Four candidates running to be the next Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Oxford attended a provincial election All Candidates Meeting, hosted by the Oxford County Federation of Agriculture, in Woodstock on Thursday, February 20, 2025.
Attending the forum were Bernia Martin, Ontario Liberal Party candidate; Grace Harper, Ontario Party candidate; Khadijah Haliru, Ontario New Democratic Party candidate; and Peter Beimers, New Blue Party candidate.
David Cripps, the event’s moderator, said that while an invitation was extended, incumbent Progressive Conservative MPP Ernie Hardeman, declined to participate. Cripps also mentioned that Colton Kaufman, the Green Party of Ontario candidate, and Henryk Szymczyszyn, the Libertarian candidate, never responded.
During the nearly two-hour event, each candidate had a chance to introduce themselves and were given one minute each to answer a series of 22 submitted questions in regards to economy, education, environment and agriculture, land-use, health care, housing, and transportation.
The Brant Beacon has chosen to highlight the responses to eight of the questions. Below are the answers the candidates provided.
When mentioned that Ontario is losing 319 acres of farmland per day to urban sprawl (pre-pandemic numbers), Cripps asked candidates what they or their party would do to protect the province’s farmland from non-agricultural development.
NDP candidate Haliru, said that they need to look at building homes upwards and not out, look at how agricultural lands are zoned and utilize post-secondary students.
“I’ve always believed in protecting our farmland and at the same time, we need to address our need for workers and our need to produce more, and we have to focus on how we do that. …I say build up and not build out. I say when it comes to farmland, we protect it with our zoning updates that we’re about to do right now,” she said. “We need to allow farmers to maybe put in some units for workers that will attract workers to our farms and keep some density housing around farms without it being too much. I think that with the added investment to help farmers truly figure out what works for them, there is an opportunity to spread out our population growth. …Most of the students that have come to Oxford County are actually just workers waiting to happen and I think we need to find ways to utilize their services right here in Oxford and encourage them to do farm work.”
Bearing in mind that Oxford County is a powerhouse in agricultural production, Cripps then asked candidates what policies they would implement to strengthen local food systems and ensure farm businesses remain competitive and profitable.
Liberal candidate Martin said they need to prioritize supporting local producers.
“I think that it’s important that every single person in this room supports and buys local. …My experience is that local food needs to be incentivized and that we need more food processing right here in Oxford County and in Southern Ontario,” said Martin. “We grow food that ends up being shipped across the border and back numerous times before it actually hits the table. In 2008, I learned by example that when we invest right here in food processing in our own community, we close the loop and close that circle of the value chain. So bringing food processing to our own community saves jobs, creates jobs and saves local agricultural production right here in Oxford County.”
Cripps later mentioned that given that Ontario must address labour shortages to protect its food supply chain, and that unfilled jobs cost the agricultural sector $591 million annually, he asked the candidate what they thought needed to be done to fill the labour gap and attract more young people to the industry.
All of the candidates were in agreement that they needed to get young people physically on the farms and let them experience it first hand.
“I see friends of mine advertising that they need summer help on the farm and I think going into the high schools will help. I know students are looking for jobs and I know we have an unemployment problem in Oxford County,” said Beimers. “We’ve got a homeless population that’s looking for work so perhaps we can get them working in the farmers’ fields and maybe get some city transportation going to help people get out to the farm.”
Cripps said that given that Boralex is planning a battery storage plan in southwest Oxford (specifically Woodstock), and that there are concerns surrounding the cost of the project, the water supply, fires and gas outputs, he asked the candidates what their opinion on the storage plan was.
Harper said that she agreed with Martin about how more studies and reports need to come in and be evaluated before anything is done just yet.
“The Ontario party believes in good stewardship of our natural environments and its resources,” said Harper. “Just like Berna said, we need to have all those reports filed and all of that explained before we go and have storage for batteries. So I wouldn’t support that just yet.”
Keeping in mind that governments have reduced or removed public consultation opportunities for things like environmental and municipal planning, Cripps asked the candidates what role they thought public consultation should play, and how they would bring that about.
“As we just saw with the Green Belt, we need to make sure that municipalities and the public have an input in whatever happens in their communities. I remember during my debate as a [municipal] councillor, I was asked, ‘would we see parks being turned into housing?’ [I said] of course not because sometimes these spaces are not meant for us,” said Harilu. “They’re meant for generations to come, and so everyone has a right to protect the ways that the cities have been designed. …As much as we’re going to become more modern and more diverse and live in different ways, we need to protect our land and we need to stand by it. I will not support anything that allows the provincial government to have more power and instead, consultation should be a priority.”
Cripps later said that if every household in Ontario spent ten-dollars a week on local food, it would generate $2.4 billion annually and create 10,000 new jobs. He then asked how the candidates would promote and ensure that more local food is consumed.
Martin said everyone can do more to access local food.
“There are a number of ways to go about doing that like farm gate sales, farm markets, farmers markets; those are all ways that you can ensure that you are purchasing local food. Ten-dollars a week is like the worst case minimum and we should be encouraging people to first source locally, and then whatever they can’t purchase locally [from other places]. My commitment is that I will always source locally first… I do it in my business, and I do it in my household, and I encourage you to do the same.”
Cripps then asked the candidates what they would do to strengthen the work of conservation authorities and other groups that support environmental issues such as tree cover, source water protection, flood plan protection and various at-risk species.
“I would say we continue to fund these programs, make sure they get the funding that they need to get their job done and that it goes to where it needs to go,” said Beimers. “I also think perhaps we need to promote what they actually do. This is largely an unknown endeavor so if we promote what they’re actually doing, then it’d be easier to get behind them in what they’re doing.”
As the event neared its end, Cripps asked candidates about Donald Trump’s impending tariffs and what they would do to keep the flow of animals moving across the border.
Harper suggested properly addressing the fentanyl problem.
“Mr. Trump said, in order to not have tariffs, you need to secure the border and you need to address the fentanyl problem. That has not been done. Mr. Trudeau said that he will give $1.2 billion to secure the border but Mr. Trudeau cannot do that, because that is a financial law and because parliament is not sitting, and that money cannot go anywhere until it’s voted on,” she said. “So in Mr. Trump’s eyes, are we really doing anything to secure that? Securing the border and securing the fentanyl issue, that’s good for Ontario. … Let’s just do those two things, and then there won’t be any tariffs.”
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.
