Heather Wright/The Independent

They’re back. Ten months after knocking on the doors of prospective voters in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex in a May by-election, the same four candidates are out on the streets again, vying for votes in the provincial election.

And depending on which candidate you talk to it’s either vital or completely unnecessary.

Doug Ford called the snap election for Feb. 27 with 16 months left before his majority government would normally go to the polls. He said he needed a new mandate to deal with the tariff threat coming from US President Donald Trump. Since the election was called Trump has delayed and then imposed tariffs on Canadian goods.

Ontario PC Candidate Steve Pinsonneault, says the election call was necessary to give the PC’s a mandate to deal with the fall out from the 25 per cent tariffs which could cripple the economy.

“At the end of the day, you need somebody like our leader to stand up to him. I can’t imagine (Liberal) Bonnie Crombie or (the NDP’s) Marit Stiles going head on with Trump like Ford’s going to,” he said.
Liberal Cathy Burghardt-Jesson disagrees. “The Premier has majority that he needs to do the work that he does. If he wants to lead, then lead,” she said.

“The reality is, Trump’s not going to be negotiating with Ford. He’s not having those conversations with Ford. I wonder if (Trump) even knows who he is.”

Pinsonneault argues Ford is “a very strong voice” for not just Ontario but Canada. “We can divert a lot of this by being a loud voice at the table right now,” he said.

Kathryn Shailer of the NDP doesn’t believe the election call was necessary, but welcomes it saying last time she was only pitching for the MPPs job; this election gives people the chance to change the government.

“Even last spring, I was hearing about the desire for change, but people didn’t act on it. And I think we’re at this stage now where people are like, ‘Oh, we didn’t really want an election right now, but here we are. We have it, and we need to make the best of it.’ And to me, the best of this waste of money, which is like nearly $200 million, is to change the government.

“We can’t afford for more years of the Ford government, for health care, for education, for affordable housing, for cost of living.

“We can’t afford four more years of this government and rural municipalities haven’t got more voice. They’ve had a little bit more money sprinkled around. But that doesn’t begin to make up for what has been over the years, downloaded on the municipalities and left for them to try and deal with, either by cutting services or by raising taxes,” said Shailer, an Alvinston resident.

Shailer says people are concerned about the possibility of tariffs and the province should be trying to diversify trade markets particularly for the agriculture community.

But there are also pressing problems at home, like housing. Shailer says the NDP intends to change rent control laws so landlords can’t boost rental housing costs just because a new tenant is coming in.

Burghardt-Jesson says the province also has to invest in supportive housing, changing some of the rules to make it more attractive for developers to invest in as well as dealing with the issues around rent control.

Pinsonneault, when asked about rent control, said the problem was about the availability of housing. Ford promised in 2022 to build 150,000 homes a year for the next 10 years. In 2024, about 81,000 homes were built across the province.

Pinsonneault, who says higher interest rates slowed demand, expects that to improve.
“I think you’re going to see us meet our target, and when we meet our target, I think everything’s going to fall into place (for renters.)”

But he believes the biggest threat to Lambton-Kent-Middlesex voters is coming from south of the border.

“We, as a government, need to promote small to medium sized businesses to get them moving forward. Part of the problem with us is we have all our eggs in one basket with the United States. We need to start manufacturing our own stuff. We need to really promote that. I think you know, removing these boundaries between provinces is a great idea,” he says.

Burghardt-Jesson agrees the potential trade war is on people’s minds. But she’s also hearing from people who can’t get the medical care they need in Ontario right now. The Liberal Party is basing its campaign on a promise to provide more family doctors in the next four years.

Burghardt-Jesson says its not just family doctors which are the issue. She’s heard stories at the door of people waiting for months for treatments like cortisone shots.

“It’s the access to primary health care that people are struggling with, but it’s also the wait times for surgery, for treatment, that sort of thing,” she said.

“We all got a $200 (affordability) cheque (from the Ford government before the election), $3 billion…Maybe that should have gone into the actual infrastructure. And when I say infrastructure, I don’t mean building up hospitals. I mean fixing what’s happening in our emergency rooms, incentivizing doctors to come out to our rural areas.”

Pinsonneault says the PC government has invested heavily in health care, adding hundreds of new beds. And it has promised to do more, pledging $1.8 billion to find a way to draw family doctors to the province.

The NDP has also pledged to spend $4 billion to bring more family doctors to Ontario.
There are two other candidate in this race is Andreaena Tilgner of the Green Party, who also ran in the May by-election and Andy Fisher of the New Blue Party of Ontario.

The candidates will have an opportunity to debate the issues Feb. 20 in Alvinston as the Lambton Federation of Agriculture hosts an All-Candidates Forum.

Pinsonneault has already said he won’t attend.