Local youth had the chance to put Sault Ste. Marie–Algoma candidates in the hot seat this week.
The Algoma Youth Wellness Hub hosted an all candidates meeting Wednesday afternoon, bringing MP hopefuls from the NDP, Liberal, and Green parties together to answer a variety of questions posed by local youth – ranging from the housing crisis, justice system reform, the doctor shortage, LGBTQ rights, and more.
With around 20 youth in attendance, yesterday’s gathering was the first time the hub put on an all candidates meeting for a federal election, and CEO Ali Juma gave a heartfelt thanks to both the candidates who came out and the youth for sharing their thoughts.
“You are an important voice, and your voice is one that needs to be heard,” he said.
“I'm so eternally grateful to all of you and to the young people here today to help share what's important to you. The only reason this place exists is because of young people like you and your voice, and it's the power of your voice.”
When asked about the doctor shortage, the NDP’s Laura Mayer said the issue is something that “unites us across the riding,” and pointed to a “disconnect” between the provincial system and the Canada Health Act.
“We need to ensure we are enforcing the provisions within that to make sure that we are recruiting enough doctors, and actually tying education and training grant opportunities to working in the north,” she said.
Liberal incumbent Terry Sheehan conceded there is a “critical shortage” of health-care professionals, and pointed out the Liberals recently distributed $200 billion in health-care funding to provinces.
“Where the federal government can play a great role is in underserviced, remote and rural areas,” he added.
“We have special incentive programs of forgiveness of their education. It's not just for doctors – it's for other professionals that we're trying to get into places in Algoma District that are underserviced.”
Green Party candidate Robyn Eshkibok suggested an additional medical school for northern students to get trained, and expressed hope to greatly expand access to health care.
“Being able to reach a counsellor or a nurse or a doctor should be province wide, nationwide, 24/7, but I also do believe a part of these solutions are here in the community, and you'll hear me advocate for this throughout my own platform,” she said.
On justice reform, Eshkibok said “there needs to be a higher rotation of the backlog and paperwork,” where Sheehan pointed to his party’s Online Harms Act.
“Too much is happening on the internet where people are being targeted, bullied, harassed – in particular young people,” he said.
“It's led to some very terrible consequences for individuals, so we went forward to strengthen and increase the laws related to the Online Harms Act.”
Mayer took the question as an opportunity to say the justice system is meant to rehabilitate people, and not simply punish them.
“That's what the Supreme Court has said. That's what the whole point of it is,” she said.
“The problem is we are trying to rehabilitate people in places that are not meant to rehabilitate people – they are meant to punish.”
She also pointed to a need for “really effective mental health teams” and ensuring the justice system is not “criminalizing poverty.”
On housing, Sheehan highlighted how – for the first time in years – Sault Ste. Marie has been growing. He said the Liberal party has put together “the most ambitious housing plan ever,” including plans to replicate the post-Second World War housing boom.
“The plan is to build 500,000 houses a year,” he said. “After the war, when all the service people came back, there was a housing shortage.
“We're going to replicate that idea, build some affordable houses, starter houses for young people so that you can get in there and own a house,” he said.
“We're taking the GST off of houses up to a million dollars or less.”
Mayer said we need to “fundamentally change our thinking around housing,” and to begin considering housing a human right.
“What's happened in the last 30 years, or a little bit longer, is that housing has become a commodity,” she said.
“We need to look at cooperative models, cooperative housing. We need to build faster, and we need to have public ownership of those homes, and look at the way that we are serving to make sure that people have shelter and they're able to actually afford it.”
While Eshkimok did not share her party’s housing platform, she had strong thoughts on the issue.
“I am a homeless person, and the current government did very little to stop that from happening, as well as the local individual police departments,” she said. “The issue was because I am an Indigenous woman who owned my own home – to not pay a municipal land tax was the issue.”
She also took aim at the current government.
“I really did believe in the so-called leadership around me to do better, and then they haven’t, and I'm still waiting,” she said.
While Conservative candidate Hugh Stevenson was billed as part of the event, the former Sault Ste. Marie police chief did not attend the Wednesday afternoon gathering. He was at a Pierre Poilievre rally and press conference in the city on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Sheehan took notice of his absence during the meeting.
“I really appreciate the opportunity to be here at this forum and share thoughts with my NDP colleague and my Green colleague, as well. I just wish the Conservative candidate was here,” he said.
“That's disappointing to me, quite honestly, because we need to hear your questions . . . if you're not here, you don't hear the youth voices.”
Two more all candidates meetings are scheduled for next week - April 15 at Sault College and April 16 in the William Merrifield Room at the Royal Canadian Legion at 96 Great Northern Rd.
The federal election is set for April 28.