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Here's our Q&A with the Simcoe-Grey PC candidate

Collingwood Today sat down with Jim Wilson, PC candidate for Simcoe-Grey. Wilson is the incumbent MPP in Simcoe-Grey, and was first elected in 1990. 
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PC candidate Jim Wilson and Wasaga Beach resident Mike Krizanc launched Wilson's campaign by placing a lawn sign at Krizanc's residents. Erika Engel/ Collingwood Today

Collingwood Today sat down with Jim Wilson, PC candidate for Simcoe-Grey. Wilson is the incumbent MPP in Simcoe-Grey, and was first elected in 1990. 

 

CT: What is main factor setting this election apart from previous ones?

JW: On the local front It would be very helpful if we could get back into government so I could advance the redevelopment of our two hospitals, the full funding of Hospice here in Collingwood, saving the Angus tree seed plant, a high school for Wasaga Beach and actually get the elementary school that’s been announced built in Wasaga Beach, and Banting Memorial High School badly needs to be replaced. It’s on the list at Queen’s Park, it just needs a bump up.

They are big projects, but in the area of health care, all three parties are planning on spending $19 billion, which is what is spent each year by the current development.

At Banting Memorial in Alliston, a candidate mentioned they built 24 hospitals and there’s 40 on the books, I just want to make sure a share of that comes to Simcoe-Grey. We’re due.

 

CT: Polls are showing the issues Ontarians are most concerned about this election are health care and lower costs/ balanced budgets. Why do you think those have risen to the top as the main issues?

On the latter point, the need to balance the budget, which we plan to do in the first term, people tell me now they know fully we are spending $1 billion a month on interest. That’s two hospitals every month. That’s 24 hospitals a year on interest that mainly goes to New York and China and the Arabs, it’s not being recirculated in the Canadian economy. That awareness is out there, it was not out there six months ago. At all-candidates debates people are saying, ‘you need to balance the budget.’

On healthcare, they haven’t built a single new long-term-care bed in the last 15 years. We built 26,000 during our 8 years and renovated 16,000 others. We were criticized at that time by the Liberals that we overbuilt.

 

CT: Health care: What is the biggest challenge facing the Ontario health care system and what needs to be done about it, particularly in Simcoe-Grey?

JW: Long-term care. It’s low cost for the government. Places like Collingwood Nursing home and Bay Haven nursing home both had proposals in the last round, the government finally agreed with us. The Liberals put out proposals for 5,000 new beds, but none of those have been built. We didn’t get any new beds approved in this area. We’ve had 18 new beds in the last 15 years. The average wait list in Ontario is 22,000 per year. Our commitment is 15,000 beds in the first five years, and 30,000 over ten years. The government doesn’t actually have to build those. The nursing homes I mentioned are more than happy to build them. The government does actually have to fund the person in the bed through operational funding. That will take pressure off our local hospitals and the hospitals right across the province, the number one issue there is the ALC patients are, through no fault of their own, stuck in hospitals. A bed in a nursing home is a better quality of life for them.

Unfortunately because of ideology, it’s one of the things that differs between the parties, the Liberals have been stuck in an ideology for the last 15 years that they will be able to provide enough home care services.

A huge complaint, I’d say after hydro, is long term care bed availability. And that’s creeped up in the last five years. And the third is home care. I represent an area where there are three families that can’t get a PSW to drive there for home care because the mileage rates are so low. So the homecare system also needs to be revamped. But the biggest piece is long-term care nursing home beds to take pressure off our hospitals and that will really help in reducing hallway medicine.

There’s not enough residency spots, that’s accounted for in our budget and in our planning. It’s just ridiculous for these young people who are highly educated and great students and can’t get through the program. They’ve done their part, done med school, but they can’t get a residency.

And that brings us to locally, the Rural Ontario Medical Program (ROMP). It’s an excellent way for family doctors to get the rural, small town family experience, so we should be expanding that.

 

CT: Education: What is the biggest problem with the Ontario education system right now and what needs to be done with it?

JW: Well, as I said at the debate the other day, I give Liberals credit, they’ve put about $6 billion into education over the last decade. But where’s the results? We need to be more results-orientated and we need to work with the teachers. They don’t like (Education Quality and Accountability Office) EQAO in its present form. The children don’t like it. So we’ve said we’ll take a look at it. We’ll still have some form of standardized testing, but clearly when teachers don’t like part of the curriculum, you have to make a change.

Our commitment is to go back to basics.

We have excellent students. But they just need a chance to succeed, and they need the basics of math and the basics in literature, reading and writing and phonics.

We’re still going to have a sex-ed curriculum. We’re going to - on a short-term basis - revert to the old curriculum. Which, by the way I never had a complaint about.

