“Congratulations to Sly Castaldi on her nomination as the Liberal candidate in Guelph,” said Green Party Leader, Mike Schreiner.

“I have great respect for Ms. Castaldi and her efforts in the community, particularly her strong voice in the fight to end violence against women,” added Schreiner.

Big party politics comes with its own challenges, including the need to toe the big party line.

“As a Liberal candidate, I wonder if Ms. Castaldi will be able to put people in Guelph first over toeing the party line? For example, will she be able to stand up for affordable housing units for new developments, like the proposed new condo at Wellington and Wyndham St?”

The Liberals have proposed weak and ineffective fixes to the housing affordability crisis. Housing advocates have called the Liberals’ affordable housing plan “a monstrous failure,” one that amounts to “picking municipal pockets to line the pockets of developers,” according to one city Councilor.

The proposed changes are merely paying lip service, placing an unusually low cap on the voluntary allocation of affordable units in a new development at 5% or 10% in high density locations, and requiring municipal governments to use property taxes to pay an unprecedented 40 percent of the cost.

Meanwhile, some families are being pushed out of this great city because of housing costs.

“I challenge Ms. Castaldi and the Liberal Party to put the needs of people in Guelph first,” said Schreiner. “The Green Party is calling for new developments to include 1 new unit of affordable housing for every 5 new houses or condos. Will the big Liberal machine follow the Green Party’s lead to create real change in making homes affordable?”

The Green Party of Ontario is working to make history in the June 7, 2018 provincial election. The party intends to run a full, gender balanced slate of candidates for the upcoming campaign.