Please tell us a little bit about yourself and why you are qualified to serve as MPP.
Following 10 years in a leadership role in the credit union sector, I held teaching and senior administrative appointments in colleges and universities across the country over a 40-year career. Now I want to channel that experience into serving the people of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.
Ensuring our schools can provide the necessary foundation for our kids’ future educational and vocational goals is extremely important to me.
I am at home in Alvinston where I am active in the community. I have two daughters and three grandchildren.
What are the most pressing issues facing Chatham-Kent in your riding?
Health care tops the list: primary caregivers, long wait times in ERs, and hospital services. Where is the long-promised new Wallaceburg hospital? The ONDP is committed to fixing public health care.
Affordability remains a major issue for almost everyone: high rents due to lack of government oversight, grocery prices that keep going up, ODSP/OW payments that don’t cover monthly costs. The ONDP has a plan to fix this, too.
Both K-12 and postsecondary education are underfunded, such that the learning environment is impaired, and programs are being cut. Our future prosperity depends on the education and health of our children.
Municipal funding from the province remains at historic lows. This is an issue for addressing crumbling infrastructure and public services.
Agricultural land is disappearing, and the Dresden landfill proposal continues to grind through the system despite thousands of local signatures presented to the legislature.
How will you address the growing discontent that’s led to petitions seeking de-amalgamation in Chatham-Kent?
As your MPP, I will facilitate discussion among the appropriate parties and ensure concerns are addressed.
How can the provincial government better address the homeless issue?
An Ontario NDP government will create thousands of new supportive housing units, allowing people living in encampments or shelters to move into a safe permanent home, while connecting them to mental health care, addiction treatment and other ongoing supports.
If elected, what will you do to best represent your constituents?
Rural Ontario has been neglected for too long. As your MPP, I will listen, advocate, and act. That means taking your concerns, whether large or small, to heart, raising my voice at Queen’s Park on your behalf, and working with Marit Stiles and the ONDP caucus to restore affordability and quality of life to everyone in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.
The tariff issue has set everyone’s teeth on edge and just as Marit Stiles will create a provincial economic advisory committee to fight back and work on developing new markets and diversifying industries, I will convene an LKM advisory group. The ONDP will have your back.
