A half-dozen hopefuls with aspirations of becoming the MPP in the Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte (BSOM) riding fielded numerous business-related questions during a candidates debate Thursday evening, unsurprising given it was hosted by local chambers of commerce.
Six of the eight candidates running in BSOM hammered away at the issues and each other’s platforms during a recorded debate at Lion’s Gate Banquet Centre on Blake Street in the city’s east-end, co-hosted by the Barrie and Oro-Medonte chambers.
On hand were Keenan Aylwin (Green), Doug Downey (Progressive Conservatives), Ram Faerber (independent), Dan Janssen (New Democrats), Jeff Kerk (Liberals) and Darren Roskam (None of the Above). Absent were Mark Mitchell (Libertarian) and Michael Tuck (independent).
More than 150 people, many wearing T-shirts to support their candidate, crammed into the hall for the debate, which was recorded by Rogers TV and is scheduled to air on Saturday, June 2 at 7 p.m., with repeats leading up to Election Day on June 7.
BarrieToday had a seat on the panel, alongside local media and chamber representatives, including Greg Groen and Patricia Dent.
Each panelist was assigned one of four topics, which included taxation and accountability, input costs and competitiveness, red tape and regulation, as well as jobs and trades.
BarrieToday asked: “With so much growth happening in the Barrie area, what can be done to create more well-paying jobs locally to have new residents working closer to home?”
Downey said skills training has to match the jobs available, before Kerk interjected and raised concerns about the PC plan.
“We need to support our small businesses,” Aylwin said. “I’m worried because we have two parties of big business, the Liberals and the Conservatives, and one party of no business.”
“Is Napoleon a big business?” asked Downey. “So should we abandon Honda?”
“I’m concerned about the NDP plan because they’re proposing to raise payroll taxes on small businesses,” Aylwin added.
“I didn’t see that, Keenan,” Janssen said.
“Maybe you should read your platform, Dan, I’m sorry,” Aylwin responded.
“The NDP plan is not a plan of no business,” Janssen said. “The NDP plan is a plan that lifts people up out of poverty … and levels the playing field. It will allow people to spend that money into our economy and that will allow our economy to thrive. That doesn’t hurt small businesses.”
Kerk said the payroll tax needs to be reduced for small businesses so they can reinvest in their companies.
“But that’s not enough,” Kerk added. “We’ve also invested in education, and that is the skilled trades, the high-paying, good, quality jobs we need right here in Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte.
“Our plan is working,” Kerk said. “Look at what’s going on here in Barrie: there are some great jobs coming to town and these are skilled trades, right here from Georgian College.”
Downey agreed that more skilled trades are needed, “but the alignment isn’t quite right. There’s a shortage of welders, there’s a shortage of a number of trades, so we need to get the colleges to fill some of those needs.”
Aylwin said the time is now to invest in the ‘clean economy’. He said the government is spending billions on business support programs, “and we don’t even know how they’re working.
“If we reinvest that into the clean economy, we can leap into the 21st century and create those good-paying jobs, not just temporary, part-time, low-wage jobs,” Aylwin added.
Faerber said it’s just too expensive to live in the area.
“There are a lot of jobs in Barrie,” Faerber said, “but they don’t want to come here to work. The cost of living in Barrie is too high. They can get the same job and make more money somewhere else and the cost of living is a lot lower.”
BarrieToday also asked candidates how they would create jobs that aren’t just minimum-wage positions.
Roskam said it comes down to personal debt.
“Everybody wants those good jobs,” he said, adding the more people are relieved of debt, the more prosperity it will create in the marketplace. “So it’s your debt devil again.”
“You have to set the stage for businesses to want to reinvest,” Downey said. “Most economic growth and expansion comes from existing businesses. Right now, they’re scared, they’re closing or they’re under stress.
“We need to adjust tax rates and we need to adjust input costs, that’s everything from hydro to payroll taxes, all those things that other parties don’t call taxes, but are licences and fees and what not,” he added. “We have to get all of those things under control so that businesses are comfortable moving forward.”
Janssen said education is crucial and his party would pave the way.
“The NDP plan is a plan for the future,” said Janssen, adding there has to be avenues available for people to go to school, and his party will provide free education through grants. “When businesses pay their workers well and invest in training, you have a lot lower turnover, which decreases training costs as well as creates more productivity in the workplace.”
Aylwin said some parties are “clinging” to the notion of an “old economy.”
“We need to be leaping into the 21st century and investing in the clean economy,” he said. “It’s a $6-trillion opportunity worldwide and if we even capture 1% of that, that would be huge for our economy. We need to be investing in those good-paying, local manufacturing jobs, and I don’t want to see us missing out on that.”
Kerk said continued Liberal investment in education is how it’s done.
“You educate our society to get the skills that are in demand today,” said Kerk, who also pointed to be increase in more highly skilled positions in the local workplace.
Faerber took issue with Kerk’s stance.
“The Liberals spent a lot of money on education; it doesn’t work and it shows it doesn’t work,” Faerber said. “We need to go back to a common-sense approach in our schools.”
During the second half of the night, candidates also fielded questions from the audience on topics before each hopeful was permitted two minutes to give their closing remarks.
For the full two-hour debate, tune in to Rogers TV on Saturday night.
