With Ontarians headed to the polls on Feb. 27, nearly a year and a half earlier than originally scheduled, The Vision sent a series of questions to some of the candidates.
Liberal candidate Trevor Stewart
Q: What are the most pressing issues/concerns facing residents across Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, and how does your party plan on addressing these issues/concerns?
A: I’ve spent the last few months out in our community, from Rockland to Alexandria to Hawkesbury, door-knocking and listening to the concerns of residents. Overwhelmingly, I have heard about the dire state of our healthcare system. In Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, one out of three residents doesn’t have a family doctor or is at imminent risk of losing their family doctor.
The Ontario Liberal plan will create two new medical schools and expand capacities in existing medical schools, doubling the number of medical school spots and residency positions. It will deliver team-based care with evening and weekend support, integrated home care for seniors, and accessible mental health services for children, youth, and teenagers. It will accelerate the process to integrate at least 1,200 qualified and experienced internationally trained doctors over four years. It will eliminate fax machines, enhance virtual care, introduce centralized referral systems with patient portals, and implement interoperable electronic medical records to let doctors and other healthcare professionals in the circle of care focus on patients instead of paperwork. It will incentivize family doctors to serve in rural communities just like ours.
Doug Ford’s priorities are twisted. While we struggle to afford a home or just try to make ends meet, his government is spending less on healthcare per capita than any other province and billions on tunnel projects in Toronto. We are focused on getting the basics right. That means cutting the small business tax rate in half, cutting middle-class income taxes, doubling ODSP, removing the land transfer tax for first-time home buyers and seniors downsizing, and establishing a Franco-Ontarian health strategy. I’d be the loud voice that our region needs at Queen’s Park. As a rural region, we can’t afford to be quiet. It’s time to start taking our seat at the table and start getting our fair share.
Q: For a long time, people in rural areas have felt ignored. What are your party’s plans to make sure these residents have a voice?
A: The people of Eastern Ontario feel ignored, and they’re right to feel that way. In over seven years as premier, Doug Ford has never been to our region, not once. Our leader, Bonnie Crombie, in just over one year, has been to Hammond, Embrun, St-Isidore, and Rockland to hear our concerns as rural people. Part of delivering for people is meeting them where they are, and I’ll always make sure to put us as a priority. We’ll do that by creating a Rural Health Strategy and incentivizing family doctors to serve in places just like our home, and I’ll defend our local generational farmland. We need new housing, that’s no secret, but it can’t keep coming at the expense of prime agricultural land. The farmers in our region depend on their land for their livelihoods and to feed families across this province, but Doug Ford’s government has been all too happy to sacrifice it.
Q: With the chance of a trade war with the U.S., is your party best equipped to stand up for Ontarians? How so, and what is your plan?
A: Our region saw the impact of the tariffs on steel imports in 2019. We need a strong voice that will stand up to Trump, not someone who praises him behind closed doors and backs down when push comes to shove. Ontario’s Liberals released our eight-part plan to fight Trump’s tariffs, which includes backstopping Ontario businesses with a new Fight Tariffs Fund that gives them access to lower-than-market interest rates at government rates. This will allow our businesses to protect and create jobs by reducing the cost of borrowing money to operate or invest in their businesses and workers.
We want to ensure stimulus spending on infrastructure is focused on the projects communities in Ontario need the most—hospitals, schools, roads, and transit. We will lead an across-government effort to ensure we spend taxpayers’ money wisely, including directing departments and agencies to exclude American companies like Elon Musk’s Starlink from procurement opportunities and investing the savings back into supporting this stimulus plan. We will work with other provinces to eliminate nonsensical interprovincial trade barriers and build a truly Team Canada approach to growing our economy. We will offer a bonus to patriotic nurses and doctors who want to come back home to Canada from the U.S. and help solve Doug Ford’s healthcare crisis and get you a family doctor. We will remove the hidden tax on home building to save real people up to $170,000 on the cost of a new home and make rent more affordable by introducing phased-in rent control. We will save people in Ontario up to $1,150 a year immediately through our More For You Tax Cut, keeping more money in your pocket and taking the HST off your home heating and hydro bills. We will cut the small business tax rate in half from 3.2 percent to 1.6 percent and increase the eligible income threshold, saving small business owners as much as $18,000 a year. We’re going to stand behind every worker, every farmer, and every family in this province until this crisis is over and these unjust tariffs are withdrawn. The fight against Trump is one that goes beyond party affiliation. When fighting against these tariffs, we must stand united, united on Team Canada.
