Local youth got a chance to speak directly to candidates vying to become Sault Ste. Marie's next MPP during a casual all-candidates meeting Monday at the Algoma Youth Wellness Hub.
The hub in the former Independent Order of Odd Fellows hall was officially opened in 2024, thanks in a large part to significant funding from the governing Ontario PC party through its Youth Wellness Hub project.
NDP candidate Lisa Vezeau-Allen, Arnold Heino of the New Blue Party and Gurwinder Dusanjh of the Liberal Party of Ontario spent two hours listening to concerns from local youth and laying out their respective party's solutions to about 30 people in attendance.
Moderated by Arwen Cooke of the local Youth Advisory Council, candidates were asked about affordable housing, opioid death rates, quality of education and other subjects important to local youth.
Chief among the concerns of young people attending the all-candidates meeting was the long-term plans for the Youth Wellness Hub project, no matter what party ends up in power.
Vezeau-Allen said her experiences as executive director of the now-dissolved Sault Youth Association have helped her to understand all too well the importance of ongoing funding for projects.
"We could never get that funding and that was part of my motivation to join municipal council because every year I had to go in front of city council and beg for $20,000 so that we could stay alive," said Vezeau-Allen of her advocacy for the Sault Youth Association.
While the Algoma Youth Wellness Hub was supported by funding from the provincial government, Vezeau-Allen noted that significant funds also came from sources like the City of Sault Ste. Marie and the actual building was purchased by the Social Services Administration Board.
"This is the first time that we've seen any kind of governmental investment through Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario, but it also took a village, right?" she said.
The Youth Hub has a strict policy of no weapons being allowed on site. An exception was made to allow Dusanjh to wear his kirpan — a ceremonial knife carried by many people of the Sikh faith. In Canada, carrying of the kirpan is only prohibited in the Quebec National Assembly and within prisons.
Dusanjh was asked by Youth Hub staff to explain the importance of the kirpan to those in attendance.
"You can kind of compare it to a baptism in the Catholic faith. But basically this means compassion giver. It is nine inches, which is the legal limit, and I'm mandated to wear it. It's only to be used in times of defending others or defending yourself as a last resort. You're supposed to use your words to de-escalate and then you're supposed to use a stick or blunt object to interject and then your hands and then this is a last resort," said Dusanjh of the kirpan.
He added: "Basically, if you ever see anyone with a kirpan and you're hungry or you need protection, then that's a good person to go to."
Dusanjh said when he was vice-president of the student union at Algoma University, it was difficult for that organization to get calls returned from then-MPP Ross Romano, even while he was minister of Colleges and Universities.
"I believe that the the [MPP] should have an open-door policy with various stakeholders and then also have a town hall every month where he or she or they will be held accountable to the promises that they've made and to any decisions that they've made in Queen's Park and then when they come back, they should explain why they made these decisions and how it benefits Sault Ste. Marie," said Dusanjh.
Arnold Heino of the New Blue Party said one of the biggest problems for young adults is they have nowhere to go.
"All the doors have been shut. When I was younger, you could go to churches, walk in there and talk to somebody who needed help. You could go into safe haven places, but they consistently kept on shutting down the doors. So therefore the troubled people never had a place to go," said Heino.
"The thing is the government — they always keep on putting money into something, but not fixing what the problem is. Growing up I've dealt with friends and family who had mental health problems and the common thing is let's give them a pill. They push the pills rather than working with the person to see what the actual problem is," he added.
Although Ontario PC candidate Chris Scott's team sent an RSVP last week committing to briefly attend the Monday event, Algoma Youth Wellness Hub staff received a phone call a few hours before the all-candidates meeting to say he would not be available. Scott's campaign manager Ross Romano told SooToday the Ontario PC candidate will attend a debate on Tuesday at Algoma University.
"What's really important for us is that our young people know that they're not forgotten about, and it is a segment of the population or a constituency that often times does get forgotten about in the myriad of the other provincial priorities," said Ali Juma, CEO of Algoma Family Services in his closing remarks at the event.
He added: "If there was one pitch, if you form the government, that you think about these young people, think about what they need and what they deserve. They are our future and many of the young people that are here today are going to be able to vote. And for those who are not, I hope that this has inspired you to think about the power that you actually have."