Four of the five candidates running to be the next Member of Parliament (MP) for the new Flamborough-Glanbrook-Brant North riding attended an All-Candidates Forum in Paris on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.
The two-hour event was hosted by the County of Brant Chamber of Commerce, the Brant County Federation of Agriculture, the Paris Agricultural Society and the Grand Erie Elementary Teachers Federation.
Forum participants included Chuck Phillips, Liberal Party of Canada candidate; Dan Muys, Conservative Party of Canada candidate; Nikita Mahood, People’s Party of Canada candidate; and Peter Werhun, Canada’s New Democratic Party candidate.
During the event, moderators Alan Kelley, from the Brant County Federation of Agriculture, and Wesley Mik, the Chamber’s vice president, gave the candidates a chance to introduce themselves and two-and-a-half minutes each to answer a series of nine questions in regards to economy, education, environment, health care, housing, immigration, landlord/tenant rights, Indigenous people, and transportation.
Editor’s Note: Brant Beacon is highlighting only one candidate’s answer for each of the eight questions.
Economy – In light of the imposed tariffs and 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 Canada?
Liberal candidate, Chuck Phillips, said that with everything happening with the United States, Canada needs to diversify its trade relationships and deal with some structural inefficiencies in the way trading is done internally.
“We’ve got 13 separate markets in Canada, and we’ve got to eliminate those individual trade barriers in order to be able to trade freely and make up some of the difference from that loss of trade with the United States. Our leader, Mark Carney, has spent time meeting with the President of France, and has gone to the UK, and so he’s already starting to reach out and form trading relationships that could replace some of the lost trade from the United States as well,” said Phillips. “There’s a number of different things that are on the books, but the liberal policy is ready to fight with retaliatory tariffs. …We also plan to protect the affected workers, and we have a whole series of policies related to that like to enhance EI. We also want to try to protect some of the businesses that are really impacted by this, and then diversify our trade.
Education – Do you support a strong publicly funded education system and do you have a position on funding private schools? Do you support the National School Food Program for children?
Dan Muys, the Conservative candidate, said that yes, he certainly supported a strong public school system and all that comes with it.
“While elementary education and secondary education is primarily provincial jurisdiction, I certainly support a strong public school system. As MP in Flamborough, I met and attended meetings with parents and school board trustees to advocate for new schools in the very fast growing neighbourhoods of the riding, and I know that here in Paris, the government of Ontario announced funding for two new elementary schools back in January,” said Muys. “…When it comes to the National Food Program, I’ve been a donor and have participated in many events and fundraisers for Food for Kids, which is an organization that provides food to families and kids that are in need. …So yes, there should be a food program, but it’s also important that the program is focused on getting the food into schools and not a lot of bureaucracy to administer the program, which is sometimes a problem with some of these programs.”
“Grocery price inflation in Canada has been 37 per cent higher than in the U.S. because of the carbon tax, and so that was, that is another unfortunate consequence of that,” he added. “And so again, I support the need for food programs, but we also need to lower food prices for all”
Environment – How will your party protect agricultural land, wetlands and water sources given the need for expansion of our natural resources as an economic driver?
Nikita Mahood, the People’s Party of Canada candidate, said that she was happy that the question focused on “concrete environmental improvements and not climate alarmism.”.
“I definitely agree that we need to utilize our natural resources. Our oil is valuable, and pipelines do need to be built, but the effects of the local environment needs to be carefully monitored. Agriculture is very important, especially in this area. I would defer to consult with farmers in local municipalities,” said Mahood. “We would not tax farmers unnecessarily, we would promote being allowed to use the exact amount of nitrogen fertilizer as you wish, and we would defer to municipalities and conservation authorities who know best what to do in our communities, like the Grand River Conservation Authority. Overall, I believe in supporting local municipalities when it comes to issues that have such a huge local effect.”
Healthcare – Do you support dental and PharmaCare programs for adults, youth and children?
