Leader visits and personal pledges: The 1st week of the campaign in Waterloo region and area
2 party leaders visited Waterloo region in first 2 days of campaign
Candidates in Waterloo region are ramping up their campaigns after the provincial election was called on Wednesday.
As they open offices and start knocking on doors, some have appeared alongside party leaders who have visited the area or raised issues important to them early on.
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner launched his campaign in his home riding of Guelph on Wednesday. He then visited Kitchener on Wednesday to support the campaign of Aislinn Clancy. Clancy was elected in the November 2023 byelection and said the top issues she plans to focus on are healthcare, transportation, affordable housing and child care.
WATCH | Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner kicks off campaign in home riding of Guelph:
On Thursday, NDP Leader Marit Stiles visited a farm just outside of New Hamburg and was joined by several local candidates including: Waterloo candidate Catherine Fife, Kitchener-Conestoga candidate Jodi Szimanski, Kitchener South-Hespeler candidate Jeff Donkersgoed and Kitchener Centre candidate Brooklin Wallis.
WATCH | NDP Leader Marit Stiles makes campaign stop at farm outside New Hamburg:
Local campaign pledges
Cambridge Liberal candidate Rob Deutschmann issued a release to say he'll support efforts by the Cambridge Food Bank to relocate to a larger space.
The food bank has said it's lease will be up in four years, and it's seeing so much demand that it needs a larger space to continue to serve the community.
Deutschmann said the food bank plays a "vital role" in the community and said if elected, it would "actively participate in and support this crucial effort" to find a new space.
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Officially entering the race in Cambridge is also New Blue candidate Belinda Karahalios. She's the former MPP for the area, and was elected as a Progressive Conservative before she was removed from the party.
She and husband Jim formed the New Blue Party of Ontario in 2020. Karahalios lost the 2022 election to PC candidate Brian Riddell, who is running again.
Just before the election was called, Kitchener South-Hespeler Progressive Conservative candidate Jess Dixon issued a release about her work as an MPP on the subcommittee on intimate partner violence and sexual violence.
Dixon had led the subcommittee's work and had travelled around the province to hear from experts and survivors. A report was in the works.
An election being called ended the subcommittee's work, but Dixon said in a post on Instagram that if the PCs earn another mandate, PC Leader Doug Ford and his office "have personally assured me that the subcommittee ... will be reconstituted immediately to finalize and table this report without delay."
Kitchener Centre NDP candidate Brooklin Wallis pledged this week that if she is elected, she will donate a portion of her MPP salary to local charities.
Wallis says she would keep a salary that puts her in-line with the average Kitchener Centre resident and donate the rest. Part of the reason she wants to do that is because she rents her home, and says low-income people are not often seen in government.
Wallis notes this is not a party platform, but more of a personal issue for her.
"A lot of who I am is the fact that I am representing parts of Kitchener that have never been represented before and part of that is the fact that I'm low income and that I experience what low income feels like," Wallis told CBC News.
"I'm making a commitment to donate a sizeable portion of my salary so that I'm at the average Kitchener salary level and I can feel what it is like to be an average income earner in the city ... and to make sure that people know that I experience what they experience."
Wallis initially posted the pledge on X, formerly Twitter, but has since removed the post.
Coming up
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie is expected in the region on Monday with an appearance at the office of Kitchener Centre candidate Colleen James.
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