This page was exported from Caledon Citizen [ https://caledoncitizen.com ] Export date:Sun Apr 20 12:45:43 2025 / +0000 GMT ___________________________________________________ Title: Dufferin-Caledon federal election candidates debate at Orangeville Opera House --------------------------------------------------- By ZACHARY ROMAN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Local candidates in the upcoming federal election shared their thoughts on key issues at a recent debate.  From 7 to 9 p.m. on April 15, the Dufferin Board of Trade hosted an all-candidates debate at the Orangeville Opera House (87 Broadway). The debate was well-attended by the public, and the following candidates were there: Kyle Seeback, Conservative Party of Canada; Viktor Karklins, New Democratic Party; Dympna Carolan, People's Party of Canada; and Jeffrey Halsall, independent.  Liberal Party of Canada candidate Malalai Halimi and Green Party of Canada candidate Ifra Baig were not in attendance.  Halimi's campaign spokesperson Dmytro Basmat told the Citizen she was unable to attend the debate due to a “scheduling conflict.” Basmat said she was in Bolton door-knocking alongside Brampton–Centre MP Shaqfat Ali during the time of the debate. Green Party candidate Ifra Baig posted a statement on social media where she apologized for not being able to attend the debate. Baig is a post-secondary school student and noted that the debate and an important exam were scheduled for the same time, preventing her from attending. The Dufferin Board of Trade hosted the debate in partnership with the Orangeville Food Bank, Dufferin Federation of Agriculture, and Headwaters Communities in Action with support from Theatre Orangeville.  Questions from the public and organizers were asked of candidates.  The Orangeville Food Bank asked candidates how they would confront the growing crisis in which even full-time workers are having to line up at the food bank because their paychecks no longer cover life's basic necessities. Halsall said strengthening Canada's economy by lowering taxes and getting young people into the trades is key. “I'm all about strengthening the economy and working from the ground up,” said Halsall. Seeback said the issue is all about affordability. He said the Conservatives would cut taxes by 15 per cent for the average family and implement their plan to make housing more affordable. “There will be no capital gains tax if you reinvest that capital in the country. Imagine what that's going to do for building and development. You're not going to pay a capital gains tax if you sell something and you reinvest in Canada and build something else,” said Seeback. “We're going to sell off 6,000 federal buildings so they can be turned into affordable housing for people.” Seeback said the Conservatives would sell off thousands of acres of federal land so it can be used for housing, and incentivize municipalities to reduce their development charges. Karklins said the NDP's platform promises three million new homes built by 2030. He said the party would make the Government of Canada build houses again. “Private developers love profit and that's OK, that's their job… let's stop incentivizing them and begging them to do something. Let's just go build some houses,” said Karklins.  He said the NDP has allocated $16 billion in its platform to do just that. Carolan said Canada's housing and affordability crisis is caused by high levels of immigration. “We should turn off the taps on immigration, that'll cool everything down and allow our economy to get back in shape,” said Carolan. The Dufferin Federation of Agriculture asked candidates what policies they would implement to encourage stable trading environments and access to diversified markets for Canadian agriculture.  Seeback said non-tariff barriers are preventing Canadian agricultural products from accessing markets around the world. “Countries come up with these sort of fake and phony sanitary conditions like, ‘we don't like the carcass wash you're using for beef so your cattle can't come into the U.K.,'” said Seeback. “We need a government that's going to stand up for farmers and get rid of these ridiculous non-tariff barriers.” Karklins said Canada needs to work interprovincially and with partners all around the world, not just the United States.  “Let's not just sit on our hands, let's do something,” said Karklins. Carolan said the People's Party of Canada would like to work with the United States. She also said it would demolish Canada's supply management system for products like dairy and poultry. To view the debate in its entirety, those interested can visit dufferinbot.ca/2025election. --------------------------------------------------- Images: --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Post date: 2025-04-17 11:53:31 Post date GMT: 2025-04-17 15:53:31 Post modified date: 2025-04-17 11:53:34 Post modified date GMT: 2025-04-17 15:53:34 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Export of Post and Page as text file has been powered by [ Universal Post Manager ] plugin from www.gconverters.com