“I need somebody to go and fight for our city, fight for the people in the north. Why do they forget about us?”
That was a sentiment shared by a few different attendees at Sault Ste. Marie MPP candidate Lisa Vezeau-Allen’s meet-and-greet on Tuesday night, held at the Sault Ste. Marie Soup Kitchen Community Centre.
“I feel that when we hear the politicians speaking, they think the north goes as far as North Bay,” began another resident.
“Barrie,” interjected Vezeau-Allen.
Hosted by the Sault Ste. Marie and District Labour Council, around 30 residents attended the gathering, where Vezeau-Allen positioned herself as someone who would make good on northern issues at Queen’s Park if elected.
"We do get lost in the minutiae of the GTA and the noise, but we need to have a strong voice, and I will be that strong voice, and always have been," she said while speaking to her experience volunteering with Autism Ontario.
The two-term Ward 2 city councillor laid out a variety of NDP promises heading into next week’s provincial election, including plans to bring 200 family physicians to northern Ontario as part of a broader $4 billion effort across the province.
Vezeau-Allen spoke about party plans for universal youth mental health, so that “when we go to get our checkup, you can also go see a mental health person,” and pointed to the dire need at Algoma District School Board.
“At Algoma District School Board, 1,200 students – they have about a population of just over 10,000 – 1,200 in the first three months requested mental health supports. That is catastrophic,” she said.
“I know firsthand, I have a son who's neurodiverse … but I’ve privately paid for all kinds of stuff because there just isn't the supports out there.”
She laid out a holistic approach to addressing a range of social issues, suggesting the government needs to start at “the beginning” when implementing solutions, and raised other party promises like plans to deliver 60,000 supportive housing units during Tuesday’s discussion.
“When we're taking a look at addictions, homelessness, all of those things, you need to start from the beginning. Why is this happening?” she said. “When we’re taking a look at how we deal with all the acuity of folks that are living rough, where did that start from? It starts from the beginning. We need affordable housing.”
Vezeau-Allen also didn’t shy away from taking aim at the current provincial government.
“The Conservatives cut education. Each student in our public sector in Sault Ste Marie was reduced by $1,561 – they're getting less. That was a savings of about $3 million,” she said. “Those $200 cheques could’ve been put towards education.”
During Tuesday’s discussion, residents raised a wide variety of concerns, ranging from overburdened educational assistants, seniors winding up in local homeless shelters, climate change, and union rights.
“Our union rights are getting absolutely stomped on,” lamented one resident.
“I have been part of very fair, open contract negotiations,” Vezeau-Allen responded, highlighting previous work in that regard with local police.
“Workers need to be protected. I understand how all that works, and it shouldn't be us against them. You need to work together.”
Among other issues raised, she said the NDP plan to create a grocery rebate program “that gives families up to $120 per month as a rebate depending on family size and income level.”
Regardless of which party forms government after the election, Vezeau-Allen stressed she doesn't need her party to be in power to help solve local issues at Queen’s Park.
“I hear from a lot of people, 'Well, if you're not the party in power, then how are you going to get things done?' There really is no relevance,” she said.
“It's the people that are doing the grunt work, like the grant writing, like the funding proposals, like the advocacy in front of ministers,” she said.
“It doesn't matter what colour stripes you have, you just need to know and be aware and advocate.”
The Other Candidates
PC Leader Doug Ford chose Chris Scott, the first candidate who announced that he was running, without holding a local vote. Scott was announced as the PC candidate on Jan. 28.
Gurwinder Dusanjh is the candidate for the Liberals.
Arnold Heino is running for the New Blue party.
And the Ontario Party candidate is Paul Frolich.
Voters will head to the polls on Feb. 27.