Peter Werhun, Canada’s New Democratic Party candidate, said that, of course, he supported both dental and PharmaCare programs for every single Canadian.
“On dental care, more than one-and-half million Canadians have received dental care because of the NDP, and more than three million people have that Canadian dental care plan card in their wallet for when they need it. On PharmaCare, nearly one in four Canadians are splitting pills, skipping doses, or are deciding not to fill or renew prescriptions due to cost,” he said. “In Parliament, I will make sure that any government is held accountable, whether for rollbacks or for incompetence when it comes to enforcing the will of Parliament because we know that there are issues with implementation. The government needs to step up and stop playing hot-potato, and fix issues with uncertainty and claims approvals which makes patients angry.”
Housing – What initiatives will your party implement to speed up housing starts and ensure the mix includes more affordable and, deeply affordable housing stock for both rental and purchase.
Mahood said that federal interference in provincial and municipal matters have only distorted the housing market.
“Billions have been spent on bureaucratic programs that have failed to make housing more affordable. Our greatest issue with housing is a mismatch between supply and demand. Under the Trudeau Government, our population has grown astronomically. The leader of the People’s Party, Maxine Bernier, has been advocating since 2018, that mass immigration was not going to help our housing market for our economy,” she said. “We cannot bring a million people per year or more to Canada with an existing housing shortage and expect the market to be stable and affordable. This is basic supply and demand economics. I would support sensible provincial and municipal measures to devise affordable housing solutions, such as the city of Hamilton’s new permit system to allow the building of a second dwelling unit on residential properties, it’s sensible and it’s a real solution that can work.”
Immigration – How will your party address Canada’s need to increase our labour force through immigration, to offset the impact of an aging demographic, while ensuring that the structural requirements in the job market and housing needs are being met?
Phillips said that when it comes down to it, immigration needs to be smart, agile and well planned.
“Immigration is foundational to our country’s fabric and our proud history. In our community in Flamborough-Glanbrook-Brant North, we have a number of new Canadians that really make up and create diversity in our communities. The new Canadians have fueled our economy, and going forward, they’re going to be able to help us deal with the demographic challenges that are sure to face,” said Phillips. “The only way that we can do that is through immigration, but it should be immigration done the right way. We intend to ensure that the immigration system is smart, agile and well planned. We have to ensure that those who immigrate have the necessary social services they need, and also have the skills to meet the labour market.”
Indigenous Peoples – If elected, how will your party address Truth and Reconciliation, ensure Indigenous people share in economic benefits and Indigenous rights are respected?
Muys said the recommendation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission needs to be taken seriously,
“Which is why conservatives, including my colleague Larry Brock, have been active on Indigenous issues, as well as my colleagues all over Ontario. We’ve been calling for a number of years for the government to get serious about moving faster on clean water in Indigenous communities, it is now 2025, and it’s an international embarrassment,” said Muys. “Also as a caucus, we’ve had many meetings with the Chiefs about establishing equity partnerships of Indigenous communities to develop our natural resources. I can speak for the time I worked on the Capital Gaslink project in the early 2010’s …that particular pipeline went through 36 Indigenous communities. They each were consulted, each were brought and there was economic and infrastructure benefits to each of those communities along that corridor. Those communities wanted this because they want the opportunity to prosper on their traditional territories and no longer be dependent upon Ottawa.”
Transportation – What are your party’s plans to increase mass transit across Canada?
Werhun said that when it comes down to it, transportation requires all levels of government working together.
“The NDP is going to modernize and expand public transit communities across Canada, with the goal of electric public transit by 2030,” he said. “We’re going to make public funding for public transit permanent through the Canada public trust fund, and make that money available right away to municipalities to support them as they move forward on their transit. We’re also going to include operational funding and cost sharing agreements, because that’s something that often gets lost in the weeds.”
Following the forum, the over 100 residents in attendance had the opportunity to stick around and speak to the local candidates, or ask any further questions about their policies.
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.
