The colour scheme was Liberal red Sunday afternoon during the annual New Year’s Levee hosted by Guelph MPP Liz Sandals and MP Lloyd Longfield at the Italian Canadian Club.
Sandals and Longfield greeted a long line of constituents - some with issues to discuss and some who simply wanted to wish the pair a Happy New Year.
Gerald Neufeld, conductor of the Guelph Chamber Choir joined the line with his wife Pat Eton-Neufeld.
“These things are like a parent-teacher meeting,” said Neufeld. “I am here to offer some affirmation for the difficult work they do.”
Eton-Neufeld was equally gracious.
“They put in long hours and deserve some thanks for their superb public service,” she said.
During a short speech Longfield wished everyone a Happy New Year and Canada a happy 150th birthday.
He described how many of those long hours Eton-Neufeld mentioned were spent over the past year and heaped praise on Sandals and the congenial working relationship they have.
“We’re working really well together,” said Longfield. “We’re finishing each other’s sentences sometimes, which is a little scary for one of us at any time.”
Longfield talked about cooperative efforts by the federal and provincial governments to strengthen health care, protect water, improve conditions in First Nations communities and save Canadian auto manufacturing jobs. He forecasted a year ahead of continued prosperity for Guelph.
“The business community here has been very active,” he said. “The university continues to grow and Conestoga is looking at expansion.”
He said cooperation between all levels of government on new infrastructure projects will create jobs and contribute to the city’s prosperity.
“Liz and I meet with the mayor of Guelph and we get federal money through the province to the city,” he said. “We are looking at increasing infrastructure funding going forward.”
Sandals was also optimistic about the year ahead especially for the environment and low-income college students.
“We are changing OSAP, the Ontario Students Assistance Program, so that about 150,000 lower income students will qualify for free tuition,” she said. “That starts with the kids that are starting university or college next fall.”
She said provincial cap and trade legislation that goes into effect this year will assist efforts to address climate change.
“If you go back to 2004, we had in this part of Southern Ontario about 50 smog days – days when there were health warnings because of smog,” said Sandals. “The last couple of years now that we’ve got rid of the coal fire generators we’ve had zero smog days.”
The messages from Longfield and Sandals went over well with many.
“We are hopeful of a better year ahead,” said Mohammad Rahmani, president of the Islamic Society of Guelph.
His colleague, Najib Zia Rahman, president of the Cultural Federation of Turks of Afghanistan, was also optimistic.
“We are happy to hear the news about increased support for students and about clean water action,” he said.
Former Guelph Liberal MP Frank Maine offered words of caution, support and advice.
“Communications and innovation are so important for job creation in Guelph,” said Maine. “With what is going on in the US now these things are even more important.”
