Green candidate Steve Dyck went a step further, saying that Canadian corporations should do what has been done in Europe and have labour representation on corporate boards.

“This gets rid of the polarizing, toxic relationships that we often have between corporations and workers,” he said.

“We actually need corporations to be working on behalf of people. It doesn't have to be a fight. We need to be working together.”

People’s Party candidate Mark Paralovos and Klevering both said that while they support workers’ rights and small unions, large unions are a problem.

“These massive unions and the influence they’ve built in our politics is concerning,” Paralovos said.

“I don’t want to increase more partisan money in our politics — I want to increase the conversation, I want to increase the discourse. I want to increase real engagement, not the money engagement.”

Truscott also voiced his concern around larger unions, saying they sometimes act against what their members want.

“Take this as an example. I’m not saying this actually happens, but union funds are invested into weapons,” he said.

“A lot of the members say, ‘Well, we don’t want our funds invested in weapons.’ But there doesn't seem to be much opportunity for union members to say that's not what we want.”

The role of Indigenous people in climate change

Klevering received his fair share of groans from the audience when asked about the role that Indigenous people should play in the fight against climate change.

“How do you invite the Indians in? Do you construct semi-autonomous regions?” he said.

“Are they even willing to participate in some kind of climate initiative nationally? I know that the Indians refused to sign Pierre Trudeau’s Charter in 1984, so that would be a tough nut to crack.”

Lloyd Longfield, seeking to be re-elected to a second term as Guelph’s MP, talked about his trips to Canada’s far north, and how climate change is affecting the populations there even more than in the south.

“We have to work with Indigenous people to solve the problem, because it's very much their problem that we've created,” he said.

After discussing her party’s proposals to recognize Indigenous people’s right to self-determination “up to and including secession,” Burnett said Canada needs to listen and work with them to solve climate change.

“I think a lot of the Indigenous peoples know well how to look after the environment better than we do,” the Communist candidate said.

Refugees and immigration

Paralovos broke from the pack, saying that his party is the only one calling for fewer refugees and immigrants coming to Canada.

“Canada does quite a lot. We take the highest number of refugees, I believe in the world,” he said, adding that allowing fewer refugees would be financially beneficial.

Other candidates said that allowing more refugees and immigrants has the opposite effect when it comes to the economic picture.

“We had eight workers for every retiree back in the 1990s. By 2035, we're going to have four workers for every retiree. If we don't change the way we're doing things by 2050, there'll be two workers per retiree,” Longfield said.

“So how do we pay for our pensions? How do we pay for our retirement? We need to increase immigration, including refugees.”

Dyck, who sponsored a Syrian family to come to Guelph, said that allowing refugees into Canada is the right thing to do — especially as more refugees are created due to climate change and its effects.

“These people are an important part of our economy, we need to have more resources in our system to make sure we're responding ethically,” he said.

“They are subject to wars and famine, we need to respond quickly. It's who we are as Canadians, and it is actually really good for our economy. These people need our help.”