Health care, housing and education: Top issues raised by voters in Waterloo region and area ridings

As the Ontario provincial election campaign heats up, voters in Waterloo region and surrounding areas are making their priorities clear.

A survey put out by CBC Kitchener-Waterloo on the first day of the election, has nearly 750 responses so far.

Voters who shared their thoughts throught he survey listed a variety of top concerns in this election, ranging from concerns over local transit funding to understanding why an early election needed to be called in the first place.

But the top issues voters are hoping local candidates address in the upcoming election are health care, housing, and education funding.

Health care: the leading concern

Health care emerged as the most pressing issue, with nearly 300 respondents listing it as their top concern.

There are plans to open a new hospital in Waterloo region on land owned by the University of Waterloo, but that isn't expected to be opened until 2034.

However, the concerns laid out in the survey have been less to do with a lack of hospital beds and more with access to primary care. 

In an interview with CBC Kitchener-Waterloo in the first week of her campaign, Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said there are 150,000 Waterloo region residents who currently don't have access to a family doctor.

Her party's plan to address that is to bring more doctors to Ontario, helping cut down barriers for foreign trained doctors.

"Some of those foreign trained doctors, maybe our own children who went abroad to get their medical license, but then have trouble coming back," Crombie said.

Crombie said, if elected, she would see that every Ontarian is connected to a family doctor within four years.

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles, in a fireside chat with the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, outlined her party's proposal to cut down on administrative work done by family doctors, ideally freeing up more time for them to see new patients.

Stiles said this is something that doctors have directly asked for. She said this would be accomplished by "providing them with additional support and connecting them to teams of other workers who can assist them with that."

"This is something that helps immediately," said Stiles.

The Ontario Progressive Conservatives (PC) launched their plan the day before the election was triggered. It would see the creation of 305 new primary care teams, aiming to connect 300,000 people to a doctor this year, with the long-term goal of ensuring everyone in Ontario has a family doctor.

The Ontario Greens platform, which launched earlier this week, have the same goal of connecting everyone to a doctor. For that party, it means hiring 3,500 new doctors, increasing nursing school enrolment by 10 per cent, and bettering working conditions and pay for all health care workers.

Housing and homelessness

Housing was the second most frequently mentioned issue — 150 respondents listed it among their top two concerns. Many linked it to the growing homelessness crisis in the region.

Schreiner was in Cambridge Monday to tour the YWCA's new women's shelter. He emphasized that housing projects like these are a step in the right direction. His party's plan is to contribute to building "permanent supportive housing, transitional and supportive housing," he said.

"We also need to make sure that our government funds the health care through mental health, addictions and other supports to make sure that people have the support they need."

For the other party's plans, the PCs are promising an additional $5 billion investment into their Building Ontario Fund, which supports housing, long-term care, and infrastructure. Bringing the fund's total to $8 billion.

They also plan to allocate $2 billion to the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program to ensure new developments can be built on utility-ready land.

The NDP aims to create 60,000 new supportive housing units, helping move people out of encampments and into more permanent homes. Their plan also includes reviving the Homes Ontario program which offers grants and low-cost financing to homebuilders.

The Ontario Liberals say they would eliminate the provincial land transfer tax for first-time homebuyers, scrapping development charges on middle-class homes, and introducing phased-in rent control as well as a rental emergency support fund.

Education

Education ranked as the third most mentioned concern, with just under 100 respondents hoping to see it addressed in this election. Some voters linked other issues like a shortage of doctors, engineers and skilled trades workers, to a lack of education funding.

PC Leader Doug Ford, speaking at his campaign launch in Windsor, said his government is invested in hiring more teachers and building new schools.

"This government has put more into education than any government in the history of Ontario," he said. "We're building hundreds of schools, we're spending over $16 billion."

Ford said his government is also hiring more than 6,000 more educators across the province.

Stiles said her NDPs plan to inject $830 million into school maintenance, which they say is in a state of disrepair. They also plan to increase per-student funding which they say has been cut by $1,500 since 2018.

The Ontario Greens also plan to increase per-student funding to make up for the loss. Their education plan also includes commissioning an independent review of Ontario's education funding model.

Crombie and her Liberals are focusing on post-secondary affordability. Her party plans to raise the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) income threshold to $50,000, allowing more people to access it. They would also cut its interest rates.

Where do voters stand?

Beyond the top issues, the survey revealed that while roughly 95 per cent of respondents have voted in past provincial elections.

About half of people who took the survey say they have decided who they'll going to vote for in this election.

Advance polls will run Feb. 20 to 22. Voting day takes place Feb. 27.

CBC K-W wants to hear from you in this election

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