Candidates share their vision for future of Brantford-Brant

Five candidates running to be the next Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Brantford-Brant attended a Candidates Forum, hosted by the County of Brant Chamber of Commerce, in Paris on Friday, February 21, 2025. 

Attending the forum were Ron Fox, Ontario Liberal Party candidate; Mike Clancy, None of the Above-Direct Democracy Party candidate; Harvey Bischof, Ontario New Democratic Party candidate; Karleigh Csordas, Green Party of Ontario candidate; and Joshua Carron, New Blue Party candidate.

Sue Morton, Executive Director of the County of Brant Chamber of Commerce, explained that while an invitation was extended, incumbent Progressive Conservative MPP Will Bouma, declined to participate.

During the two-hour event, moderators Alan Kelley, Director of the Brant County Federation of Agriculture, and Wesley Mik, the Chamber’s vice president, gave each candidate a chance to introduce themselves and three minutes to answer a series of eight questions in regards to economy, education, environment, health care, housing, landlord/tenant rights, property taxes and transportation.

The Brant Beacon has chosen to highlight responses to four of the above topics including: health care, housing, environment and economy. Below are the answers the candidates provided. 

1) What is your plan to address the long wait times, acute shortage of doctors, and pay for much needed upgrades to the Willett and Brantford General Hospital (BGH), or ideally, build a new hospital in the region?

Bischof, NDP

• Hire 3,500 doctors to address the healthcare needs of 2.5 million people in the province and the over 25,000 people in Brantford-Brant without primary health care.
• Streamline the accreditation process for international credentials to hire doctors more quickly.
• Hire additional administrative staff to reduce paperwork burden on doctors.
• Create family health teams with doctors, nurses, and other health professionals to increase access to care and alleviate overcrowding in emergency departments.
• Increase funding for mental health and addiction care services within the community.
• Negotiate in good faith with healthcare workers to reach fair agreements.
• Fund detox and residential treatment programs to support community health and alleviate system strain.

Carron, New Blue: 

• Rehire all healthcare workers fired due to COVID-19 mandates (doctors, nurses, PSWs), with full compensation.
• Fast-track construction of a new hospital by cutting waste and eliminating programs like the World Health Organization’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiative.
• Upgrade the Willett and the BGH with new beds, MRI machines, and general improvements.
• Eliminate the carbon tax to reduce energy costs and allocate more funds for healthcare.
• Launch a COVID-19 inquiry to investigate why healthcare facilities were underutilized.
• Support doctors’ free speech and ensure they can speak out on medical issues 
• Expand palliative care options and promote dignity in death, over euthanasia.

“The New Blue Party has had it with the health care half measures. Ontarians deserve action, not excuses,” said Carron.

Clancy, None of the Above Direct Democracy Party

• Advocate for universal public health care for all.
• Suggest the new hospital be built between Brantford and Paris, ensuring easy access for both municipalities and nearby industrial lands.

While Clancy, who referred to the role as a citizen advocate, did not pitch any other specific actions to build a new hospital or to improve the BGH and the Willett, he instead took the opportunity to share stories of health care corruption and negligence during his time as head of security at BGH. He ultimately stressed the importance of staying away from private health care.

Csordas, Green Party of Ontario

• Accelerate recognition of international credentials so skilled doctors can start working sooner.
• Incentivize doctors to practice in Brantford-Brant to ensure more people get family doctors.
• Cut local cost-sharing requirements so municipalities aren’t bearing the financial burden of health care support.
• Speed up hospital improvements and approvals.
• Expand the BGH and modernize the Willett, and secure funding for a new regional hospital.
• Focus on preventing healthcare crises and expand home health care and long-term care services to reduce hospital dependency.
• Reinvest in public, not-for-profit long-term care homes to improve conditions for seniors.

