Q&A with your SDSG Ontario Party Candidate, Brigitte Surgue
During the Elections, The Seeker Team always presents each Candidate with some questions to help our readers understand their platforms. We did present each candidate with 11 questions but as this is such a short time frame for campaigning we did give the option of answering just 5 of the questions if they didn’t have time for all 11. Here are Brigitte’s answers.
1 – Question about – Healthcare
Addressing Healthcare Shortages: Ontario’s healthcare system is under strain, with staffing shortages and ER closures affecting many communities.
What steps will you take to address the shortage of healthcare professionals and reduce emergency room wait times at Cornwall Community Hospital?
Answer: ER wait times currently average longer than the provincial standard. As perfectly articulated by Mr. Doug Allan, senior researcher with CUPE, and focusing specifically on Cornwall, he said in September 2024, “What we are seeing here is a lack of planning, with unprecedented closures of emergency rooms and a 75% failure rate to meet target times for admission in ERs.” He went on to state that “This is driven by low bed capacity, staff shortages, and high vacancy rates. The current plan is to make things significantly worse.” That same report claims that the Cornwall Community hospital requires an additional $10.8 million in funding, 35 new staff members just to maintain patient services. MPP Nolan Quinn recently announced another $4 million in funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health to simply “retain and improve” current staffing at CCH. Under Covid-19 mandates for experimental vaccines, November 2021 saw 18 hospital staff members let go for failing to provide proof of vaccination. 18 staff who were eager and willing to show up to work every day to make a change. 18 people who agreed to work through the pandemic and care for those in our community. Where are those 18 staff members now? Have they been reinstated? Would it take $4.4 million to have those same staff members return to work? Certainly not. The staff cuts have not made a difference in the overall budget, but it has clearly made a difference in staffing and patient care. If we want to address staffing shortages, we need to stop firing the professionals that are willing to make a difference. The Ontario Party is hoping to relieve the stress on the healthcare system, by creating a two-tiered system where Ontarians who are able, can purchase private insurance or pay out of pocket for procedures, reducing public wait times and strain on the public healthcare system. Additionally, we would allow non-profit organizations and private corporations to build, own and manage hospitals, further relieving strain on the public healthcare system.
2 – Question about Affordability & Cost of Living
Affordable Housing & Rent Control: Housing affordability is a growing crisis, with both renters and first-time homebuyers struggling to find suitable options.
What policies do you support to increase affordable housing and expand support for the homeless?
Are you for or against rent control for rental housing properties, and can you explain why?
Answer: The reason we have a housing issue to begin with is due to an open-door policy within our immigration system and allowing foreign buyers to purchase residential units, property and land in Ontario. For far too long, the current government has put Ontarians last and allowed the immigration rate to explode. Housing as a result, has become unaffordable to the average Ontarian, leaving our own citizens in the streets/tents and bringing issues from other countries to our own home soil. The Ontario Party, if elected, would assign a task force to combat money laundering – rooting out corruption and implementing regulatory changes related to real estate sales and purchases. Implementing a ban on foreign buying of residential properties and agricultural property in an Ontario-focused plan would allow residents to purchase homes at a more affordable rate. Ontario needs to adopt the same right to set immigration policies as the Province of Quebec, and to adjust immigration rates and settlement patterns to avoid a housing crisis within Ontario’s urban areas. We are implementing an income tax exemption for individuals under 30 years of age, making $200,000 or less to help them with being able to purchase their own homes. We will also reduce the PST by 3% in an effort to reduce the cost of living, and thereby increasing housing affordability.
3 – Question about Support for Seniors
Cornwall has a growing senior population that depends on provincial programs for healthcare, housing, and social services.
How would you ensure seniors have access to the support they need to age with dignity?
What steps would you take to improve the efficiency and accountability of existing services?
Answer: It is a known fact that most seniors would like to remain in their homes as long as possible. From a healthcare perspective, offering more services to seniors living at home such as PSW and nursing care is crucial. Ontarians work their entire lives to ensure that, come retirement, they are able to live relatively stress-free lives and not have to worry about the increasing cost of goods and services. This has become an idea of the past with many seniors now coming out of retirement in order to be able to afford the basics like food and shelter. The Ontario Party will decrease property tax for seniors by 65%, allowing them a little more breathing room and money to allocate towards services they really need.
4 – Question about Education
Future of Public Education: Many parents and educators are concerned about class sizes, school funding, and curriculum changes in Ontario.
What is your vision for the future of public education, and how do you plan to address these concerns?
Answer: The Ontario Party will implement a Voucher Program in an effort to allow parents to choose the best educational avenue for their children, thus decreasing class sizes and relieving the burden on the educational system. This would free up spaces for students with special needs within the classroom, and allow educational professionals to spend more time where students need it the most. Smaller class sizes means a better education for our children. A schooling voucher system would provide funding to parents who choose to homeschool, unschool or choose a charter school for their children, based on their own children’s specific needs. We realize that not all children learn the same way – some are more hands on and some thrive in a book-learning environment. We want every child to be able to reach their full potential and take the route that makes the most sense for them. In terms of curriculum changes, the Ontario Party would make it illegal for school teachers, administrators and other schooling officials to promote partisan political positions or engage in personal political activism in the classroom. Implementing proven best practices in the math, sciences and literacy and removing any part of the curriculum that is not tailored to core academic competencies – especially material meant to impose indoctrinational beliefs and values related to sexuality.
5 – Question about – Economic Development & Small Business
Supporting Small Businesses: Small businesses continue to struggle with ongoing economic pressures, rising costs, and lower consumer spending.
How do you plan to support local businesses in adapting to these challenges and ensuring they can thrive in our region?
Answer: Consumer spending has decreased due to the current economic situation of Ontario. The PC government has long avoided the issue of poverty in Ontario by offering distraction policies such as the $200 rebate cheques to Ontarians in an effort to help them forget that the current government is the reason we are in this hole to begin with. The current tariff situation for example is already causing a massive debt for Ontario small businesses. For example, various small businesses have imported American products and goods, at the request of Ontarians, and now have stocked product on their shelves and in their inventory that no one will buy due to Doug Ford’s announcement to “Shop Canadian”. These companies are now struggling to stay afloat with this increased overhead. Additionally, counter-measures will increase the cost of goods in an already crippled economy, rendering goods and services even further out of reach for the average Ontarian.The Ontario Party is focusing on bringing affordability to the homes of Ontarians. We will reduce PST, remove the PST on fuel – lowering the cost of transportation and thereby decreasing the cost of end goods. By partnering with western provinces, we will be able to reduce energy costs to benefit Ontarians and Canadians alike.
