The CEO of the Quinte West Chamber of Commerce hosted an all-candidates forum on Thursday afternoon.
The virtual event included the Ontario Liberal Party candidate Dave O’Neil, Lori Borthwick of the Greens, PC Tyler Allsopp, and Amanda Robertson of the Ontario New Democrats.
They were each given three minutes to introduce themselves, after which CEO Suzanne Andrews dove into the issues of members of the Quinte West Chamber.
Numerous questions were submitted ahead of the forum with the majority surrounding economics and tariffs. Health care was also on the table.
Dave O’Neil spoke about red tape reduction and supporting small business financial barriers.
Audio Player“For small business we plan to cut the small business tax rate by half, from the current 3.25 per cent to 1.6 per cent. Our party must commit to make it easier for local businesses to bid on government contracts, especially in the face of the Trump tariffs.
Amanda Robertson say funding is critical in the post-secondary stream.
Audio Player“An NDP government would invest in post-secondary and skilled trades pathways to ensure that we have a good, well-trained workforce. We would also be introducing a $10-a-day daycare, because I know a lot of these industries, a lack of affordable daycare can be a big barrier.”
Tyler Allsopp touched on the Skilled Development Fund.
Audio Player“We put up $1.5 billion to help reeducate 600,000 workers and retrain them. That program Elevate Plus is absolutely incredible. When you go to those graduations, you can see how much it means to people to be able to get reskilled to be earning more money for their family.”
Lori Borthwick spoke to labour shortages, especially in the trade and service industries.
Audio Player“With what’s happening currently at Loyalist College, funding would increase. Per-student funding would increase by 20 per cent immediately. We would reverse the cuts to OSAP that were made in 2018 under Doug Ford.”
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