The gloves were off Tuesday at the second provincial election all-candidates event.
After a relatively polite initial debate at the Italian Canadian Club 12 days ago, the Guelph Chamber of Commerce event held at City Hall was much friskier.
Leading the way was NDP candidate Aggie Mlynarz, who called out every other candidate by name at least once, flashing her red “rebuttal” sign throughout the two-hour event.
Mlynarz admitted following the debate that people got to see a different side of her Tuesday.
“I want to be able to demonstrate in these debates that I want to be a leader and when pushed, I can stand up for myself because I know this is a community that wants to see that at Queen’s Park and in their MPP,” Mlynarz said in an interview.
“I believe it’s important to clarify things and platforms so that everything’s out in the open,” she said.
Mlynarz said with more experience comes more confidence.
“There’s plenty of room to grow. The more you go out on the door the more confidence you get, the more time you get to study and more conversations you have all helps to build you up and it helped bring out a little bit more of a different side of me tonight."
Mlynarz called out Liberal Sly Castaldi on the Liberal publicly funded health care plans, slammed Tory Ray Ferraro on his criticisms of the benefits portion of the new basic wage and questioned the Green Party's Mike Schreiner on what she felt were inconsistencies in his platform’s costing.
“I just want people to be aware that I’m both a kind and happy person, but I’m also a strong individual as well and I can stand up and ask for something to be clarified when I feel something needs to be,” Mlynarz said.
Roughly 200 people packed the gallery in Council Chambers, with many lining up 45 minutes to make sure they got a seat and several disappointed turned away at the door when the room reached capacity.
As in the first debate, written questions were read out to the candidates.
Unlike the first debate, candidates were given the opportunity to offer rebuttal to the answers provided by the others.
Mlynarz wasn’t the only one with some fight in her Tuesday.
Liberal candidate Sly Castaldi bristled at Tory candidate Ray Ferraro, the lone candidate to say they did not support the new sex ed curriculum.
“We’re totally against it,” Ferraro said. “This is not something that the teachers should teach my children … this is the parent’s responsibility.
“This is getting really weird, when the government wants to take your children and raise them for you. If we get in, we will definitely withdraw it,” Ferraro said.
Castaldi fired back in rebuttal.
“I don’t understand why anybody would campaign on this particular issue,” she said.
“You have rape crisis centres across the province who see kids every day that are the victims of sexual harassment and violence. Yes, I agree, the parents should be having this conversation, but they’re not."
“I really don’t understand why we would put kids in this province in jeopardy by not having this curriculum.”
Tuesday's debate featured just the four main political parties: NDP, Liberal, Green Party and Progressive Conservative.
The four fringe parties running candidates in Guelph (Communist, Libertarian, None Of The Above Party and Ontario Party) were not invited to take part.
Ontario Party candidate Thomas Mooney tweeted that he recorded all the questions asked at the debate and would be posting his responses on his web site.
Other highlights:
Schreiner:
He called the June call to the polls a “fantasy land election” where other parties are making promises with no fiscal plans to pay for it.
He talked about “looking forward, not backward” when it comes to skill training and lifelong learning opportunities, expanding co-op and apprenticeship programs, the urgent need for regional transportation and two-way GO service,
He also said the Liberals “made a huge mistake” in closing sheltered workshops and voiced support for a single school system following “respectful conversation” in bringing together the best of both boards.
Ferraro:
He talked of “cleaning up the Hydro One mess,” putting more money in people’s pockets to make their own decisions on health and dental care rather than “take your money then subsidize you.”
He also said the “biggest problem” when it comes to the lack of affordable housing is not the funding, but the red tape and lack of cooperation with the province and unwillingness of developers to add affordable housing to their developments..
“We could get it done next year without the red tape,” Ferraro said.
Ferraro said the problem with the new minimum wage isn’t the $2 an hour increase, but the full-time benefits that part-time workers get with it.
“I get a little tired of all small businesses. What is wrong with big business bringing in big jobs and helping our economy and lowering your house taxes?” Ferraro said.
Castaldi:
She spoke of her passion for more affordable housing and how hard it is to find it in Guelph, that there are no plans to amalgamate the two school systems and admitted that the province’s hydro landscape is “a mess,” but that “every party had a hand in it’s messiness. You can’t blame one party on this one.”
Castaldi said: “we all have platforms …. Which one best meets your needs.”
Mlynarz:
Hit home the NDP platform points of a universal dental care plan, the creation of 65,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years, hiring 6,000 new nurses and opening 2,000 beds immediately in the healthcare system and how it was “time for the wealthiest corporations to pay their fair share” of taxes.
