At The Sarnia Journal, we believe community media has a responsibility to do more than just report on campaigns, we need to be a platform for voters to hear directly from the people who want to represent them. That’s why we’ve invited every candidate in Sarnia-Lambton’s MPP race to share where they stand on key issues that affect our community.
These answers aren’t filtered through press releases or campaign ads, they’re presented in full so voters can read them in context and understand exactly where each candidate stands. Because when you cast your ballot, you’re choosing someone to represent Sarnia-Lambton, to advocate for our needs, and to make decisions that shape our future.
We hope this series helps voters feel informed and engaged in the process. An informed community is a strong one, and that’s what local media should be working to build.
Meet your candidates: Candace Young, New Democratic Party
1. Why are you running to be the MPP for Sarnia-Lambton?
I’ve lived in Sarnia most of my life. The people in this community deserve a strong voice at Queen’s Park and a provincial government that’s on their side. I’ve been proud to serve the community as a worker advocate and as a social changemaker. If elected, I would be an effective champion for Sarnia-Lambton.
I haven’t seen a party that advocates for the priorities of our community in the way that the Ontario NDP does. My own family has experienced long wait times at the ER and long wait times for hospital beds to become available. My friends have limited access to child care, which is affecting their ability to return to work. Ontario’s colleges and universities are the least funded in all of Canada and the majority of our faculty at Lambton College are precarious, living contract to contract. The Ontario NDP has policies that address these issues and puts people first. I want to show Sarnia-Lambton what’s possible when they have a provincial government that works with them and for them.
2. The province is appealing the court ruling that struck down Bill 124, which capped public sector wages and affected contract negotiations for nurses and healthcare workers. Do you support continuing the appeal, or should the province raise wages?
No, I would not support another appeal. I’m one of the 700,000 public sector workers that was affected by the Ford government’s Bill 124. I’m a member of OPSEU, one of the unions that launched a constitutional challenge against Bill 124. The imposed wage cuts disproportionately affected women, racialized workers, and younger workers during a time of runaway inflation. Workers across Ontario collectively stood up to Doug Ford and Bill 124 was struck down.
Ford has manufactured a worsening crisis in our healthcare system with Bill 124, pushing an already severe nursing shortage to a critical point. The Ontario NDP will scale up our nursing workforce, establish wage parity, and fair working conditions for healthcare workers.
3. Sarnia has seen an increase in homelessness. The province allocates funding for both law enforcement and housing-related initiatives. How do you think these funds should be prioritized?
The affordable housing crisis is affecting people across generations and income levels. My own parents are feeling the housing crunch. They are in a situation where they are needing to downsize to a bungalow, but the options to move are few and the cost to move is unaffordable. With the pillaging of rent control by the current government, renting has become risky and increasingly expensive. People who are already socially vulnerable are now at higher risk of losing their homes or being unable to find suitable ones.
This past week, local authorities cleared the long-standing encampment at Rainbow Park. It is not enough to shuffle people into emergency shelters; there needs to be permanent, supportive, and affordable housing available.
I’m proud to be running as a New Democrat because we know that the solution to getting people out of tents is to provide more and better housing options. We need more homes for all income levels, and real rent control. The Ontario NDP’s Homes Ontario plan would be a massive expansion of permanently affordable homes.
4. Sarnia’s Chemical Valley accounts for over 10% of Ontario’s industrial emissions. The province has adjusted environmental regulations in recent years, including allowing companies to self-report emissions. Do you believe the current approach is effective, or should there be changes?
No, the current approach is not effective. It is a mistake to allow corporations a free hand in the provincial government’s environmental policies. There needs to be a collaborative approach to a just, sustainable transition to a greener economy, and that means getting everyone at the table as we look at solutions. This includes corporations that are major employers in the area, but it also includes workers, farmers, First Nations, and the broader community.
5. Sarnia does not have direct access to GO Transit and has limited VIA Rail service. What is your position on expanding public transit options for the region?
The cities and towns in Southwest Ontario are only a modest car drive away from each other, but people who do not or cannot drive a car are often forced to use expensive, unreliable, and fragmented intercity bus or rail services that can take several times longer than what a car trip would take—if passenger service exists at all. We deserve better, which is why the NDP will connect Ontario’s communities together with a comprehensive, integrated, reliable, convenient and affordable intercity bus and rail passenger transportation network, so people will finally have real options when travelling throughout the region.
