Oakville News asked the Oakville and Oakville North-Burlington (ONB) candidates a series of questions. Each candidate was asked to provide concise answers and were given several days to respond. Oakville News does not endorse any candidate.
Should candidates provide answers at a later date, Oakville News will update this post.
Question 3: If elected, what is something you will accomplish locally in the first three months?
Oakville Riding
Jerome Adamo, NDP
I pledge to represent the people of Oakville including the unwaged, wage earners and working families in Parliament. That means fighting for health care and education systems that are properly funded, a clean environment, good paying jobs and pensions, decent working conditions, and once and for all, putting an end to COVID.
JD Meaney, People’s Party of Canada
I will work with Oakville city council and regional council in an effort to best support our local communities and businesses.
Kerry Colborne, Conservative:
Delivering a plan for the future to deal with Covid-19 and our economy. Also, how we will support the social programs needed for a strong recovery. That includes, seniors care, supporting good mental health, a real plan to tackle affordability challenges in both housing and our everyday life.
Getting the programs in place will take longer than three months. Having a plan Canadians, and the residents of Oakville, can see and understand will show we are going in the right direction.
That would be a positive first 100 days and most of the plan is already in our Securing the Future platform.
Anita Anand, Liberal:
My first priority will be to continue to support the health care sector, our front line and essential workers. Although COVID-19 has lit the spark of transformation in how health care can be accessed and delivered virtually, filling the gap to ensure all Canadians have access to a family doctor or primary health team, regardless of where they live, should be a fundamental tenet of our universal, public health system.
We will improve Canada’s universal, public health care system by ensuring every Canadian has access to a family doctor or primary health team by providing $3.2 billion for the hiring of 7,500 new family doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners.
In addition, I will continue to be a champion for local Oakville businesses and a green economy. Since my election as your Member of Parliament in 2019, the federal government has made historic investments here in Oakville. In partnership with Ford Canada and the government of Ontario, we invested $1.8 billion in Oakville to establish the first large-scale battery electric vehicle production by a major automaker in Canada.
This partnership secures jobs at Oakville’s Ford assembly complex and positions Oakville as the leader and centre of innovation in Canada’s auto industry, while helping to meet our climate goals.
ONB Riding
Lenaee Dupuis, NDP:
The months of COVID-19 has been challenging for everyone. We all have stories to share and sadly, many have lost their lives to this disease. I look forward to bringing your voice to Ottawa and fighting for a fair recovery from the pandemic while ensuring a more affordable future for Canadians.
As a business owner I’ve had firsthand experience of the challenges facing local businesses today. Small businesses are essential to building and supporting communities and I’ll do my utmost to keep you and your family healthy and safe while supporting local businesses in our effort to rebuilding the economy.
I'll use my voice to support a COVID-19 excess profit tax on large corporations that profited during the pandemic and who paid out executive bonuses after receiving COVID-19 wage subsidies and I will ensure that small business wage and rent subsidies continue until they are able to reopen.
Bruno Sousa, Green Party:
If elected I would:
- Host 2 open house events to create an opportunity to hear from the residents of the district.
- Meet with local leaders at all levels including council in both municipalities and the region.
- Host online weekly AMAs to give residents and business direct access to me and to address concerns or questions.
- Review municipal and regional policies.
Pam Damoff, Liberal:
I will work with the province to introduce $10/day child care for families in Oakville North-Burlington. The pandemic has been called a “she-cession” with women disproportionately impacted. The number one thing holding women back in the workforce is access to safe, affordable child care.
The closing of schools and daycares forced many women out of work. As part of a feminist economic policy, we are creating a high-quality, affordable, and accessible early learning and child care system across Canada. We will ensure annual growth in quality and affordable child care spaces for an average of $10 a day. This is social infrastructure that will drive jobs and growth. This is feminist economic policy.
McKinsey and Company has said that by 2026 we could add $150 billion to the annual GDP, increasing it by 1.2%, by supporting women’s full participation in the workforce. It is just smart economic policy.
Hanan Rizkalla, Conservative:
First 100 Days
- Consult the mayors and councillors whose jurisdictions overlap Oakville North-Burlington and open lines of consultation between us.
- Investigate the distribution of vaccines to the provinces and in Oakville North- Burlington
- Lobby for the opening of the US border.
- Explore methods to invite and encourage low-carbon-footprint businesses to establish themselves in our area. Promote the opening of a "green" industrial park.
- Lobby and plan immediate improvement in healthcare system to reflect on daily resident in ONB life post-Covid and facilitate the controlling measures of the pandemic.
- Preparedness -- start planning to cover Canadians in general and ONB residents for similar crisis
- Focus on people's mental health and rehabilitation to support return to work and work-life balance.