Fox, Ontario Liberal Party:

• Ensure every person has a family doctor within four years by creating two new medical schools in Ontario.
• Accelerate the integration of internationally trained doctors.
• Support team-based care, also known as community health hubs, in healthcare delivery.
• Prioritize healthcare by focusing on funding and support.
• Utilize Bonnie Crombie, the current Ontario Liberal Party leader, and her experience as a former Mayor to help Brantford-Brant lower the cost of building a new hospital. *He noted if she’s elected as premier, she will do better from the provincial side of funding.*

“Doug Ford and Will Bouma have had six years to fix hallway medicine, and they failed. ..Do you want a government that will prioritize a spa in Toronto and $3 billion in handouts to try and buy an election, or do you want a government that will prioritize your healthcare system?” said Fox.

2) How will your party address the expansion of infrastructure required to speed up housing starts in the County of Brant (water, wastewater, gas installation, internet), and ensure the mix includes more affordable and deeply affordable housing stock for both rental and purchase?

Bischof, NDP

• Upload costs back to the province to relieve municipalities of housing, emergency shelters, homelessness prevention, and infrastructure costs.
• Build 60,000 supportive housing units to address homelessness.
• Partner with non-market housing builders, co-ops, etc., to build 300,000 affordable housing units over the next ten years.
• Increase housing density by allowing duplexes or quadplexes in existing urban areas without expanding outward.
• Implement real rent control to stabilize the housing market.
• Put the government back in the business of building affordable housing.

“We need to be building 150,000 homes per year for ten years to meet the demand. At the moment, we are running at something less than half of that,” said Bischof.

Carron, New Blue Party

• Fast-track infrastructure projects, including water lines, wastewater systems, and high-speed internet.
• Cut the HST down to 10 per cent to reduce building costs for tradespeople (such as roofers and plumbers).
• Cut the carbon tax to reduce fuel and material costs for construction.
• Rehire construction workers fired over COVID-19 mandates, including carpenters and other tradespeople.
• Promote the use of nuclear power to lower utility bills for new subdivisions.
• Encourage skilled trades students to learn on-site and earn hours toward their certificates.
• Provide a variety of housing options, including rental properties, without government overreach.

Clancy, None of the Above Direct Democracy Party

• Support outdoor shelters and allow homeless encampments to remain viable for survival.
• Oppose tearing down homeless encampments, highlighting the removal of constitutional care for healthcare and other social programs.

While Clancy, who referred to the role as a citizen advocate, did not pitch any other specific actions to speed up housing, he instead took the opportunity to criticize Brantford’s housing plan going back 25 years. 

“They knew that they were bringing in 3,000 innocent students from other places and putting them into the community, and evicting people from the neighbourhoods where they grew up and hoped to live and raise their children. They [governments] knew that they were creating a powder keg in these homes,” said Clancy.

Csordas, Green Party of Ontario

• Upload infrastructure costs to the province to allow Brantford and the County of Brant to expand water and wastewater systems.
• Upgrade energy grids to support new, energy-efficient homes.
• Expand rural broadband for reliable high-speed internet.
• Prioritize affordable and deeply affordable housing by partnering with nonprofits, co-ops, and community organizations to build affordable housing.
• Eliminate developer fees on homes under 2,000 sq. ft. to encourage starter homes and affordable units.
• Reinstate rent control and vacancy control, and remove the land transfer tax for first-time home buyers.
• Protect farmland while developing housing within urban boundaries and transit routes
• Legalize fourplexes and mid-rise buildings to add density within communities.
• Advocate for provincial funding to support infrastructure and housing development.

“The County of Brant and Brantford are growing really fast but the housing that we have can’t keep up if we don’t have the infrastructure to support them. When we have a house, we need roads, water, wastewater, utilities, and the internet,” said Csordas.