6. Sarnia’s police budget is set to increase by 9.64% this year. In your view, what is the appropriate balance of provincial funding between law enforcement and other public services such as mental health and housing?
Public safety is important to our communities; however, the current Conservative government has an unsophisticated policy approach. The NDP advocates a dynamic approach to public safety that includes robust public services and alternatives to policing. Not only is this good and effective public policy, it is also much more cost-efficient.
The Ontario NDP will increase funding to community mental health service providers, like CMHA and AMHO, that provide crucial services to help people with addictions. We will establish wage parity for health care workers in community settings to ensure community primary care providers can also offer mental health support. We commit to creating new supportive housing units, allowing people living in encampments or the shelter system to move into a safe, permanent home, while connecting them to mental health care, addiction treatment and other ongoing supports. This commitment is part of our broader Homes Ontario plan to build hundreds of thousands of permanently affordable in the coming years.
7. Ontario has a $5.4 billion surplus. Some municipalities have raised concerns about financial pressures and revenue sources. Do you believe cities should receive additional provincial funding, and if so, how would you approach that issue?
Municipal leaders in the region say they’re carrying a disproportionate load of investing in housing, homelessness and transit. They have felt abandoned by the Conservative government during this housing crisis, and they are exhausted. The Harris Conservative government cut funding of municipal transit operations, and it stayed cut under the Liberal government and Ford Conservative government.
The province needs to take back financial responsibility for affordable housing, shelters and homelessness prevention programs, while maintaining locally focused delivery in partnership with municipal service managers. This will ensure skyrocketing development charges and other municipal fees are reduced or eliminated, reducing the cost of building new homes while also reducing the costs to municipal taxpayers.
We can improve reliability and affordability of local public transit by restoring a 50/50 cost sharing relationship with municipalities. This will help ensure dependable service and prevent the need to raise fares.
8. Ontario’s living wage estimates indicate that workers in Sarnia-Lambton would need to earn at least $19/hour to meet basic expenses such as housing, food, and transportation. Do you support changes to the minimum wage, and why or why not?
Yes, I support increasing the minimum wage. All workers deserve respect and a wage that pays the bills. The minimum wage in Ontario would be $20 today if the Ford government had not cancelled the wage increase to $15 when they were elected in 2018 and then continued to freeze the minimum wage for two years. In 2021, Ford’s Conservatives and the Liberals did not support an NDP amendment that would have put Ontarians on the path to a $20 minimum wage. This plan included a fund to help struggling small and medium-sized local businesses transition to the higher wages mapped out.
Even at $20, that amount is still not enough to live on. We will help make life more affordable by bringing back real rent control, building permanently affordable housing, delivering on $10/day child care, funding public transit, and strengthening our social programs like health care, education, and more.
9. Public schools in Lambton-Kent have experienced funding adjustments, including changes to class sizes and available resources. Meanwhile, private schools receive some provincial funding. What is your position on education funding in Ontario?
A friend of mine has a child with additional needs who is struggling to get by in the regular classroom without one-to-one supports. This child has missed countless hours of school and the parent has been required to take the child out of class many times because the teaching team does not have the ability to support them. My friend tells me she has connected with several other parents, some of older children, who have been living the same struggle for years in the public school system. Some of these parents are contemplating a move to private education just to help their kids.
Ford’s Conservatives have cut funding to public schools to the tune of $1,500 per student since they took office. The cuts to public education are working as intended: school communities are suffering and the doors have been opened to private interests to offer alternatives.
I know, and the Ontario NDP knows, that private education is not the answer. We need a collective approach to ensure that every single child can learn in a way that is safe and appropriate for them. That’s why the NDP is committed to hiring more staff, ending streaming, and renewing the education model to support student learning.
10. Ontario has adjusted its approach to climate adaptation funding in recent years. With concerns about flooding, storms, and shoreline erosion in Sarnia-Lambton, do you believe the current level of support is sufficient, or would you advocate for changes?
The Ontario NDP takes climate change seriously. That’s why a sustainability lens is applied to our policy approach, and where we put our priorities. We cannot wait on implementing our climate adaptation strategies. As your MPP, I will ensure that issues specific to Sarnia-Lambton - such as farmland protection, soil and shoreline erosion, flooding protection, school repairs, and more - are taken into consideration for infrastructure planning and in the budget. I won’t be awaiting ministry handouts and ribbon-cutting ceremonies; I will be a strong voice advocating for the funding and attention that Sarnia-Lambton deserves.