The snap election in the Bay of Quinte saw an online candidates debate Tuesday night.

The candidates clarified both their own and their parties’ positions on a series of questions submitted by the public. The debate was hosted by three local Chambers of Commerce, in Belleville, Hastings, and Prince Edward County.

Healthcare, housing and development, education, the financial burdens downloaded onto municipalities; and preparing for the future demands of the workforce and economy were the top concerns.

Mr. Allsopp used “we” in many of his responses, to include the Ford government. He flagged fighting the “Liberal carbon tax” and widening the 401 as major PC accomplishments of the last six years.

As for healthcare, Mr. Allsopp cited the money spent and doctors hired by the current government. As for the downloading complaint, he cited recent infrastructure investments to counter the argument that serious financial burdens have been imposed on struggling rural municipalities by the Ford government.

The NDP’s Amanda Robertson and the Green Party’s Lori Borthwick both noted that the privatization of healthcare undermines any investment in healthcare. They argued that the figures cited in favour of the current government reflected increases in population as well as the inflation of costs in general.

The NDP would invest in human resources and “pay respectful wages,” said Ms. Robertson. She noted that the current government had “unanimously voted against a nurse-to-patient ratio bill that would have improved working conditions for nursing staff.”

Ms. Borthwick pointed to the current government’s Bill 124, which froze public servants’ wages, as a discouragement to doctors choosing the difficult job of primary care physician.

The Liberal’s Sean Kelly reminded us more than once about the 20,000 “orphaned patients” in this riding without a family doctor.

In terms of costs downloaded to municipalities, using County Road 49 as the prime example, Mr. Allsopp recited his party’s line: “we will step up and match whatever the federal government is willing to put forward when they create a national infrastructure program of their own.”

Other candidates suggested that the province should do something “without waiting for a third party,” as Ms. Robertson put it.

Mr. Kelly noted that the 444 municipalities in Ontario all agree that downloading of costs is unsustainable. Ms. Borthwick pointed out, “when the current government does their little announcements of money coming into our riding, I want everyone to remember that that is our money! We’re the ones that pay the taxes and so why should we have to beg for money?”

On the question of development and conservation, each of Mr. Kelly, Ms Borthwick and Ms. Robertson stressed the importance of preserving the natural environment. The Green Party candidate noted that protecting marsh and wetlands also protected houses from flooding. For Ms. Robertson, farmland too needs protection. She praised the NDP’s Marit Stiles for her success in undoing Premier Ford’s greenbelt development deal.

For Mr. Allsopp, “we have a sparse population on a large land mass, and we need to balance conservation with housing needs.”

On this riding’s homelessness crisis, especially in Belleville, each candidate agreed on its seriousness. Ms. Robertson said that “we have not had a reliable partner in the provincial government to address this,” supporting Mr. Kelly’s and Ms. Borthwick’s point that homelessness affects everyone.

Mr. Kelly noted, in the absence of provincial support, Belleville introduced a new tax on downtown businesses to raise $4 million. This was a burden to small businesses. Both Ms. Robertson and Mr. Kelly also drew attention to the current government’s elimination of rent control.

For his part, Mr. Allsopp cited the current government’s investments, which are “helping people get off drugs, get their lives back, and get back to work.”

The debate was congenial and ably moderated by Belleville Chamber of Commerce President Chris Auger. There was much common ground, especially among the NDP, Green and Liberal candidates. At one point Mr. Kelly spoke directly to Ms. Borthwick, “Lori, thanks for your compassion. I can hear it in your voice.”

Mr. Allsopp, perhaps the odd man out, asserted more than once over the debate that he was running for the party in power. At one point he said of Mr. Kelly, “he will not even be in the official opposition, he’ll be in the cabinet with nine others and not have official party status.” At another point he went out of his way to describe the NDP government of the 1990s, “which went so poorly they were never invited to do that job again.”  

In his closing remarks he returned to this theme with what he appeared to think a rhetorical question: “do you want an MPP who’s willing to hit the ground running and is willing to work with this Ontario PC government and Doug Ford to get things done or do you want an MPP is going to sit in opposition?”

PC’s Allsopp skips Second Candidates Debate

Mr. Allsopp failed to appear at the second all-candidate debate, held Thursday afternoon in Belleville.

“Tyler always chooses his status in the PC Party over the people of the Bay of Quinte,” said fellow Belleville City Councillor and Liberal candidate Sean Kelly. “You can’t get it done if you can’t even show up.”

“First he skipped out on his job as a City Councillor. Then he failed to attend the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s annual meeting, where cities from across the province fought against Doug Ford’s cuts. Now he is a no-show for this important public debate.”