Midwestern Newspapers asked the Huron-Bruce provincial election candidates to answer seven questions. Below are the responses of Laurie Hazzard, Ontario NDP candidate.
Tell us a bit about yourself and why you want to be Huron-Bruce’s MPP.
My name is Laurie Hazzard, your NDP candidate for Huron-Bruce.
I’m running to be Huron-Brue’s next MPP because I love this riding and province, and I believe in its promise. I know that together, we can get back on track and finally fix what matters most.
I was a nurse for nearly 15 years and made a career change to a teacher where I taught at Seaforth High School and later became vice-principal there. In 1999 I led a team as principal to set up the first full service online secondary school in the province – the Avon Maitland Distance Education Centre. In 2004 I joined the Ontario Ministry of Education where I helped develop the province’s eLearning strategy and oversaw the development of K-12 digital resources for our public schools.
Since I retired, I’ve spent it giving back to my community of Bayfield, where I’ve lived for the past 25 years. I’m a member of the Bayfield Ukulele Society and during the pandemic ran a ZOOM ukulele program for the Huron County Alzheimer’s Society. I’m also part of a team leading a new grassroots movement called “Blue Schools,” a project to promote education about the global water crisis.
My entire life has been dedicated to improving the lives around me. Huron-Bruce deserves an MPP who will work to improve their lives, not cut billions from health care and education.
On June 2, vote Laurie Hazzard for Huron-Bruce and let’s see where hope takes us.
What will your party do to address affordable housing?
Affordable housing in this province is a huge issue. In Huron-Bruce people don’t only struggle to find an affordable house to buy but rental options are also out of financial reach for many too.
The Ontario NDP has released its concrete, doable plan to fix the housing crisis. We’ll work hard to ensure every Ontarian has a decent, affordable place to live, whether you’re renting or buying.
The first thing we will do is establish a new public agency – Housing Ontario – to build 250,000 affordable homes that are operated by public, non-profit and co-op agencies, not greedy speculators. We will also build an additional 30,000 supportive housing units for people living with mental health and addiction challenges.
We will introduce an annual speculation and vacancy tax on residential property. Modeled after BC’s tax, it will apply to all speculators who own houses they don’t live in. The rate will be two per cent of the assessed value and will be phased in over two years. We’ll also maintain the Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST) at 20 per cent and close loopholes that allow wealthy investors off the hook.
For renters we will create a portable housing benefit to assist over 300,000 families who can’t afford their rent in addition to basic necessities for themselves and their families.
We will also bring back real rent control for all apartments, eliminating the financial incentive for landlords to squeeze out tenants to raise the rent. We will also ensure that you pay what the last tenant paid by scrapping vacancy decontrol.
Many hospitals across southwestern Ontario have, at some point over the past year, reduced services and hours of their emergency department due to a lack of staff, particularly in nursing. What will your party do to address the staffing shortages in health care, both now and long-term?
It’s getting harder and harder for Ontarians to get the health care they need and the pandemic exposed just how broken our healthcare system is. Ontario has a health human resources crisis. The Ontario NDP has a practical, doable plan to rebuild and strengthen health care in Ontario.
Our plan includes taking immediate action to begin hiring 10,000 PSWs and 30,000 nurses – numbers that healthcare experts say we need. We will immediately eliminate Bill 124 (Ford’s salary cap bill) and give health care workers the wage they deserve. Increasing our supply of nurses will include expediting recognition of nursing credentials of 15,000 internationally trained nurses.
Another part of our plan includes raising hospital funding to exceed health sector inflation, population growth, expanded operating plans, and unique local needs such as aging populations.
We have the right plan to fix our broken healthcare system.
Huron-Bruce is a rapidly growing region, and in order to grow, land is needed. Much of the newly developed land was once agricultural land. According to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Ontario is losing 175 acres of agricultural land to urban development every day. What will your party do to help protect agricultural land?
Once farmland is lost, it is lost forever. The Ontario NDP will protect farmland.
Before a project takes place on agricultural land, it will be subject to a mandatory Agricultural Impact Assessment. The terms and conditions of the process will be developed in partnership with the agricultural community, who know the true value of the land.
The Ontario NDP has a plan to work in partnership with the agricultural community to best support our farmers and protect our vital farmland.
With the COVID-19 pandemic in the rear-view mirror (hopefully), economic recovery is an issue front of mind for many, including small business owners. What is your party’s plan for the province’s economy coming out of the pandemic?
Tourism and small business are core parts of Huron-Bruce’s economy. They are also two areas that were impacted the hardest in the pandemic.
We will work with the small business community to develop and deliver the support they need to recover and create good-paying jobs.
We will bring in two rounds of the Small Business Recovery Grant, with one payment in 2022 and another in 2023. We’ll ensure that, unlike under Ford, our program is responsive to business owners, and payments are disbursed in a timely manner.
To ensure our tourism communities can thrive, the Ontario NDP will provide a second round of the Tourism Recovery Program to help businesses recover and hire staff. We will also encourage Ontarians to travel within the province and support local tourism by extending the Staycation Tax Credit for another two years. We will evaluate the success of the program at that point and decide whether to make it permanent.
Festivals also play a huge role in the economies of our communities. We will increase festival funding and work closely with performing artists and cultural workers to develop a recovery plan that gets the sector back on track.
Adding to the difficulty of economic recovery is what many are calling a labour shortage – our region’s unemployment rate was 3.3 per cent in April, second lowest in Ontario. How does your party plan on addressing the labour shortage?
The Ontario NDP has a plan to support every sector of the economy to combat labour shortages.
In addition to the small business and tourism programs mentioned in the previous question, the Ontario NDP will make job training accessible province-wide by bringing job training opportunities to places where Ontarians actually live and create new opportunities in every region.
Our Green New Democratic Deal includes a plan to revitalize Ontario’s economy while addressing the climate crisis and racial inequity. Over the lifetime of the deal, one million jobs will be created including 100,000 good jobs as part of our energy retrofit program.
Doug Ford told workers he would protect jobs in Ontario, but he removed requirements that ensure billions of dollars in new transit contracts go to Canadian workers. We will create and protect Ontario jobs and build prosperity by supporting made-in-Ontario products from small and medium-sized businesses and manufacturers, and supporting a strong local supply chain. Supporting Ontario’s industry creates Ontario jobs.
Why should a voter in Huron-Bruce vote for you and your party in this election?
My experience in both health care and education, and my rural roots, provide me with insight into the unique challenges and issues faced by all Ontarians, but especially for those of us living in rural Ontario.
Across Ontario, people are finding it harder to pay the bills, even if they have a good job. Many are seeing their dreams of starting a family, owning a home or running a small business slip further away each day.
If you vote for me and the Ontario NDP, together we can revive our public health care system and ramp up staffing. We can ensure that every Ontarian gets the mental health care, drug, and dental care, paid for with your OHIP card, not your credit card. We will get profit out of long-term care and give our elders the quality, hands-on, culturally appropriate home and community care and long-term care they deserve. And we will make life more affordable for everyone — from hydro, to auto insurance, to child care and the cost ofhousing.
On June 2, vote Laurie Hazzard for Huron-Bruce and let’s see where hope takes us.