Fox, Ontario Liberal Party

• Eliminate the land transfer tax for first-time homebuyers and seniors, saving up to $13,500.
• Eliminate the land transfer tax on building deeply affordable homes for vulnerable populations.
• Introduce phased-in rent control to protect tenants from unreasonable rent hikes and promote housing stability.
• Scrap development charges on new homes under 3,000 sq. ft.
• Instate a permanent Better Communities Fund to offer bonuses to municipalities for faster and simplified approval processes, and to build more purpose-built rental homes, and missing middle homes.
• Introduce the Rental Emergency Support for Tenants fund, providing interest-free loans for tenants facing temporary financial hardships.
• Use the Better Communities Fund to ensure municipalities have the funds for infrastructure without downloading costs to taxpayers.

3) What is your plan to protect our agricultural lands and water sources?

Bischof, NDP

• Remove tolls from the 407 to address transportation issues without paving farmland.
• Stop the land-grab that threatens farmers and their land.
• Restore the power of conservation authorities to protect water sources and wetlands, which has been weakened.
• Ensure conservation authorities can protect water and wetlands without the interference of reckless sprawl policies.

“First of all, if you want to protect farmland and water sources, you don’t do it behind closed doors at a private fundraiser,” said Bischof.

Carron, New Blue Party of Ontario 

• Eliminate wind turbines to reduce electricity costs, recondition land that was negatively impacted by wind turbines.
• Increase nuclear and hydro energy production to maintain clean water 
• Cut the carbon tax and allow farmers to irrigate without excessive costs, boosting profits.
• Rehire the conservation officers and others workers that protect natural resources who were fired over COVID-19 mandates
• Ban United Nations and World Economic Forum interference in Ontario.
• Protect Ontario’s sovereignty and prioritize local stewardship of resources.

“We’ve got the grit and guts to protect Ontario’s land and water. There’s no globalist green-wash or government land-grabs here. …Our food security is non-negotiable,” said Carron.

Clancy, None of the Above Direct Democracy Party

While Clancy, who referred to the role as a citizen advocate, did not pitch any other specific actions to protect agricultural lands and water sources, he did disapprove of how leaders in Ontario and the U.S. treat certain groups of people, like the working class, the unemployed, women, older people, immigrants, and others.

“If 30 per cent of people in Ontario are going to food banks, and 50,000 plus people are couch surfing or don’t have homes… that reflects the values of the people that are leading us, and they feel they have these values very intensely. …My role as a citizen’s advocate would be to turn your complaints into action,” said Clancy.

Csordas, Green Party of Ontario

• Expand the Green Belt with a Farm Belt to protect prime farmland and stop reckless urban sprawl.
• Focus on public transportation rather than projects like Highway 413 that destroy farmland and do not solve gridlock.
• Support local food production by strengthening Ontario’s agriculture industry.
• Protect Ontario’s water with a new Blue Belt for rivers, lakes, aquifers, and wetlands.
• Restore full funding and authority to conservation authorities to safeguard watersheds from overdevelopment.
• Increase enforcement on corporate polluters, ensuring companies pay for contamination.
• Support farmers by paying them for environmental stewardship and sustainable practices that protect soil health, reduce carbon emissions, and conserve water.
• Help farmers transition to climate-ready agricultural practices.

“Brant County is one of Ontario’s fastest growing regions, and without smart planning, we risk paving over the land that feeds us. Once that farmland is gone, it is gone forever, and that’s why we need strong, enforceable protections now,” Csordas said.

Fox, Ontario Liberal Party

• Protect prime agricultural land and water sources.
• Recognize the need for development but prioritize land for farming in decision-making.
• Ensure that all stakeholders and experts are heard when choosing land for development.
• Consider the quality of the land to ensure farmers can continue providing food.
• The Ontario Liberals are meeting with stakeholders and environmental leaders.
• Gather input and suggestions on what the climate plan should look like moving forward.

“The Ontario Liberals opposed the carbon tax that Doug Ford caused. Let’s remember that the only reason the carbon tax was introduced was because Doug Ford dismantled Ontario’s previous environmental plan,” said Fox.

