WATERLOO

The Waterloo riding includes the City of Waterloo and part of the City of Kitchener (the Bridgeport area) lying northerly of the Canadian National Railway and northeasterly of Conestoga Parkway.

According to Elections Ontario, it encompasses an area of 75 square kilometres with a population of 110,134, based on 2016 census data.

THE RACE New Democratic Party

Catherine Fife is the incumbent and has served the riding as MPP since 2012 when the former school board trustee was elected in a byelection. She’s been re-elected twice. The NDP platform, dubbed “They broke it, we’ll fix it,” is focused on making life more affordable, with plans to address cuts in health and long-term care, and other areas including social services, jobs, the environment, education and COVID-19 recovery.

Progressive Conservative party

The Ontario PC party has announced Andrew Aitken as its candidate for Waterloo. Aitken is described as a business professional with over a decade of experience in supply chain planning, operations, purchasing and materials management. The PC pledge, dubbed “Let’s Get it Done,” is rooted in five commitments to rebuild Ontario’s economy, build highways and key infrastructure, work for workers, keep costs down and stay open.

Liberal party

Candidate Jennifer Tuck, an expert in energy and natural resource conservation and development policy, will run for the Liberals. Tuck says she’s running to protect our environment for future generations, to ensure all Ontarians have access to quality health care, including mental-health services, and so everyone can afford a safe place to live. The Liberal platform to “Help defeat Doug Ford” is focused on public health care, delivering quality education, growing our economy and protecting the environment.

Green Party

A lecturer in the School of Environment, Resources, and Sustainability at the University of Waterloo, Shefaza Esmail is the Green candidate for Waterloo. Esmail says she wants to foster respectful dialogue that works in the favour of sustainability, inclusivity and affordability. The “Green Vision for Ontario” focuses on three pillars: Jobs. People. Planet.

New Blue Party

Candidate Vladimir Voznyuk 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.

Independent

Peter House is listed at Elections Ontario as an Independent candidate for the Waterloo riding.

THE ISSUES Housing

The NDP are proposing to end exclusionary zoning, bring back rent control, create a portable housing benefit and build 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 $827million 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 time-of-day pricing on transit to make off-peak use cheaper. It would cancel Highway 413 and create a dedicated truck lane on Highway 407 that is toll free.

BACKGROUND

NDP incumbent Catherine Fife was re-elected in 2018 with more than 50 per cent of the vote share (27,315). PC candidate Dan Weber finished second with 16,973 votes — more than 30 per cent of the vote share. Liberal candidate Dorothy McCabe finished third with 6,577 votes, or 12.1 per cent.