Kingston and the Islands hot topics a microcosm of the province
Candidates say they're focused on food insecurity, housing and health care
Whether it's limited access to health care and housing, the battle to afford basics or support for those struggling with mental health and addiction, the major issues facing Ontario this election can be found in Kingston and the Islands.
As voters cast their ballots Thursday, the riding not only reflects the challenges confronting the province: it also acts as a proving ground for the parties and their policies.
"Kingston is a mirror of the similar issues that other communities are grappling with," said Dax D'Orazio, a postdoctoral fellow of political science at the eastern Ontario city's Queen's University.
"People are just generally frustrated and exhausted," he said, adding residents are hungry for solutions.
Many of those issues were traditionally thought of as big-city problems but have since become systemic, pushing them out of the shadows to become part of everyday life in smaller communities too, according to D'Orazio.
Kingston and the Islands is no exception.
Repeated and contentious attempts by officials to clear an encampment near the city's only supervised consumption site dragged on.
Kingston councillors declared a food insecurity emergency last month.
Also, despite being home to a medical school, tens of thousands of people in the riding don't have a family doctor. Hundreds have waited for hours in lines stretching around the block for a chance at finding primary care.
NDP candidate pitching first-hand experience
NDP candidate Elliot Goodell Ugalde is earning his PhD in political science at Queen's University and said he shares many of the same struggles.
"Part of the reason why I'm involved [in politics] is because me and none of my colleagues will ever own a home," he said. "I don't have a family doctor."
Goodell Ugalde blamed that state of affairs on decades of Liberal and Conservative leadership, describing it as "incredibly frustrating."
While he agreed Kingston and the Islands is home to systemic problems, Goodell Ugalde said some issues disproportionately affect the area, including food insecurity, "maltreatment" of workers at Queen's University and hospital wait times.
"These are very Kingston-specific issues that, yes, reverberate throughout the province, but are localized here, and the Liberals and Conservatives have woefully failed in addressing them," he said.
Goodell Ugalde said he believes the race locally is between him and Liberal candidate Ted Hsu.
"If you want a viable opposition to Mr. Ford in the legislature, you should certainly vote for me," he said.
Liberal candidate wants to 'get back to work'
Hsu is running to keep his seat as one of only nine Liberal MPPs at Queen's Park when the election was called.
"I want to get back to work," he said, adding his priorities include fixing the health-care system, making life more affordable and building more housing.
Hsu described the riding as a microcosm of the issues facing Ontario, but said his focus is on serving residents.
"My role is not to go out and solve it for all of Ontario at one time, but to listen to the people in Kingston and the Islands, take our problems, bring them to Queen's Park," he explained.
Hsu added that if elected again he'll find allies in eastern Ontario and across the province who are facing the same struggles and work with them to find solutions — regardless of which party they represent.
Ian Chapelle, the Progressive Conservative candidate for Kingston and the Islands, declined an interview.
In a brief email, a spokesperson for his campaign wrote that given the short length of the election, "Ian is prioritizing meeting voters face-to-face" by door-knocking.
The email did welcome written questions, but those sent by CBC did not receive a response.
A Facebook page for Chapelle's campaign has shared a handful of photos of him posing with lawn signs, along with posts from the Ontario PC Party.
"He is running to ensure the region has a strong voice within Doug Ford's team, working to protect Ontario," read one from Feb. 23. "Ian's Queen's Park and Parliament Hill experiences have prepared him to strongly represent you."
Chapelle did not participate in debates or all-candidates meetings ahead of election day, something candidates from the three other major parties were quick to point out.
Green candidate calls for new ideas
Zachary Typhair is representing the Green Party for the second time and is hoping to poach conservative support.
He criticized the party for missing out on federal housing funding and offered an invitation to anyone feeling disillusioned by PC Leader Doug Ford.
"If you're a conservative that's finding you're just not at home, the Green Party is your home," said Typhair. "We're fiscally responsible and we have the social policies to follow it up."
The Green candidate said he's hearing affordability concerns at nearly every door he knocks on, adding he's also among the millions of Ontarians who don't have a family doctor.
"We need new ideas, because when the [crises] are older than me, we obviously are headed in the wrong path," he said.
Typhair said another benefit of the Green Party is that it allows him to be himself.
"I can vote for what's right for Kingston, some guy up in Toronto is not going to tell me what to do."
Kingston and the Islands voters have mostly chosen Liberal MPPs since the 1980s, besides NDP wins in 1990 and 2015. It hasn't been represented by a Conservative since Keith Norton's loss in 1985 and has had two major border changes since then.
However, the communities around it are a different story, leaving the riding surrounded by a sea of Conservative blue. That includes the northern part of the City of Kingston in Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston.
D'Orazio of Queen's said even if it remains an outlier, there's a benefit to facing the same issues as the rest of Ontario — they can't be ignored even if the governing party doesn't have an MPP in the riding.
"These problems are plaguing the entire province, so Kingston needs to be a part of the conversation of addressing them across the province."
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