Four hopefuls vying to represent Sault Ste. Marie—Algoma after the next federal election squared off Wednesday in a United Steelworkers Local 2251 candidates debate.
About 50 people were in attendance at the event, held at the new Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 on Great Northern Road.
Liberal incumbent Terry Sheehan was joined at the table by Robyn Kiki Eshkibok of the Green Party of Canada, New Democratic Party candidate Laura Mayer and James Collins of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada.
Conservative candidate Hugh Stevenson — whose campaign office is directly across the street from the Legion building — did not attend this or any other debate so far during the federal election campaign.
The format of the debate was a 30-minute question-and-answer period, where members of the public could direct their inquiries to any or all of the candidates.
Many of the people asking questions, as well as the candidates behind the table, expressed dismay that Stevenson was not present.
"I am disappointed that the Conservative candidate is not here sharing the stage with my fellow candidates. His office is right there. He could have just walked across the road," said Sheehan in his opening remarks noting Stevenson's absence.
All candidates present for the debate lauded the new Legion building, which was built on the former grounds of the Wawanosh Home for Girls — a residential school that predated the former Legion building on the site. Aside from the Legion itself, the nine-storey building also provides housing and offers other services.
"One of my very dear friends and elders actually went to school here before it was demolished. So, it's really great to see such an amazing initiative come out of a place that had such a poor history," said Mayer of the building.
Collins, a former Local 2251 steelworker and current sergeant with the Sault Ste. Marie-based 49th Field Regiment, said he likes the building but not the government's handling of the military.
"The federal government has done a wonderful job of putting money into this building and making sure that our veterans are well-taken care of. Unfortunately, they've left the primary forces with no supplies and no equipment and an underfunded military — to the point where we're all scared of our big brother down south," said Collins.
He added: "We need to build up our economy — strong, proud, and free— we can't be free if we're not strong and unfortunately, right now, we're just not that."
Joe Krmpotich, a Local 2251 representative and former provincial NDP candidate, asked all of the candidates present about the expected effect of tariffs.
"There aren't any layoffs yet, but we know that they could happen soon. And what concrete steps will you take to protect steel jobs in this town? And how can we trust you that you'll act before the damage is done?" asked Krmpotich.
Mayer said the amount of the revenue collected from retaliatory tariffs should go directly to the industries affected.
"So when there are layoffs that are within the steel industry, the actual relief should go to steel," she said.
Mayer also said Employment Insurance benefits should increase with the rate of inflation.
Sheehan noted he was member of parliament when Trump imposed steel tariffs in 2018 at a time when Algoma Steel — then Essar Steel Algoma — was under bankruptcy protection.
"It was meant to cripple, to destroy the steel industry and we stood up then and we're standing up now. We supported workers then and we're going to support workers now," said Sheehan.
He said a project like the announced high-speed rail line between Quebec City and Toronto is a prime example of home-grown infrastructure projects that could use Canadian steel.
"[Liberal Leader Mark] Carney was in Halifax and he announced the shipbuilding program worth billions and billions of dollars. And he said, and it's made on Canadian shores by Canadian workers, it's going to have Canadian steel."
Collins said the retaliatory tariffs applied by the Government of Canada would only hurt Canadians and suggested working with U.S. President Donald Trump.
"We're not in a war. We're in a peeing match — to say it politely," said Collins. "We need to go to the table with Mr. Trump and we need to say we will fix our drug problem, we will fix our border and we will do it immediately and we need to have this whole back and forth, and this fear mongering about war with the United States? We need it gone."
Eshkibok noted her father was a steelworker with Local 2251 and said the Green Party would spearhead the development of a federal strategic reserve protecting Canadian resources and Canadian interests.
"That would revitalize the national steel industry, meeting the demands of the new infrastructure for building as we hopefully move away from lumber," she said.
Drew Craig directed a question to Sheehan about protecting pensions, years after the two first met in 2019 to discuss them.
"I was part of the lobby group for trade protection legislation and you met with me and unfortunately the bill died because of the election," said Craig.
He asked why, after they met, did Sheehan not co-author a pension protection bill after the Liberals were reelected.
"I'm proud of what I've done as co-chair of the All Party Steel Caucus and standing up for workers and pensioners throughout the system, and I am a big voice for the steelworkers and the pensioners and I'm very proud of the work that I have done and continue to do," said Sheehan.
He noted that after he became a parliamentary secretary in 2019 he was no longer allowed to co-author private members bills.
Craig declined an interview after the event, but noted that he didn't feel his question was answered by Sheehan.
Another audience member asked all candidates if they supported speeding up the enforcement of the Canada Health Act to ensure public funding for nurse practitioner clinics and health teams and end the charging of patients for access to primary care.
Sheehan said universal health care is one of the things Canadians identify with and noted Carney has committed to enforcing the act.
"Liberals believe that health care is a Canadian right, not a business — and access for all," said Sheehan.
He noted the Liberal health care platform is expected to be released in the coming days.
Collins said too many taxpayer dollars are being spent by the Canadian Government for programs overseas.
"We should help people, but we should help our own people first. If you stop sending money away from us, you can take that money and immediately infuse it into the people we care about — our parents, our grandparents, these social programs that we all want funded, and I'd love to have them funded as well — but we can't do that when we have negative dollars in our bank account," he said.
Mayer said speeding up enforcement of the Canada Health Act is important.
"I think that we've all witnessed the de-rostering of patients, not having enough nurse practitioners to serve the communities that we have. As somebody who's come from a smaller community, we've had threats of our ERs being closed. I know that there are some who have rotating closures because there is just not enough doctors, there's not enough nurses to have them open all the time," said Mayer.
She said what is happening in Ontario is a quiet privatization of health care, with some patients paying for tests, lab work or access to their own medical records.
"And so this quiet privatization is like a way to see us not as patients, but as customers. These investment firms and the kind of tiered hospitals that we have, see us as a number and as a statistic. We need to ensure that the Canada Health Act is fully enforced," said Mayer.