{"id":36170,"date":"2025-04-24T13:55:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T17:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=36170"},"modified":"2025-05-01T16:15:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T20:15:59","slug":"candidates-make-their-final-pitches-ahead-of-mondays-federal-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/candidates-make-their-final-pitches-ahead-of-mondays-federal-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Candidates make their final pitches ahead of Monday\u2019s Federal election"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a record number of voters came out to cast their ballots in advance polls over the Easter Weekend, candidates vying to be Aurora\u2019s next Members of Parliament were making their final pitches to voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All-candidates meetings were held in both Newmarket-Aurora and Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill last week, with varying levels of participation by those whose names are on the ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The session, hosted by the Richmond Hill Board of Trade in Oak Ridges on April 15, focused on Aurora\u2019s south riding and saw the participation of incumbent Liberal candidate Leah Taylor Roy, Green Party candidate Tom Muench, and Igor Tvorogov of the People\u2019s Party of Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Newmarket-Aurora, which is fielding a ballot that includes Sandra Cobena of the Conservative Party of Canada, Anna Gollen of the New Democratic Party, and Jennifer McLachlan of the Liberal Party, only McLachlan turned up at the event organized by Christian organizations at the Newmarket Legion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Richmond Hill debate covered a range of topics, from tariffs, to abortion rights, to the Israel-Hamas conflict, but given the Board of Trade\u2019s role, business and taxes were primary concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Candidates were asked what specific taxation policies they and their parties would bring forward to \u201calleviate the financial burden on small businesses\u201d and how each of these steps would, in turn, foster business growth and job creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cutting taxes and \u201cbalancing the budget across the board\u201d was priority number one for Tvorogov, who said Canada\u2019s is not a \u201creal economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur economy is based on the financial market where value is not determined by the value of real goods, but is determined by [how] you speculate on stocks,\u201d he said. \u201cThe financial market is highly volatile; it\u2019s dependent on politics rather than the value of real-world goods. We need to invest in our industry and we need to prioritize the creation of industrial jobs in the real sector.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Green Party, said Muench, stands behind small business and views small business as essential for \u201chealthy quality of living.\u201d With that said, he questioned Canada\u2019s debt and said we, as a nation, have a \u201cproductivity challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have the worst productivity in Canada in any of our G7 countries,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a great stat. We should not be lagging behind others. The bottom line is lower taxes. We need to get our government more efficient and effective and we need to be more responsible to try and create job growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taylor Roy said the Liberal government, when it was first formed in 2015, reduced taxes on small businesses, a trend that has continued in the ensuing decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCanada did far better than other countries with its small businesses during COVID because of the supports that this government put in place to ensure that they could continue to operate,\u201d she said. \u201cWe regained one million jobs quickly after COVID because we had allowed these businesses to continue to operate. I think supporting small businesses is more than just taxation; but taxation matters and we have one of the lowest tax rates on small businesses anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will also just mention, because some of my colleagues did, the national debt: the debt per capita is six times higher in the United States than in Canada. We\u2019re actually doing well considering the times we\u2019ve been through, but we need to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taylor Roy was first to field a question on carbon pricing \u2013 both at the consumer and industrial level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Candidates were specifically asked whether the consumer carbon tax, which was nixed by Liberal leader Mark Carney when he first took the reins as Prime Minister in March, would \u201creturn\u201d after the election as is or in another form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Liberal candidate said the consumer carbon tax would not return if the party once again forms government on April 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe levy on consumers has been a source of division in the country,\u201d she conceded. \u201cI will say that we did not do a good job as the Liberal government explaining this program and how divisive it was. One thing that is very important for me and our leader is that Canada is united, especially facing the challenges [we\u2019re facing] now from the United States. That is why this program has been cancelled. It will not be reinstated\u2026. We still believe, however, that we must address the problem of climate change and pollution, but there are other ways to do that \u2013 cap and trade systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tvorogov said \u201ceveryone was happy\u201d when the consumer carbon tax was \u201ctaken away temporarily\u201d but said his party had actively opposed it since 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs for putting the cap and trade, the price on the pollution for developers, well, guess who they are going to pass these prices onto? They\u2019re going to pass it on to consumers. At the end of the day, you still end up with a high cost of living,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know our competitors on the global market \u2013 China, Russia\u2026 they do not care about the climate alarmists. They do not have a price on pollution and they allow their energy industry to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muench described himself as \u201cthe lone wolf\u201d in favour of carbon taxes and said it was one of the \u201cmore efficient taxes\u201d introduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one likes to pay taxes, but there is a cost to pollution and believe it or not, the manufacturing sector is fully on side, the steel industry on side, the oil and gas industry on side,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following questions from the floor, each of the participating candidates had the chance to make their final pitches to voters in attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tvorogov said that those in attendance might not have agreed with him, but \u201cwe offer something different.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOther parties are either on board with the destructive or regressive agenda, or they believe throwing money at a problem will make it go away. I am the only candidate here tonight and we are the only party that has a vision for our future on the long-term plan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to leave with one more observation: We start events with the land acknowledgement. Back in the day when Christianity was the moral foundation of Canada an\u2026 they would start with a prayer. This may not have been a perfect society, but you know what they had that we don\u2019t have anymore? Men and women love each other and live in happy, big families. Their children spent their day outside instead of being glued to their phones\u2026 Home and land ownership was a realistic milestone to everyone willing to put in the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow, what we have is the establishment parties that have been screwing us over for generations. Don\u2019t you think it is time to try something different? Holding the people who are not beholden to lobbies, people with real-world experience who run for politics not because they want to make a career out of it, but they are concerned with the direction their country is headed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muench had the second slot and said voters should be \u201cexcited\u201d about the vote ahead, seeing it as a \u201cgreat opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, you are having the opportunity to discuss who is going to be your representative,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, it is about low inflation, but quality of life, affordable living, having a pride for Canada, building dreams for people in this and the next generation\u2026. As a team, everybody achieves more. Vote for you, vote for your families, vote for your kids. Don\u2019t vote for yesterday and don\u2019t vote for entitlement. You might be disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taylor Roy closed out the evening stating that conversations like the evening\u2019s all-candidates meeting and parsing out \u201creal information\u201d is \u201cessential to our democracy,\u201d taking aim at candidates who were not in attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am not a career politician. I have only been in office for three-and-a-half years. It has been a privilege and I have worked hard. I have done this because I believe in our country. I believe that we can be better. I believe that Canadians\u2019 wellbeing and our unity as a country is what matters a great deal. Our unity as a country and as a sovereign nation, of course. I used to not have to say that, but in these days, we have to mention that as well. We are a great country. We have so much to offer. We have so much to work with, so much talent, education, people who have come to our country from all over the world, with different backgrounds, different religions, different goals and visions for their lives, different beliefs\u2026 we have all come together as Canadians and it has made our country great. I want to continue to work towards that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am not running for MP for any of the reasons I think you have heard from my colleagues\u2026I am running because I believe in community and country. I want to work for you as your representative, I want to listen to you, hear your dreams, your concerns, and I want to work to make our country the best country on earth. I think it is, but we can always do better, and I believe that the Liberal party under the leadership of Mark Carney can do that. So, please support the candidate that showed up and has a real agenda for our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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As a record number of voters came out to cast their ballots in advance polls over the Easter Weekend, candidates vying to be Aurora\u2019s next Members of Parliament were making their final pitches to voters. All-candidates meetings were held in both Newmarket-Aurora and Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill last week, with varying levels of participation by those […]<\/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-36170","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\/p3D2k4-9po","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 08:28:29","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\/36170","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=36170"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36171,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36170\/revisions\/36171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}