Why are you running to represent the riding of L-K-M?
I have worked as a registered respiratory therapist in my community for the past 19 years. As a frontline health-care worker, I have seen firsthand how the gaps in our health-care system are leaving everyday Ontarians behind.
Greens have a plan to fill those gaps by investing upstream in key social determinants of health like housing, education and a stronger social safety net. Our vision puts people before profits, which is what motivated me to run in the by-election.
What are the biggest issues facing the riding?
Housing: As the housing crisis spirals out of control, life is becoming harder and more expensive for far too many members of our community. But for the past six years, the Ford government has failed to implement any of the tried-and-true solutions that are proven to increase the supply of homes without the need for costly sprawl.
Greens have an ambitious, practical roadmap to building more connected communities where everyone has a great place to live. Our housing plan would build more homes that regular people can afford by legalizing gentle density, strengthening protections for renters, and investing in deeply affordable and supportive housing.
Climate: Climate change is a global crisis that touches every aspect of our lives, from the cost of food and fuel to the increasing frequency of storms and severe weather. Greens have a climate action plan that slashes emissions while putting money back in people’s pockets through savings on household energy, transportation and transit.
Health care: Decades of neglect have eroded the public health-care systems we all rely on daily. Instead of repairing the damage, the Ford government is pouring taxpayer money into a private system that puts shareholder profits before patient care.
Greens have a plan to properly fund all healthcare sectors – primary care, long-term care, home and community care, mental health care and hospital care – to bring our per-capita health-care funding up to national standards. We will also implement a worker-retention strategy that includes permanent raises and better benefits and working conditions for all health-care workers.
Do you feel rural Ontario is getting overlooked? If elected, what if any steps will you take to remedy that?
Ontario’s rural communities are essential to the prosperity of our province – but for far too long, we have been under-appreciated and under-served by successive provincial governments.
Right now, our province is losing 319 acres of prime farmland every day to urban sprawl. As Greens, we would put a stop to this by freezing urban boundaries and legalizing gentle density so we can build the homes we need without destroying our $50-billion food and farming economy.
To ensure that rural communities have the resources they need to thrive, Greens will reverse decades of cost downloading onto municipalities and local property taxpayers and continue pushing the Ford government to provide stable, predictable funding to municipalities to repair and strengthen their infrastructure.
What are your goals as a Member of Provincial Parliament?
In Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, and all across Ontario, people are tired of empty promises from governments who don’t deliver. They’re ready for change, and Greens are ready to provide the leadership to build more caring, connected, climate-ready communities.
As Greens, we will always put people before politics to bring home better for the people of Ontario. We have a plan to tackle the housing crisis, address climate change, and improve our health-care system while standing strong for the people and places we love.
Please share some personal details about yourself.
I grew up in British Columbia with a deep appreciation for the outdoors. I moved to Ontario in 1998 to study at Western University and have called the region home ever since. I graduated from Western with a degree in health sciences and went on to study respiratory therapy at Fanshawe College.
I now live in Lucan with my family and work as a registered respiratory therapist in London.
