Waterloo candidates on how they'd address climate change, long-term care

Waterloo is seen by many as a university town with a thriving tech scene, but the riding also faces a number of challenges.

Those include a lack of affordable housing, the rising cost of living, climate change and concerns about the long-term care system.

Eightpeople are running in the riding of Waterloo in this Ontario election. They are, alphabetically:

• Andrew Aitken, Progressive Conservative Party.
• Shefaza Esmail, Green Party of Ontario.
• Catherine Fife, New Democratic Party.
• Peter House, Electoral Reform Party.
• Benjamin Hufnagel, Ontario Party.
• Christian Shingiro, Communist Party.
• Jennifer Tuck, Liberal Party.
• Volodymyr Voznyuk, New Blue Party.

CBC Kitchener-Waterloo invited the candidates from the four major parties to take part in a panel discussion. The panel was held Monday at Catalyst 137 in Kitchener. Fife was the only candidate to attend. Esmail, who had a prior commitment, and Tuck took part in one-on-one interviews.

Aiken declined to take part in the panel and also declined CBC's offer of a one-on-one interview.CBCemailed himthe questions asked to the other major party candidates and Aiken provided a written response. His answers have been included below.

The full audio of the panel is available below.

Advocating for climate change

Fife said she's excited to see her party's Green New Democratic Deal be put into action.

The plan "looks to address reducing greenhouse gas emissions through job creation, through progressive planning processes, and through energy," she said.

"We're not going to leave anybody behind," Fife said. "What we need is that upskilling process, make sure that those employees find the new jobs in the green economy, perhaps installing electric vehicle chargers at at homes."

She said the NDP recognizes the urgency of the situation and wants to see homes and businesses retrofitted with conservation strategies.

"The smart money is on conservation," Fife said.

For Esmail, climate change is one of the main reasons she became a candidate for the Green party.

"It's important that we begin transitioning now and have a vision of where we want to go so that we're taking the right steps towards that," she said.

"The biggest change I would advocate for is switching from fossil fuel-based energy, fossil fuel-based products, to more clean energy and or alternative energy that will help us transition to a carbon net zero economy."

She said that includes electric vehicles and reducing dependence cars, increasing public transit options "not just within cities, but also between cities."

Tuck said she spent her early career working at Queen's Park for the natural resources minister, and when she moved into the energy sector, she found a home in the "renewable energy space" where she helped companies build wind and solar facilities in Canada and the U.S.

"It's very important to me to see that green energy continues to be part of the climate change solution," she said.

She said the Liberals would also encourage people to use public transit touting the party's buck-a-ride program and said the party would also increase the Greenbelt and plant more trees.

Problems in long-term care

The COVID-19 pandemic shone a light on problems in the long-term care system.

Fife saidthe NDP would, over an eight-year transition period, "remove the profit agenda from long-term care."

The party would also build home care programs so people who work in that field are paid well and seniors who want to remain in their homes can do so.

"Recently, my mother was in Peterborough in the hospital. There was a lady in her accompanying bed that had been there for five weeks at $1,000 a day because they could only provide her with one hour of home care," Fife said.

"She didn't want to be in the hospital, nor does she want to go to long-term care. And I can tell you the emotion around long-term care right now is genuinely a fear because people recognize that if they go into that system, they are not guaranteed quality or dignity or integrity."

An investment in home care would take pressure off the hospitals and give the province time to modernize long-term care, she said.

Esmail said previous provincial governments haven't given enough thought to the future of long-term care.

"It seems that a lot of actions that are being taken are meant for within four years or less just to be able to get re-elected. But there is no long-term planning regarding emergencies," she said.

"So we went into the pandemic already cut at the knees They kind of had dug a grave. So you can't really build up from there."

There should be more help for the people working in long-term care facilities, including for their mental health, Esmail said.

Esmail added that private facilities are "not the way to go when we're thinking about the well-being of our population."

Tuck said change is needed.

"It's always felt to me a bit like we warehoused our seniors and I and I'm not comfortable with that," she said.

The Liberals want to reimagine senior care, she said, and that includes eliminating privatized long-term care.

"The goal would be by 2028, to have all publicly owned long-term care homes," she said.

The Liberals would also invest in home care so people can stay in their homes longer, increase the old age security benefit by $1,000 a month and hire 100,000 more medical professionals, doctors and nurses to eliminate the backlog of surgeries, diagnostic procedures and other care.

Aiken's emailed statement did notaddress climate change or long-term care.

His statement mentioned the housing crisis and "escalating costs, not only for those looking to buy a home but for renters as well."

He said the Progressive Conservatives would build 1.5 million new homes across the province in the next 10 years.

"With inflation driving up costs for families across the province, it is alsoimportant that we invest in creating new,well-paying jobs. That's why theOntario PCs have [a] plan to invest in the skilled trades and invest ininfrastructure like Highway 7 and all day GO service to the region," his statement said.

Voting day is June 2.

LISTEN | The candidates were also asked how they would address the housing crisis, the rise in the cost of living and what they want voters to know about them before going to the polls. Those answers can be heard in the full audio of the panel below: