Candidates Q and A: The rising cost of living in Guelph

GuelphToday asked the candidates running for the four major parties in Guelph a series of questions about the upcoming election. Their answers will run nightly over the next two weeks. Responses were limited to 250 words. 

Tonight's question: 'What would you do to address the rising cost of living in Guelph?'

Raechelle Devereaux, Liberal:

As the costs rise across the board, an Ontario Liberal government will take action to put more money back in people’s pockets. We commit to raising the minimum wage to $16/hour, followed by the implementation of a regionally set living wage across the province. In Guelph, the last calculated living wage is $18.10/hr. As the CEO of the Guelph CHC, I made a commitment that we would be a living wage employer; this is an important issue to me personally and professionally.

As a Liberal candidate, I met with many individuals trying to make ends meet on the current Ontario Disability Support Program.  Based on their input and advocacy, I worked with my party policy team to advocate for a 20 per cent increase to ODSP by 2023, along with several other recommendations that came from those experiencing the challenges first hand, including annual increases for inflation and adjustments to benefits for couples. A Liberal government will also double the Old Age Security top up from the province and raise income thresholds to increase the number of seniors who qualify for this benefit.

James Parr, NDP: 

This is an issue that requires a comprehensive solution. Making our public healthcare stronger and including pharmacare, mental healthcare and dental under its umbrella will go a long way to reduce out of pocket healthcare expenditure for the average Guelph-ite. 

My party is committed to raising the minimum wage to $20/hr by 2026. The NDP is also proposing to convert OSAP loans to grants and wiping out interest owed or paid to the province, so young people can focus on getting their lives set up, rather than trying to dig their way out of debt. Beyond that, we need to focus on reducing monthly utility bills.

Mike Schreiner, Green Party: 

The issue I’m hearing the most at doorsteps is how the affordability crisis is impacting families in our community. With the average price of a home in Guelph now over $1 million. Gas prices at nearly $2 a litre and food prices continuing to rise, life is increasingly expensive.

Short term fixes like nominal reductions in gas taxes - which save the average Ontario family $65 - and license plate sticker refunds - which I was the only MPP to vote against - were election gimmicks that will do next to nothing to address the actual affordability crisis. We need real solutions to these old problems that don’t just paper over the cracks.

Ontario Greens commit to creating a retrofit program to help people save on energy costs, cutting transit fares in half for an initial three months and offering rebates of up to $10k for electric cars and $1k for e-bikes and used electric cars. We need relief from the pumps, not at the pumps.

We also need to address the costs of rising food by implementing a Grocers Code of Conduct that would protect local food producers and farmers and prohibit collusion and price gouging.

We need to address the housing crisis by making immediate zoning changes, cracking down on speculators and investing in affordable housing. And we need to double the ODSP rate to lift people out of legislated poverty.

There are immediate actions we can take to address the affordability crisis. We just need the leadership will to make them happen.

Peter McSherry, Progressive Conservative: No response.