Ottawa-Centre’s 2025 MPP Debate

By Megan Devoe

Last week, MPP candidates for Ottawa-Centre were invited to debate their platforms. Simon Beckett of the Green Party of Ontario,, Thomas Simpson of the Ontario Liberal Party, and Catherine McKenney of the Ontario NDP all participated in the debate. Scott Healey of the Progressive Conservative Party was invited by the Glebe Community Association, but did not attend.

Editor’s Note: As of publishing, Scott Healey’s social media has not been updated since his 2022 campaign. Our editing and production team would like to thank his campaign office for his absence and reducing our workload.

Watch the Ottawa-Centre debate hosted by Rogers tv. Credit: Youtube.

Ottawa-Centre candidates Cashton Perry of the Communist Party, Shannon Boschy of the Ontario Party, Maria deSouza of the New Blue Party, and Josh Rachlis, an independent candidate, were also present but were not offered a speaking role at the debate. Members of the major parties ONDP, OLP, and GPO) participated in the debate. The riding’s incumbent MPP, Joel Harden of the Ontario NDP, has been chosen as the party’s candidate for the next federal election and will not be running the 2025 provincial elections.

Affordable Housing

Catherine McKenney of the Ontario NDP is running on a housing-first platform. Throughout the debate they commented that housing is an instrumental first step in providing the other services the ONDP is proposing. “It would save money from our healthcare system and our justice system, and it’s the right thing to do. Housing is a human right,” said McKenney.

The ONDP platform has committed to building 300,000 affordable homes and 60,000 supportive homes for people coming out of homelessness. McKenney said that they would be in support of building fourplexes and would emphasize the importance of creating mixed-income neighbourhoods.

McKenney said the ONDP is committed to re-implementing rent and vacancy control, as opposed to phasing it in.

McKenney was not in support of fully removing development charges, but argued that there are times when it would be appropriate to waive them, like when building low income housing. They said that development charges allowed cities to regulate urban sprawl and fund infrastructure such as roads and sewers.

Thomas Simpson of the Ontario Liberal Party said that he has personally been pushing to create a housing accelerator fund so that co-ops, non-profits, and Indigenous organizations in Ottawa have the capital to buy homes.

Simpson criticized Premier Doug Ford’s decision to remove rent control in buildings constructed after 2018. “More than enough time has passed and we have heard from enough people that this new system is not working,” said Simpson. He said the Ontario Liberals are committed to phasing in rent control, similarly to provinces like Manitoba. Additionally, the OLP plans to create an emergency rental fund which would provide free loans to people struggling to make rent.

Simpson was in support of removing development charges for new builds under 3000 square feet. He said that the OLP is committed to implementing a “better communities fund” that would reimburse municipalities for lost revenue. The OLP has also committed to removing the land transfer tax for first time homebuyers.

Simon Beckett of the Green Party of Ontario, voiced the need to build more homes and increase homes within the urban boundary to prevent without expanding into urban sprawl. “If we keep sprawling, we are unable to support [the cost of developing infrastructure for] those properties further and further away. Therefore, we cannot lower the cost of housing,” said Beckett.

Beckett said the Greens want to build 60,000 supportive housing units with wraparound support for individuals with mental health issues and addiction. He also proposed removing the land transfer tax for first time homeowners.

Beckett said the OGP is committed to phasing in rent control, citing concerns that an immediate implementation could result in tenants being price gouged preempting the new policy.

Healthcare

All candidates were in agreement that the state of healthcare in Ontario needs change. Additionally, all three candidates said that their party would commit to opening a new community health center in Ottawa-Centre.

Catherine McKenney said that the ONDP would approve funding for community health centers in Ottawa-Centre. “We need one in every community so that they are meeting the needs of the community,” said McKenney.

The NDP platform on healthcare pledges to add 3500 family doctors to the healthcare system and ensure that every person in Ontario has access to a family doctor. The platform also supports the de-privatization of healthcare and specifically, long term care (LTC) homes.

McKenney said they were in support of adopting the Butterfly Model of Long Term Care for LTC homes. This model emphasizes emotionally centered care and instilling residents with a sense of place and purpose.

Simon Beckett said that he has seen first hand how broken the Ontario healthcare system is. “I’m tired of underfunding of our healthcare system, of inaction, of not only our current government but previous governments,” said Beckett. “This is not an issue that is new, we’ve been talking about healthcare for years and we need some true leadership.”

The GPO has pledged to recruit 3500 doctors in Ontario. The platform also supports the de-privization of healthcare and specifically, long term care (LTC) homes.

Beckett said that the Greens pledge to fund over 48,000 long term care facility spaces by 2029. According to Beckett, Ontario Greens are focused on placing LTC facilities in local communities so that residents can still be a part of the community. The party is also looking to move away from the private model of LTC homes and lower the number of patients that individual nurses in LTC homes are assigned to.

Thomas Simpson criticized Ford’s handling of the family doctor shortage in Ontario. “I think that’s appalling and we need to fix it,” said Simpson.

The Ontario Liberal Party platform has pledged to recruit 3100 doctors in Ontario. Simpson said that he was in support of the de-privatization of LTC homes.

Addiction and Safe Drug Supply

All three candidates criticized Premier Ford’s decision to close safe injection sites, including the Somerset West Community Health Center. “I guarantee you, unfortunately, come March and April that we are going to see a spike in overdose,” said Simpson. All three support maintaining and re-opening safe consumption sites.