Q: The riding is predominantly Francophone. What is your party’s plan to ensure Francophone residents receive the support and resources they need in their official language?
A: After seven years in power, it’s clear that Doug Ford doesn’t give a damn about Francophones. As soon as he came to power in 2018, he immediately cut government services in French and reduced funding for French-language education. I was involved in organizing large-scale demonstrations against the Ford government’s cuts to the Francophone community in December 2018. I’m so proud of our little corner of Eastern Ontario and the language that makes it so rich. We need to be bold in defending and supporting our Francophonie. To ensure that our language and culture are promoted for generations to come, we will develop a Franco-Ontarian health strategy to recruit more doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals. We will develop a Franco-Ontarian health strategy to recruit more French-speaking doctors, nurses, and health professionals, as well as increase the number of international students in health-related fields. We will increase the number of international students in health and social services to ensure that Francophones in our region and our seniors can receive health services in their language. We will re-establish the independent French Language Services Commission that Doug Ford cut in 2018. We will develop an action plan to increase the number of French-language daycare spaces. We will work closely with school boards to add funding that will allow them to strengthen their programs and recruit teachers to ensure the vitality of our language, and in consultation with the community, expand access to post-secondary education in French.
Q: How does your party plan on addressing the housing shortage? Affordability? Ontarians are struggling to put food on the table and are struggling to even rent or buy a home.
A: Our kids can’t afford homes in the communities they grew up in, seniors can’t downsize, and everyday working people in places like Hawkesbury, Russell, Alexandria, and Rockland can’t afford a home. It’s about time we get a government and an MPP that treats the housing crisis for what it really is—a crisis. If elected, our plan will slash taxes on new homes, improve renter rights, and save you money. We will eliminate the provincial Land Transfer Tax for first-time homebuyers, seniors downsizing, and non-profit home builders—saving families and seniors $13,500 on average. We will scrap development charges on new middle-class housing, which can add up to $170,000 on homes. We will make renting more affordable by introducing fair, phased-in rent control, resolving Landlord-Tenant Board disputes within two months, and establishing the Rental Emergency Support for Tenants Fund to help vulnerable renters avoid eviction during financial emergencies.
I have heard from residents across our region that the increase in the cost of living has made it harder to make ends meet. Here’s how we’d make life more affordable. We will lower the personal income tax rate for middle-class Ontario families by reducing the tax rate on taxable income between $51,446 and $75,000 by 22 percent, resulting in a tax savings of about $1,150 annually. We will eliminate the provincial component of HST on hydro and home heating bills, saving approximately $200 annually for the average household—an 8 percent monthly discount on energy bills. We will double Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) benefits and index them to inflation. The current rate, set at a maximum of $1,368, has remained nearly stagnant under Doug Ford. Doug Ford has forced people with disabilities to live in poverty while giving billions of dollars away to his rich friends.
Q: Why should Ontarians vote for you?
A: I was born and raised here in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, I’ve lived here my whole life, and I’ve fought for the people of Hammond and Cheney as their city councillor. Now I want to fight for us here in Eastern Ontario. I’m a proud Franco-Ontarian, and I’m determined to ensure we properly fund French services rather than ignore them. I’m determined to get people in our community, our neighbours, access to a family doctor, and I’m determined to make sure future generations and the ones who built our towns and cities can afford a home they can call their own.
I’ve taught in our schools, worked in our city halls, and played hockey in just about every rink in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, so this is personal to me. It’s my opportunity to give back to a place and a people that have given me so much. I’ve made one promise while on the campaign trail, and that is that I will work for you as hard as I possibly can. This is our home, and it’s time for a strong voice for us that delivers real results.
