KITCHENER SOUTH-HESPELLER

The Kitchener South—Hespeler riding includes part of the City of Cambridge north of Highway 401, and part of the City of Kitchener lying east and south of FischerHallman Road, north of Conestoga Parkway, northeast of Highway 8, southeast of Highway 8 to Fairway Road South.

It encompasses an area of 107 square kilometres with a population of 105,305, based on a 2016 census.

There is no incumbent in the riding as Amy Fee said she would not seek re-election.

THE RACE Progressive Conservative Party

Jess Dixon is a prosecutor for both the provincial and federal governments. Dixon supports alternative justice initiatives and evidencebased innovation in the practice of criminal law. She graduated from the University of Guelph with a degree in philosophy and attended law school at the University of Ottawa.

Liberal party

Ismail Mohamed is a human-rights activist. As a community worker involved in addressing issues of housing, education and human services, Mohamed says he brings many years of experience and skills in navigating issues of community services for youth and older adults, increased access to funding for small businesses, equity and inclusion.

New Blue Party

John Teat will represent the province’s newest party. The party’s mandate is to offer solutions to ensure the province’s future is one of hope, opportunity and prosperity. As well, elected MPPs will fight to end all COVID-19 mandates and restitution for those harmed by emergency measures applied by the governments of Justin Trudeau or Doug Ford.

New Democratic Party

Joanne Weston is a former Waterloo Region school board trustee and promises to advocate for the unique needs of Kitchener South— Hespeler residents across governments.

Green Party

David Weber is a retired Waterloo Region police officer who ran as the Green Party MPP candidate in 2014 and 2018 and ran twice federally. Weber said he will advocate for election reform.

THE ISSUES Housing

The NDP are proposing ending exclusionary zoning, bringing back rent control, creating a portable housing benefit and building 100,000 units of social housing over the next decade. The Green Party plans to implement a multiple homes speculation tax on purchases of new homes for buyers who already own two or more homes or condos, starting at 20 per cent for the third home purchased and increasing with each additional home. Also, the Greens will expand zoning options to increase housing supply.

Health Care

The Progressive Conservatives will spend $158.8 billion over 10 years, with a portion of that on hospitals. Hospital operating budgets were just given a $827-million boost as well. The NDP will hire 10,000 personal support workers and 30,000 nurses, as well as 300 doctors in northern Ontario, including 100 specialists and 40 mental-health practitioners. The Liberals will raise base pay for personal support workers to $25 an hour and guarantee access to mental-health services for all health professionals. The Greens want to expand the number of women’s health clinics and abortion clinics in Ontario.

Climate Change

The NDP propose to reduce Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and establish a new cap-and-trade system. The Liberals propose to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, as well as strengthen requirements of industrial emitters and put $9 billion over four years into a clean economy plan. The Green Party says it will amend the Greenbelt Act to make putting new highways through the protected areas illegal and significantly expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The party further proposes to add 4,000 electric and fuel-cell buses by 2030.

Anti-Racism and Inclusion

The NDP proposes to implement a provincial anti-racism strategy, appoint a minister responsible for anti-racism, erect a Holocaust memorial on the grounds of the legislature and pass the Our London Family Act to combat Islamophobia. The Liberals plan to provide culturally competent gender-affirming health, mental health and longterm care, as well as create a new fund to hire more police officers from under-represented communities. They will also ensure regular police training on de-escalation, anti-racism, cultural sensitivity and mental health. The Greens promise to immediately clean up mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows First Nation.

Infrastructure

The Progressive Conservatives are planning highway projects that include: Highway 413 and the Bradford bypass; widening Highway 401 east from Pickering; and improving the QEW Skyway. The Liberals plan is to make all transit fares across the province $1 per ride and reduce monthly transit passes to $40 until January 2024. The Green Party plans on implementing timeof-day pricing on transit to make off-peak use cheaper, and cancelling Highway 413 and creating a dedicated truck lane on Highway 407 that is toll free.

BACKGROUND

The 2018 provincial election was the first for the new riding of Kitchener South—Hespeler.

The new riding, due to population growth in the Kitchener Centre, Kitchener-Conestoga and Cambridge ridings, was initiated in 2011 by Elections Canada and went into effect for the 2015 federal election. There was a lot of drama in the inaugural election, as Progressive Conservative Amy Fee and NDP candidate Fitzroy Vanderpool, a former professional boxer, bobbed, weaved and changed leads during the night before Fee moved ahead, winning by fewer than 800 votes.

Fee came in with 16,510 votes, while Vanderpool had 15,741. The other candidates were left behind, with Liberal candidate Surekha Shenoy garnering 6,335 votes, Green Party candidate David Weber taking 3,198 votes, Libertarian Nathan Andre Lajeunesse collecting 423 votes and independent Narine Sookram taking 275 votes.

Fee had an eventful term. A mother of a son with autism and advocate for children with disabilities, Fee came under fire for the Ford government’s changes toward children with autism.

In addition, Fee faced charges from an alleged assault against her now ex-husband Craig Fee, a former radio personality on Dave FM. The alleged weapons were a cellphone and the lid of a box. Both charges were withdrawn and Fee was placed on a nine-month peace bond.