Environment takes centre stage
Traditional blue riding may be wide open as voters look to Greenbelt The Tory flip-flop on opening the Greenbelt for development was felt in York-Simcoe.
The residents of York-Simcoe say they are used to being ignored.
With the booming and populous cities of Markham, VVaughan and Richmond Hill to the south, York-Simcoe seems sometimes to be lost in the shadows.
“We’re almost like the poor cousin of York Region,” said resident Megan Houston, who lives in Jackson’s Point in Georgina.
“I find that north York Region has a tendency to be forgotten about in a lot of ways ... when it comes to funding for education,
funding for public transportation and infrastructure projects.”
So when Caroline Mulroney, daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney, announced her bid for the Tory leadership and the Progressive Conservative seat in the riding back in February, residents said
they hoped her profile would bring attention to the issues
that matter in the community. The riding comprises the municipalities of Georgina, East GGwillimbury, Innisfil and Brad- ford, an area dotted with sub- divisions, farmland and cottages along Lake Simcoe. Top of mind for many residents are
the protection of the environment, infrastructure and the improvement of social programs for low-income residents.
“This a very mixed riding: lots of small businesses, lots of farmers,” Houston said. “Then there is Lake Simcoe, which is ecologically important to our community (and) a tourism driver,” she said. “And as more people move up from the city, there is a need for more infrastructure and more support in arts and culture.”
But notwithstanding Mulroney’s celebrity, this typically blue riding appears, like much of the province, far from decided. Both residents and candidates say the race could be close — as the Liberal and NDP candidates have held municipal positions for years and are well known in the community.
“Everybody seems to be of mixed opinions. I’m actually not sure how the riding is going to go this year,” Houston said. “If you had asked me two years ago ... I wouldn’t have said any- t thing other but blue.”
Liberal candidate Loralea Carruthers, who served as the chair of the York Region Dis- trict School Board, was at the helm when the board faced issues of racism and unrest among staff. Carruthers also ran in the 2014 election, and narrowly lost to long-time Tory incumbent Julia Munro
Dave Szollosy, the NDP candidate, has been a three-term councillor in the Town of Georgina and is known as a longtime activist.
Jack Gibbons, who has long been working to save the provincially significant wetlands in Georgina, said many in the riding are carefully considering not only the candidates’ experience and qualities, but also their positions on policy, particularly on the environment.
“The big issue for many is wwhich party will save the North GGwillimbury Forest, and which party will take up measures to protect Lake Simcoe and protect the water quality of the Lake,” Gibbons said.
Gibbons says the Tory flip- flop on opening up the Greenbelt for development was acutely felt in the riding. “The people in the town of Georgina and Lake Simcoe are very strong supporters of protecting the lake, and surrounding forests, wetlands and farmlands,” he said.
Mulroney says residents in tthe area are concerned “that life is getting increasingly unaffordable under Kathleen WWynne and the Liberals. People want w nfrastructure, affordable good hydro, paying better jobs and accessible healthcare,” she said.
Carruthers, meanwhile, is pushing for new infrastructure. She wants to see a Hwy. 400 to HHwy. 404 link, which would run across Bradford.
Szollosy says that many residents also want to see the closure of the Thane smelter, wwhich residents fear has pollut- ed the adjacent wetlands and seeped into the groundwater.