Most of Oakville’s candidates squared off on Wednesday night in a wide-ranging debate that was billed as focusing on the environment but eventually covered far more ground.
It also gave Liberal incumbent and cabinet minister Anita Anand a largely unchallenged opportunity to establish herself as the credible candidate for the riding, thanks to a decision by Conservative Kerry Colborne to skip the event.
While candidates for the NDP, Green Party and People’s Party of Canada (PPC) also took part, they largely spoke in an off-the-cuff and unpolished manner.
The result was that Anand a former lawyer, law professor and cabinet minister appeared organized and authoritative in presenting the Liberal plan for the environment and social issues including child care and pay equity.
Colborne said that she “would have loved to participate” but her schedule didn’t allow it.
“I wanted to be there, but I just simply could not. My schedule is just insane,” she said. “It’s simply just a time crunch.”
Without Colborne, the discussion skewed heavily to the left with even Green party candidate Oriana Knox focusing more on social issues than environmental ones.
“There is no environmental justice without social justice,” said the 30-year-old hair restoration specialist.
In response to a range of questions, the NDP’s Jerome Adamo argued that Liberal and Conservative candidates often promise programs to help people just before elections but don’t deliver.
He noted that the Liberal government could have instituted a national child care plan in 2015 if they really were committed to it.
Adamo also said the NDP supports affordable child care and a guaranteed basic income.
“We’re paying more than we should be paying because too many people aren’t paying their fair share,” he added.
Given the online format of the debate, the audience was able to offer immediate feedback to candidates through the Zoom chat box.
PPC candidate JD Meaney elicited some skeptical responses from the audience when he answered a climate change question by arguing against COVID lockdowns and vaccine passports.
“I’m fully against lockdowns for the virus and for climate change,” he said.
He also said that Canada is carbon neutral, the Paris accord is not sustainable, and hemp should be used as a building material instead of cutting down trees.
Knox provided her own head-scratching moment when she responded to a question about pay equity for women by arguing that Canada’s sex worker laws should be reformed to allow people to make money how they see fit.
Anand largely stuck to citing the Liberal platform in her answers, emphasizing the plan to make investments that will allow Canada to transition to a greener economy and provide $10 per day childcare to ensure women can participate fully in the economy.
She also argued that the Liberals have a realistic and fully costed environmental plan that has been deemed ambitious but feasible by experts in the field.
The online debate was organized jointly by the Halton Environmental Network (HEN) and the Oakville chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women.
HEN partnered with different organizations in each of the five Halton ridings to organize the events, which were held as part of GreenPAC's 100 Debates on the Environment national initiative.
Stephanie Bush, HEN’s deputy director, said 485 people registered for the Halton debates. Both the Oakville and Oakville North-Burlington debate can be viewed online.
Oakville Riding Debate
Oakville North-Burlington Debate
Local candidates will meet up again on Friday in an Oakville Chamber of Commerce debate that will be held without an audience but shared via Cogeco this Saturday and several more times before the election.