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.
Ontario Greens candidate Thaila Riden
Q: What are the most pressing issues and concerns facing residents across Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, and how does your party plan on addressing these issues and concerns?
A: Rural communities are the beating heart of Ontario’s $50 billion food and farming sector, yet Ford has abandoned communities like ours in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, downloading costs from the province to municipalities and failing to address the housing crisis, affordability, or the acute shortage of family doctors.
Ontario Greens have a plan to address the challenges facing our communities. Please see questions five and six concerning housing and affordability solutions, respectively.
Regarding doctors and rural healthcare, we would expand rural healthcare access and address current shortages by recruiting 3,500 doctors to Ontario so that everyone has access to a family doctor within the next three to five years. We will expand team-based care into all rural and northern communities across Ontario by increasing provincial funding for rural hospitals, cutting the local cost share for funding new hospitals in half, and fixing the staffing shortage by providing equal pay for nurses, doctors, and PSWs across all communities and healthcare settings in Ontario. We will increase capacity in rural and remote communities and fairly compensate healthcare workers for their travel to treat patients at home.
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A: As a Green Party candidate, I support replacing Ontario’s outdated First Past the Post (FPTP) system with a more democratic system of proportional representation (PR). Many residents in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell feel their voices are not being heard under the current system.
Canada remains one of the few parliamentary democracies in the world still using the FPTP system. This system often results in governments that do not reflect the values and wishes of voters, nor does it encourage the involvement of diverse voices in decision-making. As a result, majority governments are frequently elected by a minority of voters.
In contrast, PR systems in other countries lead to coalition governments that foster cooperation and deliver solutions with broad support. Our current adversarial political system protects special interests, undermines accountability, exaggerates differences, and ultimately fails to address long-term challenges.
Q: With the possibility 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: As a Green Party candidate and long-time resident of eastern Ontario, I am committed to supporting food security in our communities and the local farming sector.
Ontario Greens know that farmers are Ontario’s key to food security. The looming trade war with the United States poses significant challenges to our agricultural sector. The imposition of tariffs on Canadian goods could disrupt supply chains, increase production costs, and make Canadian products less competitive in the U.S. market. Now is the time to foster a more resilient and self-sufficient local food system.
The Ontario Greens’ « Grow Ontario Plan » would support local food and farmers by increasing local processing capacity and local markets, expanding public sector procurement, improving business risk management programs, and permanently protecting farmland through the development of an Ontario Foodbelt. We need to protect the farmland that feeds us and give farmers the support they need to grow their businesses and bottom lines.
Ontario Greens would also introduce a provincial program to pay farmers for environmental goods and services by working with organizations such as ALUS (Alternative Land Use Services). As the Eastern Ontario Agri-Food Network has stated, « buying local food builds the local economy for mutual prosperity. » I am dedicated to advancing a sustainable and prosperous future for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell.
Q: The riding has a predominantly Francophone population. What is your party’s plan to ensure Francophone residents are getting the support and resources they need in their official language?
A: As a Green Party candidate, I am committed to ensuring that Francophone residents in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell receive the support and resources they need in their official language. Our government’s plan includes restoring the Independent Office of the French Language Services Commissioner to ensure that the rights and needs of Francophone residents are protected and addressed.
We will support the University of Sudbury in becoming a northern university by and for Francophones, providing higher education opportunities in French. We will ensure language accessibility by making interpreters, translators, and multilingual written materials available in publicly funded services and improving awareness of their availability.
We will provide tools for nonprofits to access French language resources, ensuring that Francophone residents have access to essential services and information. We will increase the number of French-speaking teachers by creating incentives to bring more French-speaking individuals into teacher’s college programs, addressing the need for French-language education.
Our Leader of the Caucus for the Francophonie for the Ontario Greens, Michelle Petersen, will represent us at the French provincial debate on TFO and Radio-Canada on February 19, ensuring representation in French debates.
Q: How does your party plan on addressing the housing shortage? Ontarians are struggling to put food on the table and are struggling to even rent or buy a home.
A: As your Ontario Green candidate for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, I am committed to addressing the housing and homelessness crises in our communities.
Our plan includes combating housing speculation and financialization with a province-wide vacant home tax and a task force to address these issues. We will implement stronger regulations on short-term vacation rentals and remove the Land Transfer Tax for first-time homebuyers.
We will build affordable non-profit and co-op rental homes, as well as permanent supportive housing, with guaranteed operational funding, using provincial land at no cost. Additionally, we will streamline the process for building missing middle housing and repurpose existing buildings like abandoned plazas and warehouses. We will reinstate the brownfield remediation fund to help municipalities safely build new homes on previously industrial sites.
Furthermore, we aim to upload community housing and shelter costs to the province, correcting the unfair burden placed on municipalities by previous governments.
Q: Affordability? Ontarians are struggling to put food on the table and are struggling to even rent or buy a home.
A: As the Ontario Green Party candidate, I am deeply concerned about the alarming rise in homelessness and food bank usage in Ontario. In 2024, 80,000 people experienced homelessness, a 25 percent increase since 2022. Over the past two years, food bank usage has surged by 78 percent. Monthly payments for those on the Ontario Disability Support Program have not kept pace with inflation since 2018. The disparity between the rich and everyone else is growing.
The Ontario Greens are committed to ending legislated poverty and rebalancing taxes by doubling support rates and immediately doubling Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works (OW) rates. We will work with nonprofits to build 310,000 new affordable non-profit and co-op homes, including 60,000 supportive homes with wraparound supports.
We will cut taxes for individuals making under $65,000 annually, saving Ontarians up to $1,700 each year, while raising taxes on those in the top tax bracket.
Q: Why should Ontarians vote for you?
A: I am running for election because I believe in a future where every community—whether urban or rural—thrives in a clean, sustainable environment with equal access to opportunity. By supporting environmentally responsible policies, investing in rural development, and ensuring that every voice in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell is heard, your vote for me supports a fresh, community-driven vision for our riding.
