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Friday, May 11, 2018 9 Brooklin Town Crier If elected, what will be your priorities for this riding? I will continue to advocate for families and employers. It's what I've always done as an elected representative serving this great community over the past 15 years. I and my family have called Whitby home for thirty years. Unfortunately, Brooklin and Whitby has suffered under 15 years of the McGuinty/Wynne Liberal Government. On the street, in my constituency office and in the meetings and events I regularly attend, I hear about the neglect, high taxes, over-regulation and lack of access to necessary health services that hurt our community. Fixing 15 years of Liberal Government mismanagement won't happen overnight. The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party has a Plan for the People that will help get Ontario back on track. That's good news for families, employers and businesses in Whitby and Brooklin. Doug Ford recently announced, right here in Whitby, that an Ontario Progressive Conservative Government will invest $1.9 billion in mental health, addictions and housing supports over 10 years. It's part of our commitment to build a mental health system that will help those facing mental health challenges. Importantly, that announcement was made right here in Whitby, home to Ontario Shore's Centre for Mental Health Sciences. I will continue to advocate for those with special needs. I am proud to have been a strong voice that pushed for provincial support of Grandview Children's Centre and the $37 million investment that finally resulted from those efforts. The Plan for the People provides Brooklin and Whitby voters a clear choice. Four more years of Liberal waste, increased taxes, skyrocketing hydro rates, and job-killing policies. Or, a new government that brings relief to families, keeps more money in your pocket and opens Ontario to business once again. The Ontario PC Plan includes: Ontario Childcare Rebate in 2019 that will pay up to 75% of a family's childcare expenses, with lower income families receiving the most support; If elected, what will be your priorities for this riding? If elected to represent Whitby, my top priorities would be to help create good local jobs, ensure the best opportunities for our children, fight for a local acute care facility for our growing senior population, and build better and more integrated transit. Whitby is more than a bedroom community. We need a vibrant downtown ready to support well-paying jobs right here at home. Prior to running for office, I worked closely with the Abilities Centre and the sports industry to relocate the headquarters of the Ontario Basketball Association to Whitby. With the support of Whitby electors, I would like to bring more support to our local entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, as well as bring additional investors, like the OBA, here and show them just how attractive and competitive our community can be. The generation of tomorrow should not have to leave Whitby to build their careers and raise their families. As a mother, building a better and more prosperous future for our children is my top priority. I believe in the Liberal plan - free childcare for preschoolers, full-day kindergarten, and free prescription medication for those 24 years and under are giving our children the best head start in life. Post-secondary tuition has never been more affordable, giving many youths, some for the first time, a chance at a higher education. I want to make sure that Whitby residents are accessing these post-secondary opportunities, including apprenticeship and skilled trades, to be able to get jobs in their fields after graduation. I am also deeply encouraged by the historic investment in mental health services and, on a personal note, I'd like to do all I can to tackle bullying and create safer school environments for our children. Lastly, I would like to mention a priority close to my heart. Sports has always been a passion of mine - as I know it is for many families here. Whether it's braving the bitter cold to drive our children to early morning hockey practice or leaving work early to ensure we never miss a dance recital, I would fight for increased tax credits aimed for youth enrollment in sport. I have seen the benefit sports programs have If elected what will be your priorities for this riding? The Whitby riding, including Brooklin, has seen massive population growth. With that growth comes an increase need for family doctors and health care, for schools, for safe roads and transportation networks that can get people to work and home to their families. Priorities for this riding have to meet these needs. Our Region receives the least amount of health care funding in the Province. We have more seniors waiting for long term care than there are beds. Our schools and classrooms are stretched to capacity and our children are not getting what they need to learn. Good jobs are scarce and our children cannot see a future for themselves here. It doesn't have to be this way. We can choose change for the better and invest in infrastructure and people. The NDP is the only party that has been upfront with its plan to move us all forward. We will scrap EQAO testing, reinvest money into education and rewrite the education funding formula so that we have schools that are safer for teachers and students and that support our children's learning. We will convert student loans to grants and create 27,000 new, paid work opportunities to give youth the real world experience that they need to be job market ready. The NDP will build new community health centres, provide pharmacare and dental care, and make our communities healthier. We will add 40,000 new, long term care beds, increase the hours of direct care for residents and make sure that couples going into long term care are not separated when they need each other the most. This election is about deciding to build the future we want, for our children, for our seniors and our communities. We can make the people in this riding a priority by asking the most profitable corporations to step up and pay a little more. Together, we can get good things done. If elected, what steps will you take to ameliorate PROVINCIAL ELECTION - JUNE 7, 2018 Lorne Coe Progressive Conservative Leisa Washington Liberal Niki Lundquist New Democratic Party There's no such thing as a single issue election campaign. What's important to some may be irrelevant to others. Although determining who will next govern Ontario will arouse certain passions, it will still come down to parochial concerns. Say what you want about this candidate or that leader, you may still vote according to your own needs first. Unless there's one issue we could all agree on. Take the weather, for example. If any candidate could successfully ensure ugly wind or ice storms would never happen again, they'd have my vote, no matter the party. See also, "roofs, damage to." Here's another: the 412/407 toll roads. Everyone goes somewhere out of the immediate region and paying those tolls is torturous. I've not experienced water-boarding, but it can't be emotionally dissimilar. The provincial election's larger ticket issues - a.k.a. promises - are interesting enough and there are plenty of poobah pundits to bandy about the relative worth of each, not to mention the expense. But the tolls leave me with a paucity of adjectives to describe how much they aggravate me. It's why when yours truly contacted the three major party candidates in our area, I asked them to answer two questions, one of which was about the toll roads. The other, admittedly, was a bit of a trick question. Who among them was well-versed enough on the area's needs to be able to offer specifics rather than vacuous political blather? On the topic of the toll roads, it's been about 20 years since PC Premier Mike Harris offered up the 407 on a platter to a foreign entity. Time to move past old history and seek fixes. Meanwhile, the Liberals, who've been in the, ahem, driver's seat for ages it seems, are on the hook for the current highway misery. There've been loud and plentiful objections, petitions and even some plainly logical arguments. All to deaf ears. I look at it this way: We could cast proverbial stones at the ruling party for its inaction. Or, especially given recent polls, offer them a chance to right a wrong and garner some votes and good will in Durham by stating they will fix it. While the PCs hold the seat, isn't this a golden opportunity to solidify it by standing firm on the action they'll take? The NDP could lovingly surprise everyone out here with a thorough, knowledgeable approach to the issue. What I don't want are yawn-inducing summaries of what we already know and how unfair it all is. Essentially, dear candidates, this riding has some issues and we want to know what you're going to do about them. Read their answers then decide if you see a yawner. Yawn Less than Half the Picture By Richard Bercuson All three candidates responses continue on the next page.