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27| O akville B eaver | T hursday,M ay 31,2018 insidehalton.com The Oakville North-Burlington riding candidates include (from left) Frank DeLuca (Trillium), Alvin Tedjo (Liberal), Effie Triantafilopoulos (PC), Marianne Workman (Green), Charles Zach (Libertarian) and Saima Zaidi (NDP). Metroland photo composition As part of its comprehen- sive coverage of the provin- cial election, the Beaver and Post invited each of the Oak-Post invited each of the Oak-P ville North-Burlington rid- ing candidates to weigh in on a particular issue. This is the final instalment in a three-part question-and-an-three-part question-and-an-t swer with your local candi- dates. HOUSING: First-time homebuyers in Oakville and Burlington are often priced out of the market. What measures would your government imple- ment to make home- ownership within reach? Frank DeLuca • Trillum I agree that housing is priced out of the market and not affordable for first- time buyers. Although in- terest rates are still low, the cost of owning a home for single- or even double-in- come families leaves little for the remaining expens-for the remaining expens-f es. I believe the only way to cure this is to provide gov- ernmental assistance for low-income housing. We currently haveWe currently haveW CMHC insurance for high ratio financing, we need more programs geared to the lower income families, but the real root is saving enough to get into the mar- ket. This goes hand in hand with all the other expendi- tures, carbon tax, hydro rates, and taxes. If we can curb these in- creases and find redundan- cies to offset increases, peo- ple can save for a down pay- ment. The market is due for a cool down and that's when people can get in, but not if everything else goes up. Alvin Tedjo • Liberal I know that for a lot of young families, getting into the housing market here in Halton can be a real chal- lenge. While a strong hous- ing market was reflective of Ontario's strong economy, affordability became a real and growing concern over the last year. That's why the Liberal government introduced the Fair Housing Plan to stabilize the market for ho- mebuyers and renters. Through the 16 mea- sures in the plan, we're making buying and renting a home more affordable and fairer. We also expan- ded rent controls to protect people against sudden, dra- matic rent increases that would force them out of their homes. The plan is working: prices are stabilizing and housing has become more affordable all throughout the GTHA. It also stands as a stark contrast with Doug Ford's approach on these issues. He was caught on camera making a secret promise to pave the Greenbelt - only to renege when his secret got out. And he has been clear that he does not support rent control, a system that literally keeps the roof over people's heads. That's not right, it's not fair, and it's not not a planfair, and it's not not a planf to make housing more af- fordable in our communi-fordable in our communi-f ties. Effie Triantafilopoulos • PC Our plan will increase the supply of housing by re- ducing red tape and in- creasing supply without touching the Greenbelt. When the Liberals brought forward their plan, 1,000 new units that were set to come online were cancelled. On top of that, in 2017, the Liberal government encroached on the Greenbelt on 17 differ- ent sites including a site in Oakville North-Burling- ton. We have also announcedWe have also announcedW our Customer Service Guarantee, which will re- duce red tape by imple- menting a hard one-year deadline for all provincial permits. Only our plan rec- ognizes that to truly ad- dress the problem of afford- ability, we must increase the supply of housing. Marianne Workman • Green A community where ev- eryone can find a place to call home provides stabili- ty for the people and to the economy. Our plan would require new builds to have 20 per cent affordable housing units -rentals, condo, de- tached housing, apart- ments; incentivize munici- palities to zone for the 'missing middle' - a combi- nation of mixed-use, medi- um density housing types and rental units; find ways to implement creative solu- tions to increase availabili- ty and variety of housing styles, including 'tiny homes,' co-housing, etc.; support Halton Second Unit pilot program; in- crease the speculation tax; and ensure prime farm- land and the Greenbelt are protected. Charles Zach • Libertarian Once again it is big gov- ernment interference re- lated to the supply of land and the types of housing that can be built on land that has created this cur- rent housing crisis for first- time buyers. Affordable housing is an issue that has not been properly addressed by the main political parties. A good start to making hous- ing more affordable is to re- place the land transfer tax with a flat rate instead of a percentage, which esca- lates as the cost of the home increases. The Libertarian party proposes a flat rate of $275. The biggest expense to an average family is taxes. Taxes are much more than the cost of their home. A home can be made more af- fordable by reducing taxes,fordable by reducing taxes,f letting people keep their earnings to invest in a home. The Libertarian party would cancel the carbon tax, which directly increas- es the cost of heating your home and makes every- thing more expensive, in- cluding building new hous- es. The Libertarian party would also cut hydro rates in half, which will give peo- ple more money for hous- ing and would reduce the size and scope of govern- ment, which translates into lower taxes, leaving more disposal income, greatly helping to make home own- ership more affordable. Saima Zaidi • NDP I know how important it is for families and young people in our community to be able to afford to live here, in this place they have called home their entire lives. But sadly that dream is out of reach for many people. The most important thing when talking about affordable housing is to ac- knowledge that safe, af- fordable housing is a hu-fordable housing is a hu-f man right. Andrea Hor- wath and the Ontario NDP hold this to be true, and want to bring change for the better on this file for all of Ontario. But after de- cades of switching between Liberal and Conservative governments, life is getting harder and less affordable for all Ontarians.for all Ontarians.f Our plan includes in- vesting in 65,000 new af- fordable housing units overfordable housing units overf 10 years, and also building 30,000 new supportive housing units in that same time period. We will pre- vent the loss of thousands of existing affordable homes by funding the prov- ince's one-third share of the costs of social housing cap- ital repairs. We will also work withWe will also work withW municipalities to encour- age development of transit- friendly "missing middle"friendly "missing middle"f housing, and clamp down on land speculation and property flipping to help keep homes affordable. . . . PRIORITIES: Please list your top priorities if elected and tell us why residents in the Oakville North-Burlington riding should vote for you. Saima Zaidi • NDP My top priority will be to be a strong voice and bring the concerns of families liv- ing in Oakville North-Bur- lington to Queen's Park. I have been connecting with voters on the door- steps, in my campaign of- fice and at public eventsfice and at public eventsf and the most common con- cern I hear from them is af- fordability. People in thisfordability. People in thisf community are feeling the squeeze on the hydro bills, when they go to the dentist, when they go to the phar- macy, and in so many other parts of their lives. Kathleen Wynne sold off Hydro One, and our bills went through the roof. An- drea Horwath and the NDP have a plan to buy back Hy- dro One, getting private profits off our bills. We will lower rates by 30 per cent and keep them down. No one should have to deal with the pain or life- long damage of going with- out dental care or prescrip- tion drugs. With Horwath's Dental Care for Everyone plan, every Ontarian will Q&A: Oakville North-Burlington l See OAKVILLE, page 28