Election Profile: Parry-Sound Muskoka riding
For the first time in two decades, Parry Sound-Muskoka is going to have a new MPP after the June 2 election.
Veteran Parry-Sound Muskoka Progressive Conservative MPP Norm Miller is calling it quits after more than 20 years. Miller has been in office since a byelection in March 2001.
Running to replace Miller are NDP candidate Erin Horvath and Green candidate Matt Richter. Horvath is a social entrepreneur and community development innovator.
She told CTV News what she is hearing most from voters are concerns affordability and housing.
“What I’m hearing from businesses is that they can not grow their businesses or even staff their businesses because they don’t have enough workers," said Horvath.
"You ask the workers what’s going on there and they say we don’t have the housing we need ... We don’t have the childcare we need to get into the workforce. In some cases, it's transportation that’s the issue and then always it’s the cost of living. (Wages) do not add up to what we need to make a living here and the results have been pretty catastrophic."
She said her party will create 250,000 affordable rental units in the next 10 years. The NDP also plans to cool the housing market by implementing a non-resident speculation tax, raise minimum wage by $1 each year for the next five years until it reaches $20 in 2026.
For his part, Richter is a father of three, a teacher with Trillium Lakelands District School Board and small business owner.
He agrees the lack of affordable housing is the main issue in the riding and said the Greens would also commit to building affordable housing units: 100,000 units in the next decade, including 60,000 permanent supportive housing units with wraparound mental health services.
“This election is about priorities," Richter said.
"The funding has to come from somewhere and when we have a government currently that’s wanting to build $10 billion highways south of us near the GTA, we think that that’s not the priority the people here in Parry-Sound Muskoka want or deserve.”
Replacing Miller on the ballot for the Tories is Bracebridge Mayor Graydon Smith. As has been the case in many ridings in the north, when CTV reached out for an interview with the PC candidate, we were told the request could not be accommodated.
CTV News also didn't interview a Liberal candidate because there isn't one. The party dropped former candidate Barry Stanley because of a book he published that details scientifically baseless views on homosexuality.
Other names on the ballot include New Blue candidate Doug Maynard, Ontario Party candidate Andrew John Cocks, Populist Party Ontario candidate Brad Waddell and Daniel Predie Jr., who is running as an independent.
The electoral district covers more than 19,000 kilometres with a population of almost 95,000 people.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
LeBlanc says he plans to run in next election, under Trudeau's leadership
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn’t over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
U.S. vetoes a widely supported UN resolution backing full membership for Palestine
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
Grandparent scam suspects had ties to Italian organized crime, police allege
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Prince Harry formally confirms he is now a U.S. resident
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
Cat found on Toronto Pearson airport runway 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
N.L. gardening store revives 19th century seed-packing machine
Technology from the 19th century has been brought out of retirement at a Newfoundland gardening store, as staff look for all the help they can get to fill orders during a busy season.