Candidates discussed Northwood Recovery, a safer supply clinic in Hintonburg that has been reported for poor security of narcotics. Candidates were in agreement that there were safety issues with the clinic that they would seek to resolve as MPP.

McKenney criticized the Ford government for not keeping up with the need to create a safer drug supply. “When our drug supply gets more and more toxic we continue to give out low dose drugs – that doesn’t work for people,” said McKenney.

Simpson said that the OLP would support mandatory wraparound support in conjunction with safer supply prescriptions.

Beckett said that the GPO does not have an existing plan for safer drug supply regulations but will consult with experts.

Climate

Catherine McKenney voiced their support for diversifying energy sources and improving inter provincial energy exchange. “Now is not the time to give up on our climate, now is not the time to turn our back on the work that we’ve done,” said McKenney.

Beckett criticized the ONDP for having an insufficient plan to address climate change. McKenney rebutted and said that the ONDP has had several private members bills over the last 8 years that directly apply to climate action.

The ONDP also proposes to invest 50% of operational funding into transit. “We know that in cities the majority of greenhouse gases come from buildings, and transportation,” said McKenney. “The NDP is supportive of closing down gas plants, not firing them up, the way that this current conservative government has done.”

McKenney said that they would not support a new oil and gas pipeline running through Ontario.

Thomas Simpson was in support of diversifying energy sources and investing in nuclear energy. “We need to ensure that we have an appropriate mix of energy sources in this province, that we are investing in renewables, that we are investing in baseline energy like nuclear,” said Simpson.

Simpson said that he believes a pipeline is largely a federal issue. He said that he seeks to learn the positions of local constituents and relay that to the federal government

Simon Beckett said that he would support increased investment into renewable energy sources, but shied away from committing to further investment into nuclear

“I’m not anti-nuclear by any means, and I think it’s going to play a role in supporting the base energy load for many years to come,” said Beckett. He added, however, that he does not believe that further investment into nuclear energy is in the best financial interest of Ontario. “With the cost of renewables continuously coming down and getting cheaper, that’s what we should be putting our money into,” said Beckett.

Beckett said that he supports a decentralized electricity grid that would allow individuals to install their own windmills and solar panels, ultimately funneling that energy back into the grid.

Beckett said that he would not support a new oil and gas pipeline running through Ontario and that he was in favour of taxing the highest polluters.

Local Issues

Catherine McKenney said that they would push for diversion of detours away from central roads during the reconstruction of the 417 bridge. McKenney also said that they would push to ensure that communities impacted by the construction would have safe, segregated bike lanes and good sidewalks.

McKenney voiced their support for de-amalgamation of Ottawa. “Amalgamation has not worked,” said McKenny. “We need to ensure that we have communities of common concern.”

They said that they would not be in favour of returning to a ten municipality system, but would push for Ottawa to be split into two or three municipalities.

Thomas Simpson said that he planned to support constituents during the reconstruction of the 417 bridge by being highly communicative with the MTO and residents of Ottawa-Centre.

Simpson was not in favour of de-amalgamation, instead calling for better relations between municipal and provincial governments.

Simon Beckett said he would like to see a partial deconstruction of the 417 bridge and a partial rebuild of each side without completely shutting down the highway for two years.

Beckett was not in favour of de-amalgamation, citing concerns over cost and confusion for constituents. “Removing some pockets of rural area should be brought to the table but de-amalgamation, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Beckett.

All three candidates said they would push for sound barriers to be installed to muffle sound from the 417. Simpson said that additionally, he would push for increased maintenance to existing sound barriers.

Provincial Issues

All three candidates were in support of reducing provincial trade barriers and removing administrative burden from professionals trying to work in provinces where they did not train. Specifically, candidates mentioned that this would be relevant for medical professionals from other provinces coming to work in Ontario.

Catherine McKenney added that they would support an interprovincial energy grid. “I think it should always run east-west instead of north-south, and that is something that we would be very wise to open up and ensure that energy transfer is going across the country rather than going down to the states,” said McKenney.

All three candidates were in agreement that the provincial e-learning requirement should be scrapped. All three candidates present said that they were not fully bilingual but were committed to improving their French and providing services in French.

Foreign Relations with the United States

All three parties present at the debate criticized Premier Ford’s approach to the United States’ ongoing tariff threats.

Thomas Simpson said that “if Doug Ford was serious about Trump and the tariffs he would have gotten to work right now instead of plunging us into this unnecessary election in the middle of February.” Simpson said that the OLP would plan to go “tariff for tariff” with the United States, and would provide loans to small businesses impacted by the tariffs.

Simon Beckett said that the GPO would plan to create a task force with members of every political party to manage relations with the United States. Further, he said he would support a buy-local movement and provide business incentive tax credits for local businesses to expand.

Catherine McKenney said the ONDP approach would focus on opening interprovincial trade barriers and supporting lost incomes.

Editor’s Note: After publishing, Rogers TV uploaded another Ottawa-Centre candidates debate on Youtube. This debate included Cashton Perry of the Communist Party, Simon Beckett of the Green Party of Ontario,, Thomas Simpson of the Ontario Liberal Party, independent candidate Josh Rachlis and Catherine McKenney of the Ontario NDP. Scott Healey of the Progressive Conservative Party was invited but did not attend, yet again.