How Kitchener South-Hespeler candidates plan to address U.S. tariffs, health care and affordability

Dealing with U.S.-imposed tariffs, improving health care and making life more affordable were among the top issues addressed by Kitchener South-Hespeler candidates as part of a panel discussion on CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition on Friday.

There are seven candidates in Kitchener-Centre:

• Jess Dixon, Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (incumbent).

• Jeff Donkersgoed, New Democratic Party.

• Ismail Mohamed, Ontario Liberal Party.

• John Soule, New Blue Party of Ontario.

• Jessica Riley, Green Party of Ontario.

CBC K-W invited the candidates from the four parties with MPPs currently sitting at Queen's Park. Three candidates — Donkersgoed, Mohamed, and Riley — attended the panel. Dixon declined the invitation to participate. 

LISTEN | Kitchener South-Hespeler candidates on how they'd deal with tariffs:

The Morning Edition - K-W17:53Provincial election candidates from Kitchener South-Hespeler address some of your top issues

NDP candidate Jeff Donksergoed, Liberal candidate Ismail Mohamed and Green candidate Jessica Riley sit down with CBC K-W host Craig Norris to talk about some of the top issues affecting Kitchener South-Hespeler.

U.S. tariffs

People who responded to CBC K-W's voter survey said one of the top issues for Kitchener South-Hespeler is the economy, specifically the possibility of tariffs imposed by the U.S.

Candidates were asked what their government would do to address the tariffs and help the community.

Mohamed pointed to his party's "Fight Tariffs Fund," which he said provides low-interest loans for Ontario businesses.

He said his government would ensure that government money stays in the province, ensuring "Ontario taxpayers dollars support local businesses and jobs by excluding American companies, like Elon Musk's Starlink, from procurement," he said.

Mohamed also said he'd work toward removing interprovincial trade barriers.

Riley said the Green Party's first order of business would be to establish a tariff task force and "Protect Ontario Fund" to help business redirect their supply chain.

She said that interprovincial trade barriers are something her government would look to address, too.

"Let's make it easier for businesses in Ontario to do trade everywhere else than, frankly, the United States," said Riley.

She said whoever is elected to Kitchener South-Hespeler needs to have a strong constituency office to listen to businesses and provide needed support.

Donkersgoed said that 20 per cent of the residents in Kitchener South-Hespeler work in manufacturing.

"I'm really concerned about what could potentially happen to these businesses with the tariffs, especially Toyota," he said, adding that the auto sector could be devastated if tariffs are implemented.

Donkersgoed said the NDP would look at investing in small businesses and workers to weather the tariff storm.

He said Ontario has become too reliant on the U.S., and his government would work toward diversifying the province's trade partners.

Health care

Another top issue for Kitchener South-Hespeler voters is health care. Candidates were asked what they think the challenges are for health care and how they plan to address them.

Riley said the challenges include Ontarians without access to doctors and people getting care in hallways within hospitals because of a lack of beds.

She said her government would solve the primary care issue by recruiting 3,500 more doctors, assuring that would be enough to connect everyone in the province within three to four years.

Riley said the Greens are also looking to hire 2,500 more nurse practitioners by 2030 and 6,800 more PSWs by 2028.

She said she would work toward reducing the administrative work normally done by doctors, simplifying the process for approvals of foreign-trained doctors.

Some medications for cancers and other long-term diseases aren't covered by the health care system, but Riley said her government would ensure those medications are publicly funded.

Donkersgoed said the NDP are the "fathers of modern public health care" in this country.

He said the PC government has been reactive when it comes to health care policy, and Donkersgoed said his government would be preventative.

"This means we have to invest in our social safety network, which means we have to provide mental health services as well, wrap around services for our encampments, for CTS sites, those types of things," he said.

He said affordability has made it so some people need to make a choice between buying medications and other necessities, which he said leads to backlogs in emergency rooms.

Donkersgoed said his government would work toward balancing out the nursing shortage, hiring more doctors, and fast-track the certification process for foreign-trained doctors.

"If we don't invest, if we don't start recruiting, we are going to be in even more of a dire situation in several years.

Mohamed said the Ontario Liberals top priority in this election is health care.

He acknowledged the family doctor shortage, and said his government is working on a plan to approach doctors who've left Ontario to practice in the U.S. and incentivize them to return.

Mohamed also said his party plans to introduce universal mental health care under OHIP, "covering conditions like anxiety, depression and eating disorders."

He said the current wait time for mental health care is around 200 days.

He said the Liberals will also expand team base care to include evening and weekend appointments.

Affordability

Making life more affordable and lowering the cost of living is something Kitchener South-Hespeler voters wanted candidates to address in the upcoming election. Candidates were asked what they believe needs to happen at a provincial level to make life more affordable.

Donkersgoed brought up two points in the NDP's plan, the first being what he called "real" rent control.

He said experts recommend only spending about 30 per cent of your income on housing, "and that's not happening. Sometimes it's 50, 60, 70 per cent. It's too much," he said.

The second point he mentioned was a grocery rebate program, where his government would be income-based and geared to the number of people in a household to help offset costs.

"It'll be putting money back into the economy, alleviating some of the stresses that are on families."

Mohamed said that renovictions and general housing affordability are increasing the homeless crisis.

As a remedy, he said his government would address the backlog in the tenant board all while ensuring housing costs don't increase.

He said his party would eliminate the provincial land transfer tax for first-time home buyers, seniors who are downsizing and non-profit home builders.

"Saving families and seniors over an average of $13,500 off the cost of the new home," he said.

"We need to put the needs of Ontario first, not developers. That's our commitment."

Riley said when it comes to the conversation of affordability, it starts with housing.

She laid out the Green Party's housing plan which would "prevent renovations, put a moratorium on above guideline rent increases and other measures to help make sure that stays affordable for everyone."

Riley said her government wants to collaborate with non-profit organizations to build 250,000 affordable, non-profit, and co-op homes, as well as 60,000 supportive homes with funding for mental health and addictions services.

Candidate from non-major party

While only candidates running for parties with seats at the Ontario Legislature were invited to participate in the candidate panel, Kitchener South-Hespeler also has one candidate from a non-major party: John Soule of the New Blue Party of Ontario.

CBC News reached out to Soule for this article, but did not receive a response.

Voting

Advance polls run Thursday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

There are four advance polling locations in the riding of Kitchener South–Hespeler:

• Country Hills Community Centre, 100 Rittenhouse Rd., Kitchener.

• Heritage College & Seminary, 175 Holiday Inn Dr., Cambridge.

• Huron Community Centre, 80 Tartan Ave., Kitchener.

• Kingsdale Community Centre, 72 Wilson Ave., Kitchener.

People can also vote at the Kitchener South-Hespeler election office located at 271 Shoemaker St., Kitchener. In addition to the above hours, that office is open Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Wednesday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Election day is Feb. 27.