believe in leadership by example\u2026 If you vote for me, you\u2019re\ngoing to get four candidates for the price of one. I am a Red Tory along with\nJoe Clark. I am a Blue Liberal. I am greener than the Green Party and as far as\nthe NDP is concerned, our left wing is our socially progressive wing. We can\nrun circles around the NDP with our left wing, our right wing fiscally\nConservative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me tell you this: the NDP have a history, and bless\ntheir hearts, at throwing money after the symptoms of poverty. We want to\neradicate that. I also want you to know that if you elect me, I will be\navailable for you 24\/7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LAURIE GOBLE (RHINOCEROS PARTY)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not very easy to have the Rhinoceros Party recognized\nby anybody. Most people consider it to be a joke, although it is a legitimate\nparty recognized by Elections Canada. One of the main things I found out about\nthe Rhinoceros Party is there is no set platform. There is no party line. That\nleaves me able to do what I feel is best for this riding, Newmarket-Aurora. I\nwant to be able to speak to the people of the community and be their voice in\nOttawa. I want to be able to find out what matters here and also to be able to\nhave some sort of accountability at the top levels to make sure they are not\njust following their party line and ignoring the people around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may be a satirical \u201cjoke\u201d party to a lot of people,\nbut I am a serious candidate. I worked hard to get the signatures on the\nballot. I appreciate all the people who supported me in that and I hope more\npeople will support somebody other than one of the big parties that nobody much\nseems to be entirely happy with. I want to be able to be more positive and get\nrid of attacking the other parties by saying, \u201cThey did this, they did this,\nthey didn\u2019t do that,\u201d I want to be able to say, \u201cThis is how we all work\ntogether as a group of parties to make this country a better place, to make\nlives better for everybody, but me, specifically, for the people in this area.\u201d\nI hope you will give me an opportunity to represent you. <\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All seven candidates vying to be Newmarket-Aurora\u2019s next representative in Ottawa stood before a packed house at the Aurora Public Library on …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"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":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6uC","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 19:25:45","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\/24962","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=24962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24962\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}