Radio Waterloo spoke with the candidates for the Waterloo riding as the 2025 Ontario provincial election, scheduled for February 27 draws closer.
We’ll be releasing a series of four pieces, each highlighting our interview with one of the candidates. We’ve included the Ontario Liberal, NDP, Green and New Blue parties. The Ontario Progressive Conservative party did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.
Today’s piece features the NDP candidate for the Waterloo riding, Catherine Fife. Fife has held Waterloo’s seat since 2012 and is in her fourth term as MPP.
Fife shared her thoughts on what she feels are the top issues in Waterloo, how she and her party plan to address them. She also spoke about what the tariff threats coming from the United States could mean for this community and her party’s stance on addressing them.
Radio Waterloo spoke with the candidates for the Waterloo riding as the 2025 Ontario provincial election, scheduled for February 27 draws closer.
We’ll be releasing a series of four pieces, each highlighting our interview with one of the candidates. We’ve included the Ontario Liberal, NDP, Green and New Blue parties. The Ontario Progressive Conservative party did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.
Today’s piece features the New Blue Party of Ontario candidate for the Waterloo riding, Suja Biber.
Biber has a background in physiotherapy, massage therapy and public administration, and previously served on the board of the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario. She values balancing professional work with giving back to her community.
Note: In her discussion of the local doctor shortage, Biber said there are about 40,000 to 60,000 people in Waterloo without access to a family doctor, but this number more closely corresponds to the rough statistic for Waterloo Region, which is 60,000 to 70,000.
Note: The audio in this piece was edited to remove a portion saying Biber currently serves on the board of the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario. She no longer serves on this board.
Radio Waterloo spoke with the candidates for the Waterloo riding as the 2025 Ontario provincial election, scheduled for February 27 draws closer.
We’ll be releasing a series of four pieces, each highlighting our interview with one of the candidates. We’ve included the Ontario Liberal, NDP, Green and New Blue parties. The Ontario Progressive Conservative party did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.
Today’s piece features the Ontario Liberal Party candidate for the Waterloo riding, Clayton Moore. Moore is a scientist and business professional focused on science communications and start-ups.
Moore spoke about his take on the top issues in Waterloo, how he and the Ontario Liberals’ plan to address them. He also spoke about what the impact of potential tariffs coming from the United States could mean for Waterloo, and how his party would address these threats.
Radio Waterloo spoke with the candidates for the Waterloo riding as the 2025 Ontario provincial election, scheduled for February 27 draws closer.
We’ll be releasing a series of four pieces, each highlighting our interview with one of the candidates. We’ve included the Ontario Liberal, NDP, Green and New Blue parties. The Ontario Progressive Conservative party did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.
Today’s piece features the Green Party of Ontario candidate for the Waterloo riding, Shefaza Esmail.
Esmail shared her thoughts on the top issues in Waterloo, how she and her party plan to address them, what the tariff threats coming from the United States could mean for this community and her party’s stance on addressing the tariffs.
In the middle of downtown Kitchener, in between City Hall and Victoria Park, is one of the last pieces of available prime real estate in downtown Kitchener. The former Charles St. bus terminal at Gaukel St and Charles St, which sits on 2.94 acres, has sat empty and for the most part unused, since 2019.
The building, which still stands, was designed by local modernist architect John Lingwood in 1989. The property, which is currently being considered for a number of projects, is owned by the Region of Waterloo (who own 88%) and the City of Kitchener (who own 12%), but regardless of who owns it, the community, including the member of provincial parliament, will be part of whatever comes next.
With the Kitchener Centre by-election this week, CKMS took the opportunity to ask the four front-runner candidates, what do they personally think would be an appropriate use of that space and how would that benefit the people of the region?
In answer to our question, Kelly Steiss focused on the importance of collaboration and how her experience will lend itself well to the development of the project.
Aislinn Clancy also focused on the importance of collaboration and in addition the need to include and manifest Kitchener and regional-specific values.
Debbie Chapman talked about the property’s split ownership and the suggestions that she has heard, including turning it into an indigenous centre with a drop in centre and affordable housing, or extending Victoria Park into the site, moving the entertainment centre, the Kitchener Aud, to the site, or building a conference centre for the space.
This is one in a series of shows about the Kitchener Centre by-election and in which we ask candidates some of the less-asked questions that are important to our community.
Whether you believe the Ford government is helping or hurting the healthcare system in Ontario, there is no question that the system is struggling with demand and labour shortages, among others. Earlier this year, the Region of Waterloo announced plans for a new hospital to meet the demands of a growing population.
However, as the Ontario College of Family Physicians recently noted that in September 2022, there were almost 79 000 people in the Region who did not have a family doctor. The College predicted that in a little over three years’ time, this number could double to 150,000, or about one-third of the local population.
With the Kitchener Centre by-election happening this week on November 30, CKMS took the opportunity to ask the four front-runner candidates that with these serious shortages and rapidly increasing population, what will they do to ensure the Region can attract these health professionals to the area to meet our current and future needs?
Three attempts over 10 days were made to contact the Progressive Conservative candidate Rob Elliot, but we did not hear back from the PCs in time for broadcast.
First up is Debbie Chapman of the NDP, invoking the name of Tommy Douglas to establish the NDP’s credentials in public healthcare. Chapman is against privatization and notes that it extracts resources from public system. She notes there is a clear shortage of doctors, and much of that responsibility lies with the College of Physicians and Surgeons, who, she believes, need to admit more doctors into the profession. Ms. Chapman said we need to do more to encourage bridging programs for foreign doctors, and that we need to be concerned about nurses and their health so they don’t encounter working conditions like what transpired during the pandemic. Chapman says that private nursing agencies will destroy the public health care system.
Aislinn Clancy of the Green Party says that the government flushed money away by taking the nurses to court. She talked about how agency nurses are very expensive and undermining the public system. She said to deal with staff shortages, we need more spaces for doctors to be trained, encourage more people to take the training, find better opportunities for bridging programs, and provide support for doctors by encouraging them to work in multidisciplinary teams that would relieve their workload.
The Liberals have placed healthcare at the centre of their platform. The liberal candidate for Kitchener Centre, Kelly Steiss, said municipalities need to build infrastructure and support arts and culture to create a thriving city. Liberals support public funding and believe the government is putting the health care system risk.
Chapman and Clancy noted they want to find ways to enable foreign trained medical professionals to work in the riding in their chosen profession. While Chapman and Clancy focused entirely on the system, increasing medical school admissions and restricting private nursing agencies, among other ideas, Steiss also talked about improving the riding through increasing things like infrastructure and arts and culture to increase the desire to live here. The three parties we talked to all disagree with privatization.
This is one in a series of shows about the Kitchener Centre by-election in which we ask candidates some of the lesser-asked questions that are important to our community.
