Kitchener-Conestoga candidates discuss farmland protection and housing at debate in New Hamburg
- Galen Simmons
- 7 hours ago
- 7 min read
By Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Touching on some of the most-pressing issues for rural voters in the Region of Waterloo, all four federal candidates running in the Kitchener-Conestoga riding met for a federal all-candidates meeting in New Hamburg early last week.
The local candidates discussed their parties’ positions on topics ranging from farmland protection and the impact of tariffs to housing and health care for roughly one hour at Puddicombe House in New Hamburg during a respectful debate hosted by the New Hamburg Board of Trade. Participating candidates included Liberal incumbent Tim Louis, Conservative candidate Doug Treleaven, New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Maya Bozorgzad and People’s Party of Canada (PPC) candidate Kevin Dupuis.
Each candidate was given three minutes for opening statements, a minute and 30 seconds to answer each question submitted to the board of trade ahead of the event and two minutes to make closing statements. The following are each of the candidates’ verbatim responses to two questions pertaining to important local issues, farmland protection and affordable housing, presented in the order they were answered.
The full debate was livestreamed on the New Hamburg Board of Trade’s Facebook page and is still available for viewing.
Farmland protection
Question: Farmland protection is a key issue for Canadians, particularly for those who live in Wilmot. What would a government controlled by your party do to stand with farmers and protect farmland from expropriation?
Bozorgzad (NDP): “We all know food is at the heart of our homes, our communities and our economy, and protecting the people who grow that food is essential to Kitchener-Conestoga’s future, but also Canada’s future. Food sovereignty is national sovereignty and when we talk about standing up for Canada, that means standing up for our farmers. Whether they’re being threatened and betrayed by their own municipalities and province, or outside politicians like Donald Trump, our farmers have to be at the forefront of our plans and they have to be at the table when we are making decisions that affect them. As New Democrats, we are committed to supporting farming families and we’re going to reduce our reliance on the U.S. by opening up and diversifying export markets while investing in the infrastructure farmers need to compete globally. We’ll defend supply management in every trade negotiation and we’ll make sure farmers are front and centre in the climate strategy because they know the land better than anyone. We also want Canadians to feel confident when they shop; that means clear food-labelling, public education and traceability systems that highlight Canadian-made products. I will always stand with and amplify the voices of the farmers in Kitchener-Conestoga in Ottawa, and I promise to bring home real results instead of just talk.”
Dupuis (PPC): “The expropriation of farmland in New Hamburg is a disgrace and a warning to every Canadian. Our farmers are the backbone of this country; they feed us, they steward the land and they represent the spirit of hard work and independence that built Canada, yet governments drunk on power think they can steal private property for their own agendas without respect for the people who actually live and work on the land. The People’s Party of Canada stands firmly against this abuse. We believe property rights are fundamental to a free society. When the government can seize your land at will, freedom itself is under threat. We will always stand with farmers, landowners and working Canadians, not with bureaucrats and politicians who think they know better. It’s time to respect private property, it’s time to respect the people who built this country and it’s time to fight back.”
Treleaven (Conservative): “I own a farm here in our riding of Kitchener-Conestoga and I just want to say this topic hits very close to home. I could talk at length about the topic, but let’s just boil it down to one thing, and Kevin alluded to this. I am a firm believer in private-property rights. Now, my colleague is going to go on and talk about a national framework for farmland protection, but what he’s actually talking about is that we are never going to build a pipeline in Canada, we’re never going to develop our resources and we’re going to continue giving billions of dollars of discounts to the Americans when we do export our resources, making each and every one of us poorer. I’ve sat and talked with all sides on this particular issue and the root of this goes back to transparency and accountability, and transparency and accountability is what we need now more than ever in Ottawa. Mr. Carney has moved billions to avoid Canadian taxes and refuses to disclose his assets and conflicts of interest, and my entire career has been about transparency and accountability, and exposing the hidden things, and that is what I will bring to you as your representative in Ottawa.”