4) In light of the threatened tariffs and potential challenges in dealing with the current U.S. administration, what ideas do you have to create greater economic independence and find new trade avenues for Ontario?

Bischof, NDP

• Convene a Premier’s task force and bring together industry representatives, workers, and civilians to find solutions.
• Support trade-exposed industries by securing supply chains and diversifying export markets beyond the U.S.
• Reduce interprovincial trade barriers to improve movement of goods and services between provinces.
• Prioritize purchasing from Ontario businesses and Canadian suppliers.
• Invest in, and build infrastructure that supports the economy and provides jobs.
• Assist industries impacted by tariffs by Offering financial support and adopting a team Canada approach.
• Work with the federal government to secure family income support and help people through economic shocks.

“I hear the anxiety about potential tariffs here within this riding and there’s good reason for that; this area is particularly exposed to damage by tariffs, in fact, one of the one of the most exposed in the province,” said Bischof.

Carron, New Blue: 

• Cut HST from 13 per cent to 10 per cent on consumer goods.
• Scrap Doug Ford’s carbon tax to lower shipping and transportation costs, helping businesses like trucking firms and farmers.
• End electric vehicle subsidies and redirect funds to support small businesses and lower food costs.

• Rehire workers (nurses, truckers and factory workers) fired during COVID-19 mandates and provide compensation
• Eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), and Critical Race Theory (CRT) initiatives from government, healthcare and education.
• Support entrepreneurship and innovation by upholding self-custody, eliminating capital gains tax, and setting the anti-money laundering on Bitcoin transactions.
• “The New Blue Party of Ontario isn’t here to grovel at the feet of the U.S. administration or cower under tariff threats. We’re here to forge a new agenda in an unstoppable economic powerhouse,” said Carron. 

Clancy, None of the Above Direct Democracy Party

• Fight for lower food and rent costs, and higher incomes.
• Hold politicians accountable by using local referendums, recalls, and policy changes to ensure accountability.
• Defend constitutional rights and protect food, health, housing, and income from the use of the notwithstanding clause.
• Promote essential community needs such as food, everyday staples, diapers, child care, seniors care, and mental health care.
• Support the local economy.
• Reduce reliance on food banks by strengthening social support programs like the Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works.
• Encourage local spending
• Implement rent control and eviction protections

“The poison pill that will stop Canada from being swallowed by the United States is actually our care economy because that is poisonous for them,” said Clancy.

Csordas, Green Party of Ontario

• Support businesses impacted by tariffs by introducing the “Protect Ontario Fund” for financial relief.
• Prioritize Ontario businesses by setting goals for hospitals, schools, and various government institutions to buy locally from farmers and manufactures.
• Increase trade within Canada by removing the interprovincial trade barriers, making regulations more efficient, and protecting small businesses and farmers from large out-of-province corporations.
• Diversify international trade by expanding trade partnerships beyond the U.S., and into Europe, South America, and Asia, and leverage Ontario’s potential in agriculture, clean energy, and technology.
• Improve supply chain and reduce congestion by implementing a dedicated truck lane on the 407 to improve distribution.

“At the end of the day, Ontario’s economy shouldn’t be at the mercy of another country’s political decision. ..We need a strong, proactive plan to protect our economy and reduce reliance on unsustainable trade relationships,” said Csordas. 

Fox, Ontario Liberal Party:

• Remove interprovincial tariffs and simplify trade within Canada.
• Explore international trade partnerships with countries in Europe and South America.
• Prioritize Canadian businesses and workers over U.S. interests, particularly in response to Trump’s policies.
• Limit the sale of American-made products, such as booze, on Ontario shelves.
• Reject the $100 million Starlink deal with Elon Musk.
• Support and grow local markets, especially in agriculture, to ensure self-sufficiency in Ontario.
• Build facilities for processing cattle in Ontario instead of shipping it to other regions like Pennsylvania.
• Create high-paying jobs by making strategic investments while reducing costs for Ontarians.

Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.