Government said they consulted with 4,000 parents, but it was a strange consultation. Many, many parents are telling us they want to see if the curriculum is age appropriate and they want to be consulted on it. We’ll continue to teach sex education because it’s very important and we’ll modernize it.

 

CT: What is fairness and what role do you think the provincial government should play in establishing and enforcing fairness?

JW: In fairness, it’s stop ignoring rural and small town Ontario. It’s a disgrace what the Liberals have done, and I don’t think the NDP will be any better. And I’m quite angry about it. We’re treated unfair in terms of money and health care services. They very seldom give a rural business any money from the business grant programs. They closed 600 schools … and mostly in rural Ontairo.

Hospital funding in most of the medium-sized hospitals including Collingwood. The medium-sized hospital funding formula is completely skewed.

Agriculture is so important, it’s $13.7 billion economy in Ontario. It should get more attention than it does.

 

CT: Affordable housing is a huge issue in Simcoe-Grey and especially Collingwood. Local municipalities have spent thousands on studies to come up with ideas. It’s impacting the availability of the workforce for every type of industry in Collingwood. What can be done?

JW: We have to keep on it. Developers will tell you red tape is their biggest enemy. When Doug Ford was mistakenly talked about greenbelt, which the government has adjusted 17 times, he had in mind – so he said he won’t touch the greenbelt, but he will free up government land without touching the greenbelt.

Availability of land, cutting red type and getting money back into people’s pockets so they can afford a home. Cutting hydro bills, covering 75 per cent of daycare. All of this fits in to affordable housing and affordability.

I’d like to go back to the voucher system. People think we have to build affordable housing, no, why don’t we give you a voucher to help you pay for your mortgage and you can go live in a normal subdivision. So many people are used to how we do it now where we have to build it and we have to own it. But that’s not working out too well.

You can let the private sector build the house, you own the house, like habitat for humanity. For a very small voucher investment, they can vastly improve or build upon the number of houses they can build.

Help people pay their mortgage. I have so many parents I talk to who are giving their kids $300 a month as a top up to help pay the mortgage. We should be taking that seriously and saying we don’t need billion dollar programs, we need individual programs and to sit down and say, what do you need to get back on your feet.

We’re not cutting what the current government is currently spending, but I think, as Doug Ford says, we can find efficiencies.

CT: Outside of affordable housing: How will you make everyday life more affordable for Ontarians?

JW: Daycare. Our plan is to cover 75 per cent of daycare costs for all children from 0 to 15 years old up to $6,700 per child. We think it doesn’t discriminate. And as long as you can get a legal receipt from your babysitter and you’re happy with that service, you can get the rebate. It doesn’t have to be a government daycare.

How long before your party plans a balanced budget?

I think when you see it come out (costed plan). The hold up is, to be honest, a month ago we were told by the Liberals they had balanced the books. The Financial Security Officer came out later to say ‘no, there’s no balanced books.’ There’s $11.7 billion deficit. About $5 billion of that is our fight over hydro pension. Here we had a fully costed plan based on their numbers. We needed a bit of time to rewrite everything under these atrocious hidden deficits.

We plan to balance it in the first term.

CT: Where do you find common ground with the other party platforms?

JW: I don’t find any common ground. One thing you can say about the PC party of Ontario and it’s almost exclusive in politics is we do what we say we are going to do.

 

CT: Colours and parties aside, what are the three things Ontario needs most in a government right now?

JW: Accountability, transparency and do what you say you’re going to do. People are tired of being lied to.

I think we should give the auditor back her authority to review advertising. That’s huge when you’re spending $10 to $15 million to influence the vote through advertising. When you strip that authority away from the independent officer of the legislative assembly, you’re left to govern yourself.

You’ve got to go back to listening to the auditor general. We’ve got eight independent officers to make sure government is accountable, we’ve got to give them back their authority.

 

CT: What first motivated you toward politics?

JW: Well, it’s in my blood. P.J. Kelly was the leader of the conservatives three years prior to the confederation and he was my great-great-grandfather.

Growing up, I was always interested. When I was in Grade 9, my history teacher organized Banting Memorial’s first model parliament. I was Prime Minister. I can’t even remember what our platform was, but I know it was cinnamon buns in the cafeteria, which had been discontinued.

It was kind of in my blood, serving people.

I was going to be a priest, my degree is actually in Christian Studies as a major, and Political Science as a minor. In 1982, things didn’t look very good in seminary. So I went into public service.

Everyday is different, and you’ve got to like people. I don’t burn out because people in this riding are exceptionally nice to me. The people keep me going.


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Erika Engel

About the Author: Erika Engel

Erika regularly covers all things news in Collingwood as a reporter and editor. She has 15 years of experience as a local journalist
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