Louis (Liberal): “Prime farmland is disappearing in Ontario at an alarming rate. We’re losing 319 acres a day. Economic development is important, but it must be done responsibly and it must be done transparently. I sit on the agriculture committee and I’m a member of the rural caucus. I understand farmers and the impact that tariffs will have on the ag sector here, and I continue to meet with farmers. The challenges that are faced here with the 770 acres; there are water and wastewater concerns. The project contradicts previous regional planning. It lacks infrastructure for the projects that might be – we’re not even sure what’s there. And the potential threat to our adjacent water aquifers; it’s being done without you listening and that’s not supposed to happen. So, I have written and drafted legislation, a national framework to protect our farmland called the Canada Farmland Protection Act. It is in direct response from what I’ve heard. I’ve also drafted a piece of legislation called the Affordable Local Food Act, but I’ll focus on the Canada protection act, which is to conserve farmland, harmonize conservation practices and create conservation incentives. We need to listen to our farmers; we need to support them. I’ll continue to be there for our farmers that feed cities.”
Affordable housing
Question: Here in New Hamburg and here in Wilmot, we have an affordable-housing problem. What are your parties’ plans to tackle the issue of affordable housing?
Bozorgzad (NDP): “The housing market has really been treated as a profit machine for speculators and corporate landlords. That’s driven up prices, it’s pushed people out of communities where they live and work, and it’s due to unfair practices like renovictions, unjust rent hikes and a government that has shown a failure to build enough affordable housing to keep up with our population, which has worsened supply. The NDP will flip the script and, for once, prioritize Canadian people’s interests over that of foreign investors, speculators and corporate landlords. We’re going to ban corporate landlords from buying existing affordable rentals, we’re going to put in place a national rent control that will ban fixed-term leases, renovictions, demovictions, we’re going to put a ban on rent price fixing and landlord collusion, and, for people who want to get into the market, we’re going to offer long-term, low-interest mortgages to make homeownership more accessible, we’re going to invest in pre-fab housing to lower construction costs and build faster and establish a $5-billion national land trust to secure land for non-market housing. I personally believe housing is a right for everyone and everyone deserves a safe and affordable place to call home in this country, but particularly in Kitchener-Conestoga.”
Dupuis (PPC): “Housing affordability is one the greatest challenges Canadians face today and it’s government interference that caused it. The People’s Party of Canada will tackle the housing crisis by getting government out of the way. We’ll reduce immigration levels temporarily so housing supply can catch up with demand. We will ban foreign investors from buying up Canadian homes. We’ll cut federal funding to cities that block new homebuilding and excessive regulations. We’ll stop reckless government spending that drives inflation and pushes home prices even higher. And we’ll cut taxes, allowing Canadians to keep more of their money to afford a home. While other parties propose more bureaucracy and bigger government, the PPC believes that the real solution is simple; get Ottawa out of the way and let Canadians build and own homes again.”
Treleaven (Conservative): “I want to say that my heart breaks about this whole issue. This is a very large challenge and, in a country where we have the lowest population density and as many resources in Canada, every single person should be able to have a roof over their heads. I’ve talked with countless parents that have young-adult children, and they are fearful for what the future holds for them. And this is the first generation that believes that they will not be as successful and as well-off as their parents. The failed Liberal plan of the last 10 years is continuing and their plan is to sink more of your resources into those failed plans. Rents, mortgages and housing costs have doubled. Young people want to move out of their parents’ homes just as much as parents want young people to move out of their homes. A common-sense Conservative plan will axe the tax on new homes, saving up to $65,000 per home, we will tie federal infrastructure funding to homebuilding, we will incentivize municipalities to lower development charges and, basically, if you want to own a home or have your children own a home, you need to vote Conservative.”
Louis (Liberal): “We want our children to have the same opportunities that we had, and we’re going to be implementing Canada’s most ambitious housing plan since the Second World War, building homes faster while partnering with workers and the industry, and cutting taxes for homebuyers at the same time. It’s called the Build Canada Homes Plan to build affordable houses at scale. We’re going to provide loans to affordable homebuilders that will help address homelessness and also build supportive housing right here in our community – up the street is our old factory and they’re turning that into housing. When a community works together, it’s amazing the things that we can do. We’re also going to make the housing market work better by cutting municipal development charges in half for multi-unit residential housing. And we’re eliminating the GST for first-time homebuyers on homes under $1 million. All of that and we’re going to invest $1 billion to make it easier for Canadians, including renters, to adopt energy efficient retrofits. So, working together is the way to do it. As the federal government, we’re working directly with municipalities with the Housing Accelerator Fund, which is something the Conservatives said they would cut. That’s $56 million that went directly to municipalities here to make permitting faster and to get homes built quicker. We need to work together.”
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